Church fuels its faith by giving away gas

RALEIGH -- One Raleigh congregation chose to fuel its shining light with free gas Sunday.

Southbridge Fellowship, a nondenominational church that holds services in the Brier Creek movie theater, gave away $4,000 worth of fuel at a nearby BJ's Gas station.

"We just wanted to give back," said Jim Hendren, 50, one of dozens of orange-clad volunteers who pumped gas and washed windows for 200 lucky drivers. "We wanted to share a love of Christ with the community."

Most drivers who arrived at BJ's to fill up were surprised and grateful for the church's generosity.

"I don't have to get out or anything, this is fabulous," said Lynette Mayo, after 8-year-old Alex Hauber asked her whether she wanted the windshield on her Dodge truck washed.

Roger Glosfoen, 62, rumbled up in a beat-up 1974 Chevy truck that gets just 8 miles per gallon.

"I like it because I'm on a fixed income," he said. "I don't get out much anymore."

Southbridge gave $20 worth of gas to the first 200 drivers who arrived after 1 p.m., regardless of their level of financial need.

"It's whoever God brings here," said Scott Lehr, Southbridge's pastor.

While some evangelicals have begun to make fuel consumption and pollution an ethical issue -- most notably with a "What Would Jesus Drive?" campaign -- Lehr said Southbridge was simply trying to show the love of Christ through a tangible act.

"We're more concerned with the people in the cars than the cars people are driving," he said.

The church, which started in 2006 and now has more than 500 Sunday worshippers, has performed similar acts in the past, such as dining at a local restaurant and distributing gifts to its employees.

Southbridge got the idea for a gas giveaway from several other churches in the Southeast.

Lines at the station were manageable throughout the event, unlike at a gas giveaway in Durham last month. During that event, which offered $40 gas cards to the first 200 customers, drivers began lining up at 12:30 a.m., nearly 12 hours before the giveaway was scheduled to start.

Several people who received free gas were on their way home from church when they pulled into BJ's.

Walter and Jacquelyn Barnes live in Durham and attend church in Smithfield. The couple's Dodge Ram pickup costs as much as a $100 to fill up.

Walter Barnes, 59, noted that Southbridge can't really lose by associating itself with free gas. When asked whether his church had ever done something similar, a light bulb went off:

"Not yet," he said.

Perhaps the happiest person at BJ's on Sunday afternoon was Billie Beck.

As a gas attendant for BJ's, Beck is frequently on the receiving end of consumer outrage over high gas prices. She said she regularly gets cussed out when changing the station's price signs.

"I think it's really neat that they're doing this," she said.