Content copyright . Alexis Tapp. All rights reserved.
Getting to evening church services is a smooth ride for 70-year-old Betty Owens and other members of La Prada Drive Church of Christ.
That's because the Mesquite church recently bought a limousine to help members uncomfortable with driving to services every Sunday and Wednesday evening.
"It's comfortable and very roomy," Ms. Owens said.
Church Elder Gerald Hanley said it's not as extravagant as it sounds – the silver 1990, nine-passenger Cadillac Fleetwood cost $1,700.
The purchase is a practical solution for the 185-member conservative congregation, he said.
Mr. Hanley said he came up with the idea about four months ago, when he attended a church seminar in Oklahoma. He saw a couple of limousines at a church there and was told they were being used to transport people to and from church.
The more he looked into it, the more sense it made.
"We've got several members who would be willing to drive some of these older members to night services, but most of the younger people drive big SUVs or smaller cars and older people find it hard to get into and out of those vehicles," Mr. Hanley said.
Mr. Hanley learned that used limousines, usually from funeral homes, are a great bargain. The church located a used limo dealer in Dallas, which had a great-looking silver Cadillac Fleetwood.
The dealer was using the vehicle as a "gate car" to block the entrance to the lot at night, Mr. Hanley said.
"It only had 37,000 miles on it," he said. "Didn't have a scratch on it and it runs perfectly; we only had to fix one mirror on it."
And the price was right, said Mr. Hanley, who added that the church is not trying to show off.
"It's worked out great," he said. "In fact, we're thinking about trying to get another."
He and others noted that La Prada Church of Christ is a very conservative congregation. At La Prada, women do not serve as teachers, and like in all Church of Christ congregations, members do not use any musical instruments during services
The congregation has a historic marker at its current site, noting that the church dates to 1907.
That year is only the earliest with documented proof of property ownership, Mr. Hanley said. The church actually was founded in the 1840s in the Sunnyvale area.
Since then, it has been in southern Dallas, the Fair Park area, on Bruton Road and then on La Prada since 1979.
Members who take advantage of the limousine service live in several communities throughout Dallas and eastern Dallas County.
Randall Ostrom, one of the limo's drivers, said it usually takes him over an hour to pick up all the passengers. Most are women.
"Some of them live in areas that have changed and are really no longer safe, especially at night for older people," he said.
Also, on occasion the church learns of needs it can help with. For example, one of the members needed to have handrails on stairs at her home repaired.
"We never would have known that if we hadn't gone out to her house and seen it for ourselves," he said.
For limo rider Faye Flatt, 84, the service not only gets her to church, but also provides an opportunity to visit with friends she might not otherwise see.
"We enjoy each other's company," Ms. Flatt said.
Mildred Atkinson, 87, said she appreciates the church's efforts.
"I wouldn't be in church tonight if it wasn't for it," she said. "It's nice being chauffeured."
Make and model: Cadillac Fleetwood
Color: Silver
Year: 1990
Mileage when purchased: 37,000
Cost: $1,700
Capacity: 9 passengers
SIDE NOTE: This endeavor has been so appreciated by those in our congregation who would otherwise have difficulty getting to church services that the church body has purchased another limo in order to insure those who need a ride can have one.
