F.A.I.T.H. Riders Motorcycle Ministry to host first Bike Night in Elizabethton
Published 11:17 am Tuesday, April 18, 2023
- Photo By Lynn J. Richardson
|
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
|
By Lynn J. Richardson
The F.A.I.T.H. Riders Motorcycle Ministry of Elizabethton will host its first Bike Night at First Baptist Church Elizabethton on Friday, April 21, at 6 p.m.
The event will feature a free meal, drawings for prizes and a motorcycle competition.
The local chapter was founded by Larry Byrd, who is a member of First Baptist Elizabethton.
“We had been F.A.I.T.H. Riders in Blackshear, Ga., where we lived before we moved here,” Byrd said. “There wasn’t a chapter here so we decided to start one. We talked with our pastor, Todd Hallman, and also sought the advice of the national director, Mike Stewart.”
The local chapter was just established last summer and now has 12 members. Byrd hopes the upcoming event will be an opportunity for even more people to have fun and to learn more about F.A.I.T.H. Riders and its ministry.
“This Bike Night is always enjoyable,” he said. “One of the things we will do is called a ‘slow ride’ from point A to point B. Bikers must ride very slow without getting out of their lane or putting their foot down. If you do either of those things, it will cost you a five second penalty. It’s a lot of fun. You’d think going slow would be easy, but it’s not.”
Byrd says riding motorcycles has been part of his life for well over 50 years. “It’s just part of who I am, and being able to do that in a ministry that’s organized to help others reach Christ is really amazing to me.”
The ministry was established in 2002 at the First Baptist Church of the Mall in Lakeland, Fla., and has since expanded to almost 400 chapters nationwide with two additional chapters in Cuba. The ministry continues to grow and the only requirement for establishing a new chapter is that it falls under the leadership of a Southern Baptist church.
The motto of the ministry is “no one left behind” from entering heaven and challenges its members to pursue its motto based on the scripture of 2 Peter 3:9: “The Lord is not slow in keeping His promise, as some understand slowness. Instead He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.”
This ministry uses motorcycles as tools for reaching people and helping them repent and accept Jesus as Savior and Lord, but participation is not limited to motorcycle riders. Any adult Christian who has a passion to reach others for Christ is welcome to join.
The F.A.I.T.H. Riders Motorcycle Ministry meets locally every month on the second Thursday at 7 p.m. at First Baptist in Elizabethton, 212 East F St.
For more information, please contact First Baptist Church Elizabethton at 423-543-1931.
