FLINT TWP., Michigan -- A church that wears its non-traditional outlook on its sleeve is making its mark on the arms, legs and backs of parishioners and others who ask for it.

The Bridge, an upstart church built on the belief that mainstream religion has become ineffective and irrelevant to most people, has opened a Genesee County-licensed tattoo parlor — Serenity Tattoo — inside its doors.

Just down the hall from the Rev. Steve Bentley's office and around the corner from the galvanized watering trough used for baptisms, tattoo artists Ryan Brown and Drew Blaisdell are plying their trade by appointment or from noon until 8 p.m., Monday-Saturday.

"I was running my own studio. I was just working. There wasn't much purpose in it," said Brown, 32, a recovering alcoholic who said the atmosphere inside the church building has helped to keep him focused and on the right path.

"I was struggling with whether I could keep my studio" and stay sober, he said. "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.

Bentley said he's doing everything he can, tatto parlor included, to open The Bridge to people who have never felt comfortable at a traditional house of worship.

The church owns 30,000 square feet inside Carman Plaza shopping center, located just northeast of Corunna Road and I-75.

"The tattoo is a really prominent art form in our culture today," said Bentley, who has two tattoos himself, one of which was done in church. "I don't think it should be owned by a culture of drug abuse and pornography."

Bentley said he has heard whispers of criticism from outside the church about the mixing of tattooing with a place of worship, but the pastor said he considers it a "morally neutral" practice — no different than pierced ears.

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

Bentley opened The Bridge in 2008 at its current location and it has survived and grown since even though large pieces of the real estate remain undeveloped.

It offers a "celebrate recovery" service from 6-9 p.m. Saturdays as well as 11 a.m. and 5 p.m. services on Sundays.

Blaisdell, 46, of Clayton Township, found The Bridge was the kind of fellowship he needed after he reunited with Brown after having not seen him for 10 years.

"I was at an AA meeting in Flushing. I was at the end of my rope," Blaisdell said, when he heard Brown was also in recovery and had begun tattooing inside The Bridge.

A few months later, Blaisdell was working with Brown and was baptized in the church where he now works.

"It was almost like a miracle," Blaisdell said of his situation. "I was an atheist ... who just didn't care about anything. The appealing thing to me is, I'm dealing with so many people who are recovery based. It's kind of brought us all together."

That's the kind of match Bentley is building his ministry on.

Born in Flint and raised in Linden, the pastor was a high school dropout who went on to put himself through college by working as an auto mechanic.

He graduated with a bachelor's degree in theology from Olivet Nazarene University in Illinois and ordained in 1999. He earned a master's degree in 2006 from American Intercontinental University.

Bentley said he isn't concerned that other churches wouldn't consider supporting many of the activities he has by allowing the use of the church building, including tattooing, cage fighting, wrestling and auto repair.

The church is also used for meetings of Narcotics Anonymous and Alcoholics Anonymous.

"We don't want a million-dollar building that's only used a few times a week," he said. "That's such a waste of what God has given us. We really try to serve the community."

Brown said the tattoo business is traditionally associated with a "negative environment," including drug use, and he sees the chance to provide the same service in "a safe, positive environment."

He and Blaisdell said they won’t fill requests for tattoos that glorify drugs, gangs or the Devil. They can be reached at 810-620-5609.

"I used to be a non-believer," Brown said. "I hit bottom and I grabbed onto the church."