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By Shaun Lane
Umconnection Staff

If you hang around J&K Automotive in Dundalk on a Thursday night, you might not be asked what's wrong with your car. But you will be invited to attend a Bible study.

On these evenings, mechanics and assorted customers gather at the shop for a Bible study. They often sit in the garage beside broken cars and just talk about God.

The Bible study represents a diversity of views, ages and races.

"We don't see our differences when we come together here," said the Rev. Dred Scott, pastor of St. Matthew's UMC in Dundalk and the leader of the study. "We are not here to judge anyone. We are here to support each other and grow stronger in our belief in God."

Scott started the Bible study when asked by the owners of the auto repair shop, Rick Karol and Bill Johnson.

Karol and Johnson worked together as mechanics at an auto dealership, where Scott purchased his car and had it serviced. When the pair launched their own business in February 2008, Scott began to patronize their shop.

"We started the Bible study three weeks after we opened," Johnson said. "And we have had it every week ever since. Even when Rev. Scott was away on vacation, we kept it going until he came back.

"The more we do this, the more I see that our business is succeeding because of God, not because of us. We have more than 600 customers after being open for just six months. That's pretty much unheard of in a business like this. But (the Bible study) lets me know that it's not what we did to make us successful. It's what God has done."

The Bible study has something for everyone, Scott said. If you have gone to church all of your life, haven't gone to church since you were a child or have never gone at all, studies like this will help get you acclimated to the word of God.

One employee, Thomas Macneal, doesn't go to church regularly on Sundays, but he said the Thursday Bible study feels like church to him.

"I have a better understanding of what God is about because of this," said Macneal, who has only missed one class since it started. "I learn more at this shop with Rev. Scott about God than I have anywhere else. It's like a school. If you have a big class, it's hard to ask questions and be heard. But here we can ask questions and really relate to each other."

According to Karol, the Bible study teaches him to worry less about his business, which is still relatively new and has stiff competition in the area.

"This class has brought me to a different mindset, meaning now I know that God is in control," he said. "The business will succeed because of him and if there are doubts, I just put my faith in him."

Karol, like Macneal and many others at the Bible study, does not attend church regularly on Sundays.

"I have nothing against church," he said. "It's just more personal here. There's no one standing in a pulpit preaching down to me. Rev. Scott encourages us all to participate and not just listen to him talk.

"At first, I have to admit, I wasn't really into it. But my faith has grown and I see the way my life has changed. Now I very much look forward to it and can't imagine being anywhere else on Thursday night."

Currently, the class is reviewing the movie, "The Gospel of John." They watch a few scenes of the movie each week, and then Scott leads a discussion that makes the movie and what Jesus is saying relevant to their daily lives.

Previously, they studied the "Purpose Driven Life" by Rick Warren.

"Doing this on Thursday nights with Rev. Scott brings me peace" Johnson said. "I always leave here with a good feeling. This is a part of my life now.

"I remember asking Dred if we were interested in having a Bible study, and he said he would go where we wanted him. I told him that we could have it at the garage. Some

people might have been put off by that, but Dred said ‘Let's get started.' "

When Scott pauses to think about how a Bible study in an auto repair shop has helped people to grow in their faith, he said that his role is minimal, even though he is the teacher.

"These people are hungry for the word," Scott said. "But it's not about me teaching them. It's about them being determined to grow in their walk with God. We come here every Thursday and say that we are going to Bible study. But it's more than that. We've really become a small church that happens to meet on Thursdays instead of Sundays."

Everyone who attends seems to agree.

"I don't attend church much on Sunday," Karol said. "But I do go every Thursday. I am growing closer to God and stronger in my beliefs. I don't think the day matters. I'll go back to Matthew 18:20: "For where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them. "And we do come together in his name. For us, it just happens to be on Thursday."