Church’s gas ‘buy-down’ eases pain at pumps

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — For two hours on a recent Saturday in Jacksonville, Fla., Murray Hill Baptist Church offered some relief to today’s oppressive gasoline prices. The church covered 50 cents of the cost of each gallon pumped by 175 customers at the Kangaroo Express on Edgewood Avenue March 15.

With gas in Jacksonville selling at $3.26 a gallon — an all-time high — 50 cents off wasn’t exactly a steal. Nonetheless, 100 drivers lined up an hour and a half before the 10 a.m. start. When the buy-down was over at noon, the church had spent $1,020, pumped about 2,000 gallons of gas at $2.76 a gallon and washed a lot of windshields.

Doug Axtell, who has been the congregation’s pastor for six years, said the purpose of the gesture was “to show the community God’s love” and change residents’ image of Murray Hill.

For a 78-year-old congregation in a part of town that is being revitalized by an influx of younger residents, creating a second opinion of the church is invaluable. “Three-and-a-half years ago, I was confronted with the reality [that] most of our neighbors wouldn’t care if our church wasn’t here,” Axtell said.