ALBANY -Some motorcyclists were born to be wild. Others were born to ride their bikes 50 miles to church.
That is, at least, what Alvis Pollard did Sunday morning, when he rode from Gallipolis to serve as the guest pastor at Albany Baptist Church's first Cruise-In service, a church service intended to allow bikers to show off their rides.
This is what I call a bridge event
bridging from the church to the community said Albany Baptist Senior Pastor Mike Rose. We find different ways to get out of the walls of the church and engage with others.
The Cruise-In was the first true outdoor service for the 159-year-old church. There had been, during recent years, several sermons delivered outdoors, but those were held in a tent, Rose said.
About 25 motorcycles were parked and displayed at the Lake Snowden Meadow during the Cruise-In, an idea conceived during early July. The event was fashioned after a similar motorcycle service held at Grove City Church of the Nazarene near Columbus.
Among the motorcycles on display were three built by No Coast Choppers, an Albany-based company that builds custom chopper frames. The event allowed the company to show its work, said Rod Graves, founder and owner of No Coast Choppers.
Also on display were Rose and Pollard's motorcycles. Rose, who rides about 150 miles a week, traveled a little more than three miles from his home for the service, while Pollard logged nearly 50 miles on his way to Lake Snowden.
I enjoyed going to church more today than I've ever enjoyed going to church he said.
During the service, many of the 290 in attendance sat in lawn chairs under trees, in an effort to avoid the heat. The weather, though, was a blessing, Pollard said.
The first thing Mike said to me was
'We have to pray for good weather
' Pollard said. I've prayed several times
and He has given it to us.
Albany Baptist averages about 320 for a regular Sunday service, though Rose attributed the below-average attendance for the Cruise-In to the holiday weekend and said the service was still successful.
I see a lot of faces here that I don't see at church
he said, so there are a lot of guests that are here. That's part of what we wanted to do
just expose people to the ministry.
Albany Baptist plans to continue the event next year, though there might be a few small changes, Rose said.
Next time
we'll shoot to be more organized
he said. We just started putting this together 60 days ago.
