Digby Wesleyan church offers an an annual late summer event to bless motorcyclists.
THE CHURCH
Digby Wesleyan Church, Digby, N.S.
THE CHALLENGE
Connecting with neighbours and offering encouragement
THE IDEA
An annual late summer event to bless motorcyclists
THE COST
No official costs as members of the church and biker community provide needed mics and equipment annually
Pastor Andrew Maves of Digby Wesleyan Church explains:
As a biker I’ve always been amazed that for a big tough-guy culture, most are scared or skeptical of the Church. Our goal with the Blessing of the Bikes is to share how Christ changed my life.
Like Paul says in 1 Corinthians 9, "I’ve become all things to all men that I might save them," we say, "Come and bring your bike, bring your passions, come and find out that church isn’t boring."
We’re going to bless your ride because the culture is a little superstitious, so let’s use that for the Lord. They come to get their bike blessed, and we remind them God wants to bless more than their bike. He wants to bless their life.
The Blessing of the Bikes has been hosted all over our community of Digby, a little gem in the middle of Nova Scotia. We’ve got some of the nicest people and most beautiful seascapes. We’ve done it at the church building, downtown, at the main stage.
This year we did it at the Superstore parking lot. We’ve found it never ends up costing us for a trailer or a sound system. The Lord always provides.
On the day of the event, people park and stay by their ride. We share a little about the blessing, then there’s a short message. Sometimes we’ve had our worship team step in and the response has been, "I’ve never heard music like that in a church before."
We’ve had people who journey [to join us from out of town] time and time again. They’ve made it a pilgrimage. We simply share the gospel and life lessons that make sense for those who come.
If another church wants to try something like this, I’d say keep it about Jesus, keep it about the bikers and make sure to show the bikers love. Stay focused. If you’re loving the community genuinely, they’re going to see that and be open to the message.
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Do you have a story to share about your church’s community outreach? Contact our editors at editor@FaithToday.ca. Read more stories at FaithToday.ca/CIC. Photos: Digby Wesleyan Church