Since February, it’s a South Carolina church movement that’s gone from zero to more than two dozen congregations nationally. Some churches are borrowing space from other churches, some are meeting in businesses, and some are meeting in homes. New members are coming to know Jesus as Savior, and there’s a goal for 10,000 to become committed disciples.
Biker Church USA attracts bikers from many different motorcycle ministries and biker organizations in a spirit of unity.It’s a church movement for a special culture: biker enthusiasts.
“We are just a ragamuffin ministry following closely in the footsteps of the King,” said Frank “Bro Franko” or “Pastor Frank” Lengel, senior pastor of Biker Church USA. “This is a very organic ministry, growing without real strategy to grow, but growing with a lot of intentionality.”
Lengel said he can trace the roots of Biker Church USA back to 2006, even though the church didn’t launch until 2009 with congregations in Laurens, Irmo and Florence.
“About three years ago, I started going to biker rallies where I drew caricatures of bikers,” said Lengel, a cartoonist whose work is regularly featured in The Baptist Courier. “As part of our biker ministry, 83 people made a profession of faith or a rededication. One morning I heard the Lord ask, “Where are they now? My Great Commission is to make disciples. Where are those 83 people now?”
Lengel said his “sinful pride” at connecting with those 83 people led to “embarrassment” that he did not know how those individuals were growing in their faith. Had they turned from sin? Were they growing deeper in faith? “We caught a vision that we needed to share the gospel at rallies, but also we needed to get people into the Bible, too. Our vision became a discipleship vision.”
About this same time, Carolina FaithRiders, a motorcycle ministry, was taking root among South and North Carolina Baptist churches. Hundreds of people were coming to know Jesus through rallies, and that was leading Lengel to the same haunting question: “Where are they, these new converts, now” in their spiritual journey?
Out of the growing interest in biker ministry through Carolina FaithRiders and a vision for discipleship, Lengel and others launched Biker Church USA with a vision of seeing 10,000 bikers involved in ongoing weekly discipleship education.
“We want bikers to open their Bibles each week in small groups,” Lengel said. “Nothing transforms people like the word of God. Having said that, we never intended to start a church; we are just a movement of God designed to be a discipleship tool after effective evangelism takes place. But God had another idea.”
Indeed. In February, Biker Church USA, Laurens, was started. In March, Lengel’s church – Suburban Baptist in West Columbia – sponsored Biker Church USA, Columbia. Churches are now forming in Myrtle Beach, Bluffton, North Greenville Baptist Association, and Fountain Inn. A request has come for help with a church plant in Lancaster. Lengel said dozens of contacts have come from around the country, joining the network to see 10,000 bikers in discipleship. He estimates current discipleship numbers at between 1,000 and 2,000.
Jaybird, Joe, and Tootleloo have cultivated a big following online with their comedic approach to sharing the gospel with bikers across America.Lengel credits his friend Bill “Bishop Bill” Dieckmann, director of missions, Columbia Metro Baptist Association, with helping launch the vision for Biker Church USA. Dieckmann was commissioned from his church, St. Andrews Baptist, Columbia, to join Biker Church USA, which is a member of the Columbia Metro Association.
“We kept seeing the motorcycle ministries do wonderful things to raise money for causes, but we didn’t see a lot of discipleship beyond evangelism,” Dieckmann said. “A few of us developed Biker Church USA as a congregation for discipleship to occur.”
Biker Church USA, Columbia, meets in the youth ministry building of Friend Church, Irmo. It meets on Friday nights at 7 p.m. Fridays were chosen, Dieckmann said, “because so many bikers are involved in ministry on Sunday mornings. We’ve got several who are involved in Sunday morning worship and ministry to the homeless at Finley Park (Columbia).” Once a month, the church meets on Sunday morning for the Lord’s Supper ordinance.
Lengel said most of the church participants are from a “bar scene” as part of their background, but very few are from the established “motorcycle clubs” throughout the country. “Most of the bikers are not from the club world, even though you can’t go deep into motorcycle culture without bumping into the clubs. And bikers do represent their own culture. What we typically attract are the motorcycle enthusiasts, who work all week to support riding a $20,000 motorcycle. Their world circulates around that bike.”
Lengel said he rides a Honda Gold Wing, and he chose that model purposefully. “So many enthusiasts are trying to be something they are not – a ‘1 percent’ [someone who belongs to a hardcore motorcycle club] on the weekend and a plumber on Monday morning. No self-respecting 1 percent is going to ride a Gold Wing. I’m a good guy – just a pastor who draws cartoons and loves motorcycles.”
Dieckmann doesn’t ride a motorcycle, and laughed when he said, “I’ve been to China, but I don’t speak Chinese. You can be a missionary to bikers without owning a bike. It’s about having a heart to see people come to Christ and become disciples.”
Lengel enjoys his bivocational ministry. He has a Ph.D. in career counseling and works around the country with career development professionals. And while he doesn’t pastor any of the local Biker Church USA churches, he does serve as senior pastor of the network.
“This is about honoring God,” Lengel said. “We discovered this people group that needs to grow spiritually, and God has empowered us to creatively reach them.” – SCBC
More: www.bikerchurchusa.org.