Most Texas car shows show off the biggest and boldest new cars, trucks, and SUVs out there, according to Rev. Eric Folkerth of Northaven United Methodist Church in Dallas, TX. So when church members proposed a hybrid car show four years ago, the idea was a semi-serious joke. Now that joke has turned into a rallying event for the church’s annual Earth Day Celebration. 

Fuel efficiency has become a matter of pride in this congregation. The event began with just four hybrid cars. This year, 19 hybrid cars owners parked in front of the church, popped their hoods and opened their doors for their fellow congregants. In addition, several people with high MPG vehicles—including the owner of a Vespa who gets 100 MPG—participated as well. It’s a way to showcase fuel efficiency as a value of this congregation, according to Folkerth.

“As Christian people we clearly see that God has called us to be stewards, not abusers of the environment,” he said. “You can have scientific motivations for saving the Earth and for some, that’s enough. But there are a whole lot of other people for whom it is connected to faith—it’s the right scientific thing and the right moral thing to do.”

Folkerth calls the show an act of witness, a way of teaching that making good consumer choices is a means of putting faith into action.