But for the sight of more than a dozen men wearing coveralls, toting cans of oil and sliding under cars in the parking lot, Saturday morning at the South Whidbey Assembly of God church looked like it could have been Sunday.
Half the lot was full of parked cars as a lineup of a score more waited in the drive behind the church.
But the people in the cars were not waiting for spiritual tuneup — that would come the next day. They were seeking automotive salvation.
For eight years, a large corps of weekend grease monkeys have made the church the site of the cheapest oil change in town. For the price of a discounted oil filter, the lads in long blue denim change the oil for any single woman, elderly person, or needy family who asks.
Started after church pastor Matt Chambers got the idea from another church, the shade tree oil changes have been a regular fixture from two to four times a year. Church members provide the oil, the labor and the coffee and doughnuts for this no-appointment and no-cash-necessary service.
Saturday’s auto clinic drew more than 70 cars and drivers and kept volunteer mechanics busy for three solid hours. Allan Cox, a two-year veteran mechanic at the clinic, said the hours spent under cars draining oil into a pan and onto himself makes him feel that his church is doing something positive for people all over South Whidbey. He even had that good feeling during the church’s spring clinic, which was held in a three-hour downpour.
“It’s good to get your hands muddy, wet and greasy,” he said.
Bill Birney, a retired race car driver who plays manager at the clinics, said the now-semiannual event allows him to do the work he believes a church should do.
“I think the church misses the point if it doesn’t do an outreach to the community,” he said.
Attracting “customers” to the clinics works on a simple formula. Several weeks prior to the event, the church mails a notice and a coupon to people who have used the clinic in the past. The coupon gives them $1 off the price of an oil filter at Sebo’s Do It Center in Bayview or at McQueen’s Auto Supply in Freeland; individual drivers must purchase the filters themselves, but it the only expense.
Other people drive to the clinic after hearing about it from friends or reading about it in the newspaper. Matt Chambers said there is never a shortage of new customers.
“We get phone calls all the time,” he said.
Those calls don’t come just because people who use the clinic like the price. Kris O’Brochta, a single mother who lives in Freeland, said she’s brought her car to the clinic for six years because the service is so good. She is able to sit inside the church talking with friends and drinking coffee during the 30 to 40 minutes it takes for the oil change. At the same time, her two children watch cartoons or play with friends at the church’s playground.
“They do awesome work,” O’Brochta said. “They’re great.”
Brenda Hamilton, a friend of O’Brochta and new church member, had her car serviced for the first time by the Assembly of God’s weekend warriors. Without the help, she said, many people might not maintain their cars.
“I’m very appreciative of it,” she said.
Though Saturday’s spectrum of cars ran the gamut, from a herd of mid-1970s Subarus to a new Volvo station wagon, Bill Birney said the men and women working at the clinic take people at their word when they say they need the service. His pit crew stays until the work is finished, even when they get as many as 90 cars.
People who need the oil change service offered by the Assembly of God are encouraged to call the church at 221-1656. The next clinic is planned for the spring.
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