dmoore714
04-23-2009, 09:40 AM
The church I was a member of back when I was in college had a special program called the "Greasy Hands Ministry". The basic idea was that the church would provide garage space (which they had out back) and church members who were good with tools would volunteer to help. If church members needed help with basic car repair, they could bring their vehicle to the church. The volunteers would tell them what to buy (parts, oil, belts, etc...) and then the ministry guys would do the repairs for them. It worked great at first. There was no money involved. It was strictly an in-church service and most of the repairs were simple.
It eventually went down hill, for a number of reasons. Some people weren't satisfied with the quality of the work. Some people were too satisfied, and took advantage of the service far too often. There wasn't a "hold harmless" agreement so the church was open to legal issues if something went wrong. And some people wanted "repairs" that weren't really basic or necessary (like installing a turbo). It ended up getting shut down after a few years.
I spoke to the pastor of my church here in North Carolina yesterday, about starting up a new version of this Greasy Hands ministry. I'm not sure which direction we're going to go with it. Might try to do the "you buy the parts and we'll install them" thing. OR we might turn it into a teaching program, where we invite people from the church to come out once a month to learn how to do stuff like change their own oil, change belts, install car audio, etc...
Either way, I think this will be a useful and helpful service. Getting car repair without paying for labor and/or learning how do to your own work is great for middle class and low income folks... especially in these tough economic times. It will also help me to get more involved in the church. I've been looking for an opportunity to do so for a while now, but Im just not interested in any of their current programs or ministries.
So... what do y'all think? Do you forsee any potential problems? Or have any suggestions? Im supposed to meet with the preacher and some of the men in the church about this next week. Would love to hear your feedback before then.
It eventually went down hill, for a number of reasons. Some people weren't satisfied with the quality of the work. Some people were too satisfied, and took advantage of the service far too often. There wasn't a "hold harmless" agreement so the church was open to legal issues if something went wrong. And some people wanted "repairs" that weren't really basic or necessary (like installing a turbo). It ended up getting shut down after a few years.
I spoke to the pastor of my church here in North Carolina yesterday, about starting up a new version of this Greasy Hands ministry. I'm not sure which direction we're going to go with it. Might try to do the "you buy the parts and we'll install them" thing. OR we might turn it into a teaching program, where we invite people from the church to come out once a month to learn how to do stuff like change their own oil, change belts, install car audio, etc...
Either way, I think this will be a useful and helpful service. Getting car repair without paying for labor and/or learning how do to your own work is great for middle class and low income folks... especially in these tough economic times. It will also help me to get more involved in the church. I've been looking for an opportunity to do so for a while now, but Im just not interested in any of their current programs or ministries.
So... what do y'all think? Do you forsee any potential problems? Or have any suggestions? Im supposed to meet with the preacher and some of the men in the church about this next week. Would love to hear your feedback before then.