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| Jul 29, 2010 - 06:42 PM |
Queen City News - Helena's FREE Weekly Newspaper |
Helena, Montana |
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Leather, loud customized motorcycles, groups roaring off together; hamburgers and potato chips, back-slapping, insignia on matching jackets, praying over motorcycles, Christian crosses, gentle interactions, no alcohol in sight. Is this a motorcycle gang?
A visitor stopping by Westside Welding this past Saturday would have found a band playing, people catching up with old friends, laughing and talking together, and all in a sea of shiny bikes, leather motorcycle clothing, pony tails, bandannas, and quite a lot of gray hair.
More than 100 motorcycles (and many more people) were there for a statewide “bike blessing.” Dana Croxton, one of the organizers, said this was the third time the event was held in Helena.
The Christian Motorcycle Association (CMA) is an international ministry. “CMA is a non-profit, interdenominational organization, dedicated to reaching people for Christ in the highways and byways through motorcycling,” according to one of their fliers.
Started in the 1970s, it is now made up of chapters in at least 14 countries with a membership of more than 108,000.
Asked how group members are received by other motorcyclists, Lee Ponder of Helena said, “Once they take a minute to listen, (they see) we’re not taking anything away from them; we’re giving something.”
Karen Lapham, secretary of the Helena chapter, said everyone gets along with everyone else, Christian and non-Christian. “All secular, outlaw clubs respect us,” she said.
Non-Christian clubs often join them at gatherings and rides, and at least two secular clubs were there on Saturday, Lapham said.
R.C. Murchie of Helena said that the CMA exists “to reach the lost people who don’t know Christ.”
Many of the organization’s members have been through their own difficult, lost times. This is what makes them effective in their ministry, Murchie said. “You can’t treat an alcoholic unless you’ve been there,” he said.
The Montana Chapter of the CMA “adopted” a nursing home in Lewistown as one of their service projects. It took a few years for the nursing home residents to open up to them, said Jeff Lapham, Helena chapter president.
Now they are welcomed and the residents take rides with the bikers, he said, recalling one man who said all his life he had wanted to ride a motorcycle and now he’d finally got his wish.
Karen Lapham said their ministry to other motorcyclists works because they have biking in common. People find “it’s okay to worship the Lord and be a biker,” she said.
Many of the bikes were 1400cc or larger; there were “cruisers,” “dressers,” and low- slung Harleys.
Hannah Herstein of Helena put on her helmet to ride home with her father, Dan. She had a seat just her size behind her dad on a 1450cc three-wheeled bike he custom-made.
Hannah said she loves biking and would someday have her own motorcycle. Asked when that would be, she thought for a moment, then said, “When I’m all grown up.”
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The Queen City News is published every Wednesday in Helena, MT, by Mossback Media, LLC.
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