By Craig Pinley
MUSKEGON, MI (December 31, 2003) – New Year’s Eve drinking and driving deaths seem as common in North America as the fireworks, confetti and the sounds of “Happy New Year” being shouted at midnight.
In Michigan, however, one region’s churches have helped to make the roads safer by participating in a program that includes a Covenant pastor. Paul Bengston, Pastor of Congregational Care at Forest Park Covenant Church in Muskegon, is part of an ecumenical ministry called “Last Call.” It usually runs on Friday and Saturday nights and helps people who need safe rides home from area taverns and restaurants after they’ve had too much to drink. Bengston has been part of the ministry since he arrived in Muskegon during the summer of 2002.
In 1996, a man who had recently come to faith felt a burden for his “bar-hopping” friends and had asked God to help him begin a ministry that would be practical and offer an opportunity to share his faith. He started the ministry in his home city of Grand Haven.
Bengston, who has been in ministry since 1967, heard about the ministry from the son-in-law of a parishioner and got involved with the new Muskegon chapter in August 2002. Two others from the church have been consistent drivers with Last Call. The ministry now includes drivers from seven different area churches. It has a board of directors and funding efforts have helped keep the ministry going.
Along with the Grand Haven and Muskegon chapters, Last Call exists in Grand Rapids, Holland, Saugtuck and Allendale. Its mission is “To fulfill the Great Commission by demonstrating the love of Jesus Christ through a designated driver service and other outreach activities (and)… bridging the gap between the local church and those whom they serve by becoming personally involved in their lives.”
“I thank God for being able to offer this very practical ministry,” said Bengston, who grew up in a Covenant church, but said he really came to know Christ as personal savior and Lord midway through his stay in the U.S. Navy. “I was once in the bar scene in my young adult days and I know that futility of trying to find lasting joy in that environment. And the fact that we offer this free of charge is a real conversation starter.
“A lot of the people we drive home are people who are very cautious about driving home – not drunk enough where you can’t communicate with them, but enough to know they should not be driving,” Bengston continued. “They’re saying, ‘I’ve been caught (drinking and driving) and I don’t want to get caught again and lose my license.’ The bars and bouncers also appreciate us because they know we’re legit and will take the customers home safely and bring their cars, too. Even some of the liquor distribution companies have given financially to our ministry.”
All Last Call volunteers go through an application process and use their own cars and pay for their own gas. Each chapter meets at a central dispatch site at 11 pm on Friday and Saturday nights and has a team session consisting of updates, devotions and prayer time. They alert patrons of their ministry by putting out brightly colored table tracts listing Last Call’s free driving and vehicle transfer services and a phone number for individuals to call if they are interested in the service. Then they wait, passing the time by playing board games and talking.
Initial calls for assistance usually occur around midnight. Last Call groups stay available until shortly after the usual 2 a.m. closing time for area taverns.
“The drivers come from a variety of churches and we have both men and women, for obvious reasons,” said Bengston. “Safety of the drivers is maintained, as well as integrity in having more than one person going out to give rides if there is cross-gender service being provided. If a car is also being transferred, a ‘trailer’ (driver) is sent to follow so that the driver has a ride back to the central dispatch area.
“Each driver is free to share their faith in conversation while riding, or in setting appointments to follow-up if there is in interest in spiritual things, depending on the level of intoxication and ability to communicate,” Bengston added.
For more information on how Last Call has worked in Michigan, call Bengston at 231-780-4784.
Copyright © 2011 The Evangelical Covenant Church.