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    Pastor opens tattoo parlor inside Michigan church

    FLINT TOWNSHIP, Mich. (AP) — A Michigan pastor who says he's doing everything he can to reach out to people who don't feel comfortable at a traditional house of worship has opened a tattoo parlor inside his church.

    Rev. Steve Bentley of The Bridge, a church located inside a Flint Township shopping center, said his ministry is built on the belief that mainstream religion has become ineffective and irrelevant to most people. To that end, he opened Serenity Tattoo.

    Tattoo artists Ryan Brown and Drew Blaisdell work by appointment or from noon until 8 p.m., Monday-Saturday, at the county-licensed tattoo shop that sits not far from Bentley's office as well as the watering trough that he uses for baptisms.

    Bentley, who has two tattoos, said he understands some don't like the idea of Serenity Tattoo inside the church, but the pastor considers tattooing a "morally neutral" practice that he likens to getting one's ears pierced.

    "We are about doing church in a different way and being relevant to people," Bentley told The Flint Journal. "You can get a tattoo in a clean environment. You can do it while still sticking to your moral code."

    Brown is a recovering alcoholic who said the atmosphere inside the church building has helped to keep him focused and on the right path.

    "I was running my own studio. I was just working. There wasn't much purpose in it," he said. "I was struggling with whether I could keep my studio" and stay sober.

    "I prayed a lot and decided the best thing was to close it and come to the church. I figured I could have a lot more positive impact" here, Brown said.

    The church owns 30,000 square feet inside the Flint-area shopping center.

    Bentley said about 1,000 people call The Bridge their home church, and up to 500 in total attend his three weekend services.

    The pastor makes an effort to talk to all who visit Serenity Tattoo, he said, although not all end up checking out the church.

