God's Word for 'Up and Outers'

Dallas businessman Garry Kinder's Bent Tree Bible Study isn't a church, but it's no social club either.

"Let me get this straight," said a confused Garry Kinder to the Bent Tree Country Club manager. "You want me to teach the Bible study … in a bar?"

The manager had explained that the ballroom, which Garry had requested, was in use every Sunday morning. So it was either the bar or nothing.

The Bible study that Garry, a successful Dallas businessman, had been holding in the Cosmopolitan Lady Fitness Club, had quickly outgrown its space and desperately needed a new home.

But a bar?

Garry discussed their options with other members of the Bible study, who immediately said yes.

"Really, when you think about it," says Garry, "it's the perfect place. Our entire ministry is set up to be non-threatening and non-churchy. A bar definitely fits that order."


A Bible study is born


In October 1979, Billy Weber, then pastor of Prestonwood Baptist Church in Dallas, and Garry Kinder decided to start a Bible study on Sunday mornings to reach "up and outers," Dallas's wealthy business people who had never been to church or who were turned off by formal religion.

They held a dinner party in a lush, wealthy home for the kick-off. Billy invited ten couples to attend, and Garry taught a 20-minute Bible study.

It was a success. One of the couples that attended, Anton and Donna Skell, offered to host the Bible study at their business place—the Cosmopolitan Lady.

For the next nine weeks the couples met every Sunday morning to hear Garry teach on different Bible characters. The same ten couples attended—and brought other couples.

Because the meetings weren't held in a church, Garry discovered these couples felt more comfortable and less threatened to study the Bible and ask questions about faith. The group grew quickly, completely by word of mouth, to more than 50 people.

Soon, the rapidly growing Bible study moved to the Bent Tree Country Club, and Garry decided he would teach the entire Bible, verse by verse, from Genesis to Revelation.

In early 1980 the group, now with more than 100 people, officially named itself the Bent Tree Bible Study (BTBS). By 1987, BTBS outgrew the Bent Tree bar and relocated to the Prestonwood Country Club's ballroom.

Today, the group has 400 members. It has worked completely through the Bible twice—it takes ten years each time—and is currently working on its third time through.

BTBS began to grow so much that many of the members and visitors needed pastoral care, such as counseling, marriage or funeral services, and baptism—which Garry didn't have time or energy to handle. "I'm not a pastor—I'm a businessman who happens to teach a Bible study. Pastoring is not my gift."

In stepped John Gillespie, a businessman from Springfield, Missouri, who had visited BTBS and felt called into the ministry. He was ordained by his home church, moved his family to Dallas, and stepped into the administrative pastoral role for BTBS, as well as heading another outreach program, Roaring Lambs.

Garry insists BTBS is not a church, even though it functions like one. "It can't be a church," says Garry, "because BTBS was based upon the premise that it would reach people who aren't interested in church."

"We view BTBS as a drive-thru," explains Janet Kinder, Garry's wife. "We encourage people to become involved in a local church."

Yet many people still view BTBS as their church. According to the Kinders, BTBS ministers to three types of attenders: people who come for a while, then leave to find a church home; people who use BTBS as their Sunday school/Bible study, then go to church afterwards; and people who view BTBS as their church.

"This isn't a social club," says Garry. "This is learning about the Bible. When the Bible study is over, we go about our business in the world, taking what we've learned, applying it to our lives, and sharing it with others."

Garry and Janet continually hear stories about people whose lives have turned around because of God's work through BTBS. "Recently, I met a young man at First Baptist Church," says Garry. "I didn't know who he was. He said, 'Garry, I went to BTBS two times. Then I went home and prayed to receive Christ because of your Bible study.'"

But their greatest success story may be the alcoholic who showed up one Sunday morning.


A life changed


Kathy Golla was in trouble. Her life was a mess. She was a new Christian but was suffering from depression. She was an alcoholic who could barely handle the day-to-day tasks of keeping her business running. She'd even begun drinking in the mornings just to face the day. In 1981, when a business associate invited her to a Bible study at the Bent Tree Country Club bar, she accepted eagerly.

"I was never comfortable with the 'church' scene—especially with Sunday school," says Kathy. "So a bar was a comfortable setting for me!"

It was a simple Bible study that lasted about an hour and ten minutes. Kathy, who knew nothing about the Bible, was amazed. "Garry's teaching was so clear," she says. "He explained each verse and brought it to life with everyday examples that I could understand."

From that point on, she faithfully attended the Bible study, learning about God and the Bible. All the while, she still attended inebriated.

"I showed up every week drunk!" Kathy says. "I thought no one knew since I had such an outgoing personality. But God knew. Every week as I listened to Garry teach, and the more I read and studied my Bible, the more God got a hold of me." Until finally, a year later, he had her complete attention, and she entered rehab to get her life in order.

While she was away, members of BTBS sent her cards telling her they were praying for her. "I didn't know what to do with all of that, it was so new to me," she says. "God showed me such grace and forgiveness through Garry and BTBS. I began to recognize that God had a plan and a future filled with hope for me. People did care about me—I did matter to God."

Once Kathy was released from rehab, she decided to go to school to become a psychologist. And several years later, she approached Garry with an idea: "I want to start a counseling center."


Going national


Garry encouraged Kathy to start the Bent Tree Counseling Center, a faith-based counseling organization that specializes in working with addictions. The center quickly grew to become Dallas's fifth-largest counseling center.

These days, BTBS also hosts an outreach breakfast to the Dallas community that features local celebrities talking about their faith, and Pray for the Nation, a prayer ministry led by Janet Kinder.

In 1993 BTBS went national with the creation of Roaring Lambs, an outreach inspired by the late Christian businessman Bob Briner that trains believers to become more effective Christians in their everyday lives.

"We believe God calls each of us to step up and step out," says Garry. "We don't just learn the Bible, then keep it to ourselves. We try to get people excited about sharing the gospel with others. BTBS is about encouraging people to step up and live out their faith. You can make a difference where you are."

Ginger Kolbaba is managing editor of Marriage Partnership magazine. For more information about the Bent Tree Bible Study, visit www.btbs.com, or read Stepping Up & Stepping Out: Living Your Faith Right Where You Are—The Remarkable Story of Garry Kinder and the Bent Tree Bible Study (Insight Publishing).


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