Christian Motorcycle Ministry

Yes, if you didn’t know, motorcycle ministry is a thing. In fact, many of us believe it is a very good thing for men and women of faith who like to ride, but are not interested in participating in traditional biker behavior that runs counter to their faith.

There are many international Christian biker organizations across the country and beyond; Christian Motorcyclists Association (CMA), Bondslaves MC, Bikers for Christ (BFC), God’s Squad CMC, The Priesthood Motorcycle Ministry and many, many more. Do an internet search for “Christian Motorcycle Groups” and you will be surprised.

There are also local biker ministries like the group I belong to, Full Armor Bikers out of Shepherd Church of the Nazarene in Gahanna, Ohio. Full Armor is exclusive to our church, at least for now.

All of these biker organizations typically wear the standard leather vest with their organizational patch on the back. Depending on the rules of the particular group, we also personalize the vest with a variety of patches and pins that indicate the places we’ve been and the events we have attended.

Full Armor Bikers

Instead of riding bar to bar to drink, we typically schedule weekend rides to eat, fly the flag, and let it be known that we are a Christian group and not to be feared. We pray publicly and are very careful in how we represent our faith and our church. We also participate in service activities as an outward display of our belief system.

We enjoy entering an eating establishment and watching the relief in the other patrons as they realize we are a Christian group and not the type bikers that peace loving people don’t care to be around, especially while enjoying a meal with their family.

We view our biker group as an outreach ministry. We do support projects for our own church, but we are at our best when we are out on the road talking with (and praying for) people about our motorcycles and about our ministry. Our business card is a poker chip with our logo on one side and our web site address on the other. We hand out a lot of those during any given year. One of the pastors at our church describes Full Armor is a “Ride and Witness ministry.” That describes us very well.

Our group consists of men and women of all ages and experiences, but we all have this in common; we love to ride and we love Jesus. But, it is the motorcycle ride that separates us from every other church group. Events that take us off the bikes for hours at a time are not our preference. We’re at our best when we are riding as a group.

Most biker groups have some extra affiliation that separates them from the rest. We are no different. I believe our ministry rests on three pillars:

1. Our relationship with Jesus Christ.
2. We are a motorcycle riding organization (Ride and Witness).
3. Our support of the Rusty Bellomy Bikes for Missions (RBBFM) program.

Rusty Bellomy Bikes for Missions and the NMF (Nazarene Motorcycle Fellowship)

The Rusty Bellomy Bikes for Missions project is a fundraising effort where the money raised goes to purchase motorcycles for pastors around the world, usually in developing countries or areas where one pastor serves as many groups/congregations as he can reach. Motorcycles greatly expand the reach of the pastor, especially in areas with under developed roadways.

To date, RBBFM has provided 172 motorcycles to pastors in 16+ countries and we believe we are just getting started. You can see that this effort partners perfectly with the concept of Christian Motorcycle Ministry.

Full Armor’s home is a Nazarene church and RBBFM is managed and operated by the Nazarene Motorcycle Fellowship (NMF), but the support goes well beyond any single denomination. We receive donations from people from many denominations and even faiths. For instance, I have a good friend who happens to be Jewish that makes a very generous donation every year. RBBFM is certainly not a Jewish effort, but my friend recognizes the good work of the Christian church and how important it is for people to have access to their faith leaders, especially people in developing countries.

Biker Sunday.

Full Armor hosts an annual Biker Sunday at our church where we invite every biker we can reach, regardless of their denomination or whether they even attend a church. We conduct a special biker service, blessing of the riders and bikes, and we take a nice, rural ride to Velvet Ice Cream in Utica, Ohio. Yes, we ride to eat. During this entire event we encourage donations to RBBFM and we typically receive enough to purchase 2-3 more motorcycles. That money goes to the NMF who makes sure a bike gets to the next pastor on application to receive one. The bikes are purchased overseas and delivered directly to the pastor, where it is all overseen by the pastor’s district leadership.

The Nazarene Motorcycle Fellowship consists of about 18 people, many of them husband and wife teams, from churches around the country. Our common denominator is that we love Jesus, ride motorcycles and are members of some Christian motorcycle organization, though I don’t know that riding motorcycles and riding in a biker organization is a requirement. In fact, a couple of the key people who make sure the money and bikes get to the right place don’t appear to be bikers. It also appears to me that these two people are critical to the NMF mission and I am very glad they are willing to put up with us. The NMF formed in 2010 and many of the group have been there since the beginning.

My wife, Phyllis and I are new members of the NMF and we attended a recent meeting in Nashville. Phyllis was recruited for her expertise and experience in graphic design, web site design, marketing and a ton of other critical skills. She is also very easy to get along with. I was recruited because I am her husband and I think I am just required to get her safely to and from the meetings.

The Nazarene Motorcycle Fellowship exists to administer the Rusty Bellomy Bikes for Missions program and we are just kicking off a renewed effort to get the word out about the NMF and RBBFM. You may see us somewhere. If not, you can donate at NazareneMotorcycleFellowship.com   If you are like my Jewish friend and you see the great benefit in helping Christian pastors be more effective in developing areas, your money will be well spent.

Again, thanks for reading and please like my blog. Also, check out my book on Amazon.com, “Backroads, Buffoonery & Breakthroughs in leadership.”
One last plug, I make part of my living speaking to large or small groups on leadership, emergency management, relationship violence, and long distance motorcycling. If you’re looking for a speaker for your group, give me a shout at [email protected]. Thanks.