They may sound unusual, but salvations are not uncommon at motoring events in Detroit, the capital of the auto industry in the United States.
Hundreds of car enthusiasts recently gave their lives to Christ in what a local pastor called “divine intervention.’
A Detroit church was holding a classic car show to conclude its summer holiday Bible school, when it was suddenly swarmed with unexpected visitors.
Heavy rain had washed out the venue of a much bigger motoring event in a park close to the church. It had to be cancelled when the ground became sodden.
So most of the car enthusiasts including owners, collectors and other admirers came to the Commonwealth of Faith church’s show instead.
The church was on higher, drier ground and had hundreds of car spaces to spare.
It was like a huge drive-in event where they could hang out in their cars and trucks and picnic in the carpark.
When Commonwealth pastor Torion Bridges preached the Gospel for 15 minutes, he was stunned by what happened next.
“At that time people got out of their cars, people got out of their truck beds, people got out of their picnic chairs. They got out of their seats,” Pastor Bridges told The Baptist Press. “And 246 of them made decisions for Christ and a majority of them joined Commonwealth,” he revealed. He’s already scheduled a community-wide baptism event for later this month.
The Christian news outlet reports car shows are prime events in Detroit, even at churches across Motor City. All the churches that had previously occupied the Commonwealth’s building had held weekly car shows. Many church members are vintage or classic car owners. Pastor Bridges owns a classic 1976 Lincoln Continental Mark IV, and his deacon chairman is restoring a 1967 Ford Mustang.
“It’s a whole subculture here,” the pastor explained.
