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Pastor uses Harley-Davidson passion for ministry
By: Mark Petterson, Staff affiliate
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On the outside, Mark Gray looks like the average biker. Clad in jeans and a leather jacket covered with motorcycle patches, he would fit in with any group of Harley-riding enthusiasts on the road or in a bar.
But there is more to him than just motorcycles or tattoos.
A self-employed trucker by night, Gray spends his days as a preacher. And instead of a wooden pulpit, he leads his congregation from the leather saddle of his gleaming red Harley-Davidson.
Since 2001, Gray has been the pastor of Church in the Wind, an evangelical Christian organization focused on outreach to motorcycle enthusiasts.
"We want to be a place where people with ponytails, tattoos, and leathers can show up and not have to change anything," he says.
Since the first meeting of three people at Gray’s Overland Park house, Church in the Wind has grown to more than a dozen members.
Motorcycles have been a lifelong passion for Gray.
"As a kid I had an infatuation with motorcycles. My dad bought me my first minibike when I was 10 years old, and I never got it out of my system. When I got my first Harley it just thundered."
After seeing the effect Christianity had on a biker friend in 1982, Gray felt a calling to create a Christian organization specifically for bikers.
"My old Army buddy was visiting me, and we used to go riding and partying all the time. But this was after I’d come to Jesus. And I had to tell him that my life had changed and I’d become a Christian. I said, ‘Rick, I’ve gone off the deep end.’ And he said, ‘I think you’ve done the right thing.’ It took me completely by surprise."
Gray said he knew then he had been called to the ministry, but he did not know exactly how to go about it.
"I didn’t know what to do. I didn’t really have a lot of experience in the biker community, although I’d been riding for years."
He said that all changed when he saw a Christian magazine with a picture of a biker on the back cover, advertising an organization called Church in the Wind.
"I saw a picture of a guy with a ponytail riding a Harley. So I called him."
Motorcycle enthusiast Gary Davis founded Church in the Wind in Denver, Colo., in 1995. Davis wanted to offer a nontraditional setting where bikers could mix their faith and their motorcycle hobby.
Gray contacted Davis, and the two became friends. Eventually, they worked together to start the Kansas City branch of Church in the Wind in June 2001.
Affiliated with Gray’s home church, the Kansas City Baptist Temple in Kansas City, Mo., Church in the Wind is a small movement now. But Gray sees the potential for expansion.
"It’s a tremendous amount of work. I work nights, take a nap, then get to work being a preacher," he says. "I believe that God wanted us to do this, or else I wouldn’t be doing it."
Gray hosts an informal "bike night" at 7 p.m. Fridays at his house in Overland Park. There, he and other members of Church in the Wind discuss motorcycles and the Bible.
"Longevity is important in the biker community. It’s going to take years to develop to its full potential," Gray said.
Gray, who spent two years in the Army and has three children, counts Church in the Wind as one of the most important things in his life. The venture has been a surprising one, he said.
"The thing that dumbfounds me the most is that God actually called me to do this. I feel the least worthy. But I’m enjoying the experience."
Gray said that while the "biker" image can be intimidating to some people, the overall reaction has been positive.
"The community around here understands that bikers like to reach out. The stigma of the biker is kind of waning," Gray said. "We’re not interested in the outward appearance. For man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart."
“He said he was a Harley biker, but also a pastor,” Caldwell said. “Ever since, he’s been coming to our volunteer meetings, in addition to doing the Benefit Ride. He’s just a really great volunteer for the Dream Factory.”