The Garden City Telegram
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Cruisin' a way for pastor to connect
Published 7/7/2008 in News : Area coverage
By EMILY BEHLMANN
ebehlmann@gctelegram.com
There are a lot of reasons you might find Bob Bates cruising down the street on his three-wheeled Harley Davidson motorcycle.
It has something to do with relieving stress and something to do with the beauty of the Kansas landscape. It's a little bit about saving gas money and a lot about spending time with his wife, Brenda, and their friends. And it's a means of getting ice cream.
But for Bates, associate pastor at Bible Christian Church, the motorcycle also is a way to connect with fellow Christians -- even some who ordinarily wouldn't set foot in a church.
Bob and Brenda started riding motorcycles about 20 years ago, but less often when family priorities and the responsibilities of raising children took over, he said.
"It's stress relief for me to get out and just ride," Bob Bates said.
He meanwhile began ministry work at about the same time -- first in Oregon, then in Australia, then in Florida -- after he graduated from Northwest Christian School in Eugene, Ore., and Emmanuel School of Religion in Johnson City, Tenn.
The motorcycle hobby and ministry work weren't related directly, yet the Bates both said they see a tie between them.
It's a tie that is emphasized with T-shirts, featuring a motorcycle carrying a Bible, both Bob and Brenda wore as they and about 10 other couples, mostly from the church, prepared to take off Thursday on a motorcycle trip to Colorado.
"Start cruzin' for Christ," proclaims the back of the shirt, then citing Colossians 3:17 of the Bible. That verse states, "And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him."
Bob Bates, who has worked at Bible Christian since he and his wife moved from Gainesville, Fla., in October 2005, said he put together the ideas of church and motorcycle when he discovered that about 30 individuals and families from Bible Christian liked to ride.
Soon, they and about 10 families from other local and area churches got involved in Tuesday night trips to nearby towns, usually for dinner and always for ice cream.
It's as much fun for the wives as it is for their husbands, said Brenda, who works with children's programs at Bible Christian in addition to her full-time job as a licensed practical nurse at St. Catherine Hospital.
They also take longer trips twice a year, like the five-day trek through Colorado that was set to end today. Makeshift church services are held along the way, and the group always takes what it needs to hold communion, Bob Bates said.
He said group members try to demonstrate their values wherever they are, on places like the road and the restaurants where they stop to eat.
They also use riding to reach out in other ways with people they meet. A common interest opens the door to "connecting with hardened bikers who you traditionally wouldn't find in a church," Bates said.
Denomination doesn't matter when it comes to the motorcycle rides, Bates said.
"We don't talk theology, just fellowship," he said. "We encourage each other, and ice cream is always involved."
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