This Ain't Your Mama's Church!

That really caught my attention. In fact, I had to look at it a few times just to make sure I read it correctly. It is not my favorite thing to do, and yet God has placed me in the position to search and be open for where God wants me to serve Him next. I would much rather have remained in the ministry, serving the people I invested in for 7 years. After 18 years of pastoral ministry, I find myself without a pastorate, and just leaning on God to open the door for where He is leading. One of the things I have been doing, in this search, is to take the list of websites provided by Dallas Theological Seminary and searching them for any possible fit.

It was on one of those websites that I saw the name of a church that was looking for a senior pastor. I first saw that it was in California, so it would provide one thing my wife would love: warm weather! But, seeing the name of the church caused my first reaction to be: "Are you serious?" I first thought someone was playing a joke, putting a fake ad up to lure in some unsuspecting pastors. Normally, if I don't like the name of a church, I don't spend any more time looking at it; but my curiosity got the best of me. So, I looked it up.

Yes, it exists: This Ain't Your Mama's Church is real. They also have a subtitle, which might put it in better perspective: Community Biker Church. That's right: a church for bikers! They describe themselves as a church "that shares the message of God's love and grace with the motorcycle community." First time I have heard of that. I don't think it would work well for me. One of the requirements is to have your own motorcycle. That rules me out. I remember riding a moped when I was growing up, and wiping out. Plus, my dad would always tell me about the terrible motorcycle accidents that would happen. I've never had the desire to own one. So, this is definitely the first time I've been "rejected" in ministry for that!

It is just another opportunity to do two things: First, to smile because of the unique and funny name of the church; and secondly, to praise God that there is a group of people out there trying to reach a unique group of people for Christ! I may not be their next biker pastor; but I can pray that God will bring just the right person to serve them, and to help them fulfill the mission God has given them: to disciple bikers! God bless the "This Ain't Your Mama's Church"!