The Emporia Gazette

May 27, 2012

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After this, you may be riding a Holy-Davidson.

At least 400 motorcyclists will be attending Emporia’s first-ever “bike blessing” at the First Baptist Church. The event was organized by the church and the city’s chapter of the Christian Motorcyclists Association, a relatively new group called the Heartland Samaritan Riders.

Doug Cushenberry, the CMA chapter head, is still a little stunned that he got the church’s ...well ... blessing to do this.

“They’re going to allow 400 motorcycles to roll into their parking lot — and they’re not a motorcycle congregation!” Cushenberry said. “Pastor (Vic) Powell asked if they wanted to do this and they said ‘Bring it on!’”

A word of explanation may be needed here. Despite the name, it’s not the motorcycle itself that is blessed. It’s the rider.

“The bike is a metal object,” Cushenberry explained. “Basically, they’re blessing the rider for safety. The motorcycle is basically a tool used to spread the gospel of Jesus Christ. Some people say ‘You’re blessing an inanimate object,’ but that’s not what it’s really about.”

Bike blessings are a fairly common practice for the Christian Motorcyclists, though in Kansas they’ve mostly been held in Fort Scott until now. And when the Samaritan Riders started to come together three years ago, Cushenberry wanted to give it a try. But it didn’t really click until a friend put Cushenberry into the path of Powell, an interim pastor at First Baptist who came to town in January.

“We were at a meeting out at Salina, and I met a guy from Fort Scott who said he knew a pastor who’d come to Emporia who at one time was involved with the CMA,” Cushenberry said. “He told me ‘You guys need to hook up with him.’”

They did and things started coming together. Soon they had not only a church and a minister for the event, but also about 10 other businesses and groups offering support.

Sometimes jokingly called the Heaven’s Angels, the Christian Motorcyclists Association had its inspiration in 1974, after a man named Herb Shreve attended his first motorcycle rally and realized that many of the participants had never heard the Gospel message. After prayer and some discussions with friends, Shreve organized the CMA in 1975 as a way of ministering to and through the biking community.

Today, the group has more than 100,000 members across the country, including 25 chapters in Kansas. One side effect of the organization, Cushenberry said, is that the members can keep each other away from the drugs, alcohol and rough lifestyle that can haunt some secular rallies.

“If you’re not a CMA rider, that doesn’t mean you’re not a believer in God,” he said. “But there is that element out there. I’ve ridden in that lifestyle.

“I’ve got a family and a wife and a son and one of the things I do is ride motorcycles,” he went on. “But this is my way of making sure I do it safely.The other guys hold me accountable. I don’t have to worry about temptation. I don’t have to worry about the other things that go on.”

The full event, called “Biker Sunday,” begins with a 10:45 a.m. program at the church, 801 Constitution St. The event is free and the bikers will include several groups besides the CMA as a show of support.

The speaker will be CMA member Mike Bright of Chanute. A hamburger lunch with all the fixings will be served at noon, with Powell starting the bike blessings at 2 p.m. Each of the blessed bikers gets a decal for their bike, showing the year of the blessing.

“A lot of the guys will make sure their bike is blessed every year,” Cushenberry said. “That’s how they’re touched.”