WACO, Texas--What began as a Bible study for homeless men who slept under Interstate 35 has become an interdenominational church, according to Christianity Today.

The group has grown to include more homeless, as well as the poor, drug addicts, prostitutes and bikers. They were later joined by others who had no church experience or felt they didn't fit into area congregations.

Now, the people who worship under the bridge are a demographic snapshot of the city of 100,000 people and 257 churches. Black, white, Asian and Latino students from Baylor University, and others from the upper middle class, worship with the down-and-out of all colors. Ex-prisoners and food-stamp recipients worship with the well-heeled and educated. Along with breaking down class barriers, racial reconciliation is one of the church's main pillars.

Jimmy Dorrell, a Baylor professor started the group in1992.

The church's core values include a rejection of attractive "holy" buildings. Just over half of church offerings support outreach in Waco, Haiti, and India. Nothing goes to rent and utilities. Should prospective construction work to widen the highway or other events keep worshipers from their usual space, the church has purchased another piece of land for $3,000.

"It is a backup, next to another bridge where the homeless used to sleep, which we can use if we are ever run out from our current spot," Dorrell says. "Even at that vacant lot, we have no intentions of building a facility."

Dorrell's journey to the bridge began in the 1970s, when he was a missionary to lepers in Calcutta and New Delhi slums. "It's Jesus who sat at the well with the prostitute," he said. In contrast, many U.S. churches install burglar bars on their windows and hire bouncers to keep away people who look unusual. Or they move to the suburbs and isolate themselves from things Jesus called his followers to do.

"The church has got to rediscover its purpose in a postmodern culture, when absolute truth is no longer accepted by the mainstream," Dorrell says. "Unchurched people are looking for something that speaks genuineness to them."

Church Under the Bridge, he says, serves as a call for renewal for the church in America to be about the Father's business.

"In the church, I have crack addicts, prostitutes, criminals, but I also have materialists, power mongers and arrogant Pharisees," Dorrell says. "The gospel is just as much for them as it is the addict. All are accepted where they are."

Dorrell doesn't give altar calls, but church leaders are always up front for those wanting to know more about a personal relationship with Christ. Sometimes Dorrell ends the service by calling all to join hands.

The church also offers recovery groups a feeding program and a connection to other Christian and social service agencies for the homeless population in Waco.