Burgers, beans and a blessing of the bikes. And don’t forget the fellowship.
Motorcycle or not, all will be welcome at the 2009 FBC Biker Sunday on April 19 at the First Baptist Church, Eighth Avenue and Constitution Street.
The event, sponsored by the church, is part of an outreach ministry of the Christian Motorcyclist Association, an organization whose purpose is to give motorcyclists a Christian fellowship and to “Change the world, one heart at a time.”
This will be the third Biker Sunday for the church, and each event has grown from the previous year’s.
Lori Siebenaler, president of Heartland Samaritan Riders, the local chapter of the CMA, said the purpose of Biker Sunday is for the church and the club to reach out to the community.
“The main thing it’s about is spreading the word and letting people hear the gospel,” Siebenaler said, “perhaps for people who don’t ordinarily go to church on a regular basis or don’t get the opportunity to hear the word.”
The event is a popular one, drawing about 385 people its first year and more than 400 last year.
In fact, the first event was what made it possible for the Heartland Samaritan Riders chapter to receive its charter.
“There were five guys who had been trying for three years to get a chapter started,” Siebenaler said.
Starting a chapter requires an attendance of at least 10 members at six successive meetings. Just as the five were about to give up trying, the church’s interim pastor, Vic Powell, introduced the church to the CMA.
“Within the next year, we gained enough members to be chartered as an official chapter,” Siebenaler said. “That first Biker Sunday was the turning point for the chapter here in Emporia. It’s been a blessing for us.”
The local chapter now boasts a membership of more than 35 area motorcyclists.
“It’s something our church really got behind,” Siebenaler said. “They enjoy bringing in the bikers and having an outreach ministry and being able to reach out to the community in a different way.”
A popular feature of Biker Sunday is the Blessing of the Bikes, an event that draws a large crowd.
“It’s actually, of course, a blessing for the biker, not the bike itself,” Siebenaler said. “That brings a lot of people in. There are a lot of people who want their bikes blessed.”
There will also be a free lunch for all who attend, with a menu of burgers, hot dogs, baked beans, chips, dessert and beverages.
This year’s Biker Sunday will feature music and testimony by Dennis Michael Cox, an ex-convict who is now a prison chaplain and recording artist.
“He’s really energetic and his music’s just great,” Siebenaler said.
There will also be music by the church’s praise and worship band, some of whose members also make up the band Sweetwater.
Also included in the day’s events will be a bike show, with prizes to be awarded for Best in Show, first, second and third place.
Registration for Biker Sunday will take place at 9 a.m. April 19 at the First Baptist Church. The church’s youth group will provide a breakfast by donation.
At 11 a.m. Cox will give a service featuring his music and testimony.
The Blessing of the Bikes will take place at noon, with lunch and the viewing and judging of the bikes to take place afterward.
Awards will be given in a presentation at 1:30 p.m.
“We’re trying to reach out to the community,” Siebenaler said. “Really, the experience we want people to come away with is just a fun day, a way to praise God and be able to hear the word in an outdoor, alternative setting instead of inside a regular church setting.”