     
    • Wingnut  •  4 mths ago
      The big question: Is the tattoo parlor a business or is the money from it considered tax-exempt religious donations?
      • GodisLonely 4 mths ago
        I was just about to ask the same question. If he's getting paid for his work, technically he ought to be paying taxes on that, especially if it is set up as a business. He'd better be, and church dollars better not go to 'keeping it afloat.' He ought to be paying a rent to.. even if it's just $1.
      • Bill 4 mths ago
        501c3 non profits do not pay taxes on income.
      • Wing Rider 4 mths ago
        If all the money supports the Church then it is a non-profit and is untaxable.
    • let them eat cake  •  Houston, Texas  •  4 mths ago
      Leviticus 19:28
      Ye shall not make any cuttings in your flesh for the dead, nor print any marks upon you: I am the LORD.
      • Beth 4 mths ago
        True. But religion is a BUSINESS in this day and age. They find ways to put spins on everything in order to brainwash more of the masses. My local church holds "Night at the Races" and other gambling nights and then says it is somehow OK because it is IN the church, but not RUN by the church, but the Catholic school instead. HA! What profiteers.
      • Andrew 4 mths ago
        The Bible is the Word of God.
        Religion is the opiate of the masses.
        There is quite a difference here.
        The OP is right on.
      • Kim 4 mths ago
        yup, this never changed!
    • Amber B  •  Duluth, Minnesota  •  4 mths ago
      I'm guessing his tatt artists don't do flaming skulls or naked ladies.
      • Cygnus 4 mths ago
        Just Roses on the Boobies
      • QQ 4 mths ago
        What would be wrong with flaming skulls or naked ladies? Jesus with the head of a beagle on an upside-down flaming cross with Calvin peeing on him, THAT I can see them having a problem with.
      • Wing Rider 4 mths ago
        They're not going to be doing naked ladies or anything that is considered morally unacceptable by God.
    • Deborah  •  Westland, Michigan  •  4 mths ago
      Too many pastors and not enough sheep.
    • Olivia Harlan  •  4 mths ago
      "Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world..." I John 1:15, 16. He should not have to entice someone to come into his ministry because "No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day." John 6:44. And now I repent for even being on this site in the first place...
      • Clouseaux 4 mths ago
        Keep it coming Olivia ! This is exactly why you NEED to be on this site ! The world needs to be taught that their life on earth will not last forever..
      • Olivia Harlan 4 mths ago
        Give God the praise because I am only trying to do what He has instructed His people to do...the world hasn't seen anything yet. If they would only read His Word and then they would know what you and I are aware of...
      • Hawk 4 mths ago
        Dont preach the wordly items crap when your televangelist are among the crookedest and morally bankrupt people in this contry.Have you ever seen a TV preacher that wasnt adorned in gold and surroundes by the most expensive church poor old people could buy.They do nothing but milk the public to provide themselfs with wealth
    • The Hunter  •  Douala, Cameroon  •  4 mths ago
      Jack-of-all trade! Finally,is he a pastor,tattooist or both? Crooks who pass for pastors to enrich themselves on the ignorance and generosity of parishioners! The bible disapproves of tattoos,yet he decides to do it in the church.I feel Americans will some day manufacture their own god!
      • QQ 4 mths ago
        The pastor isn't the one doing the tattoos.
      • Beth 4 mths ago
        No, he may no be doing that tattoos, but he is using his "church" to house a business that goes against his teachings. Just as bad as the churches who hold "Monte Carlo Nights" and have gamnling as a so called "fund raiser".....when Jesus tossed the gamblers out of the church? Religion is a BUSINESS and will do anything with a spin on it to somehow get money.
      • Wing Rider 4 mths ago
        If you think that then you better read the Bible again.
    • virtuel-reality  •  Dallas, Texas  •  4 mths ago
      What next?...Stripping for Jesus?......make sure you tax those fools!
    • Luther  •  Dayton, Ohio  •  4 mths ago
      We are to represent the character of Christ, what he is like and what heaven expect us to be. Churches should not be defind as to what they believe but what the bible teaches. God does not compromise his truth with error. 1John 2:15-17
      I read once of a church that believes in married couples swapping, does that make it God led? Read your bible and let the truth set you free.
    • susan--ZZ  •  4 mths ago
      i saw a bumper sticker that said, "I wonder if sometimes we don't give God a headache" :)
    • Loretta  •  4 mths ago
      Anybody can get a license over the internet and start preaching. But, that doesn't make them chosen by God. And this hypocrite wasn't call by God. God said, "Don't stab the body or put any marks on the body." "For your body is the temple of God." So, this joker has fail the pastorship already.
    • Deb  •  Chattanooga, Tennessee  •  4 mths ago
      If people don't feel uncomfortable inside a church, then the pastor is not doing his job. A church is not a building so much as it is a group of people meeting to worship and learn about God.
    • Susan  •  4 mths ago
      Deuteronomy 21:11-14
      Heck, if we're going to live by the bible, let's not pick and choose what we like, let's run with all of it.
    • Zik  •  4 mths ago
      False prophets of our times.
    • M  •  St Clair, Michigan  •  4 mths ago
      WWJD? just what this guy is doing......all ye without sin cast the first stone.
    • allan  •  4 mths ago
      He should start serving booze, and maybe have a massage parlor too. Surly that would attract more people also.
    • Kim  •  Atlanta, Georgia  •  4 mths ago
      MOST churches are businesses. This guy just has the next hip "open a tatoo parlor and they will come" scheme!
      The whole agenda of the modern "pastor" is to gain a flock of sheeple who pay "tithes" and in exchange, they have their spiritual lives mirco-managed and candy coated, while they tell you how much they really love you.
      We do not need modern day pastors... we need to realize there is already ONE kingdom and it is "at hand". This kingdom consists of a KING, and a set of RULES that one agrees to live by if they wish to be a part of HIS kingdom... its the "rules" part that most folks dont want to hear anymore, this is why they turn to the mini-kingdom tatoo parlor churches, with the mini-king(pastor) who makes them feel saved, without requiring any real change of heart.
    • Zik  •  4 mths ago
      In God's Name can be a dirty business.
    • Zik  •  4 mths ago
      Anything for God--The Money!
    • Wiseone  •  Charlotte, North Carolina  •  4 mths ago
      I thought Flint had hit rock bottom but apparently it is still falling.
    • dr know  •  4 mths ago
      what kind of tat can i get for seven hail marys
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