Biker Barbie and the Wheels of the Lord

Today was a day like no other. From a evangelistic church to the American Legion to a tour of the Black Hills, I spent the entire day with Barbara Jean Frerichs, AKA “Biker Barbie.” The former, and possibly future, president of the Black Hills Christian Motorcyclists Association, she is now the vice president and a huge champion for its cause.

The CMA is a biker ministry with more than 125,000 members and 800 chapters in the United States, with chapters in 22 foreign countries. In effect, each member of the CMA is a mobile minister, charged with spreading the gospel in the world, especially to other bikers.

Here is a picture of Barbara wearing her CMA jacket, with her friend “Roadie”:

Barbara has a unique and especially engaging story. She moved to Rapid City about 30 years ago, married and had three sons. But that ended in divorce. Torn up, she sunk into a life of drink and depression, spending her evenings at a local biker bar, the “Buck ‘n Croc.” (It’s basically a small shack on the outskirts of town adorned with cartoon images of rambunctious deer and crocodiles.)

But depression can only go so far before it comes to an inevitable fork: self-destruction or recovery. Barbara chose the latter six years ago. She embraced the biker life, joining CMA, where she would become president of her local chapter, and she also began going to church.

What denomination is she? That’s a hard question. Barbara was raised Lutheran, but later became Baptist and a bunch of other things. “Oh, Mennonite? I tried that, too,” she’d laugh as she drove me from my motel to the Black Hills Fellowship, a nondenominational church she’s been attending since she decided to turn her life around.

A small hall nestled in the hills, the building offered fantastic views of towering clouds and horses munching in the fields:

And inside, it was like few other churches I’ve seen. Instead of pews, there were patio tables spread around the floor like islands, with a box of tissues tucked underneath each one, in case someone should have a crying spell. Tattooed bikers in leather vests roamed the room before the service, drinking coffee, eating donuts, and conversing friendlily. It was rather dark, even though the sun was shining brightly outside.

A band started playing and everyone sat down:

It was clear how often people attended this church. On screens near the ceiling, lyrics to the band’s songs would flicker by, so that everyone could sing along. But even when a technical glitch made the words stop changing, no one missed a beat.

The service was thought-provoking and confounding at the same time. It began with the Rev. Nathan Ennis making sure that everyone picked up the pamphlets by the door. Entitled “Vote Your Values” and “Why Christians Should Vote,” the two pamphlets explained how voting can be a form of ministry and were printed by Focus on the Family, a conservative Christian political group. “If America is to survive, we must elect more God-centered men and women to public office – individuals who will seek divine guidance in the affairs of state,” says a quote from evangelist Billy Graham in one of them.

But Ennis wanted to make sure that everyone knew he wasn’t endorsing a party or a candidate. “We’re not here to tell you how to vote,” he said. “It doesn’t matter which party you vote for. It just matters that you vote to please God.”

But when the pamphlets talk about fighting abortion and homosexuality, what party could they possibly mean?

Then Ennis went on into the sermon, based on Ezekiel 16, an allegory of an unfaithful people of Israel. In this passage, God rebukes the twelve tribes for failing Him, falling into iniquity, as when He brings up Sodom in Ezekiel 16:49-52:

“Now this was the sin of your sister Sodom: She and her daughters were arrogant, overfed and unconcerned; they did not help the poor and needy. They were haughty and did detestable things before me. Therefore I did away with them as you have seen. Samaria did not commit half the sins you did. You have done more detestable things than they, and have made your sisters seem righteous by all these things you have done. Bear your disgrace, for you have furnished some justification for your sisters. Because your sins were more vile than theirs, they appear more righteous than you. So then, be ashamed and bear your disgrace, for you have made your sisters appear righteous.”

“How many of you saw America in this reading?” asked Ennis. Many people nodded and expressed assent. “Our nation was founded on Judeo-Christian values – I don’t care what they say,” he continued. “We were founded on the basis of tolerance and the world has turned that word and used it against us, saying, ‘The religious people are not tolerant.’ That’s a like. Real followers of God are tolerant.”

Somehow this turned into a discussion about the impending end of days, as Ennis spoke about Americans’ obsession with the loss of things rather than their spiritual lives. That’s why there needs to be more Christian voting, he said. “Religion has everything to do with our national life. That’s one reason there are all the problems there are today. There’s not enough talk of politics in church.”

After the sermon, there was time for reflection and discussion of Ezekiel 16 among the tables. One lady at my table said, “That’s so true, America certainly has become egotistical. We always think we’re Number 1.”

Here is where I’m confounded. Ennis compared America with the hard-headed Israel of Ezekiel 16 and endorses Focus on the Family in the same breath. I mean, Focus on the Family puts out books like “America: The Last Best Hope.” Isn’t that egotistical? Especially when this passage in the Old Testament is a condemnation of the religious establishment, not the non-Israelite tribes outside God’s covenant.

It seems so strange to cheerlead for the United States and call it “arrogant, overfed, and unconcerned” at the same time.

But I will digress, and post a photo of the end of the service, when everyone was invited to come to the stage, pray, and renew their covenant with God. Tears were abundant, as were hugs. It was very moving and unabashed:

After the service, Barbara took me to a meeting of ABATE, which she said stands for “American Bikers for Awareness, Training & Education,” although it has also been known for “A Brotherhood Against Totalitarian Enactments.” A safety organization, it also dabbles in the seemingly contrary, holding many safety courses for bikers, but fighting laws requiring helmets.

But, as Barbara puts it, many of the accidents attributed to bikers are due to those who are insufficiently trained, the weekend, mid-life crisis people who don’t know what they’re doing. Besides, wearing a helmet is about personal responsibility and choice. If choosing to do the right thing becomes being forced to do the right thing, than is it still right?

I won’t bore you with the details of the meeting, but afterward we had a fantastic potluck, to which Barbara brought her special beans. Here are all of the bikers in prayer before the meal:

Now, let’s get back to Barbara. After the ABATE meeting, she took me on a tour of the Black Hills, driving through Sturgis, home of the world’s largest motorcycle rally, and tons of other places. Here’s a cool pic of a place we passed, a base for the Hellfighters, a Christian motorcycle club:

Barbara is the type of person who doesn’t like to say anything bad about anything. But here, she let some of her aversion slip through. Hellfighters, like the infamous Hell’s Angels, is a club, not a ministry like the Christian Motorcyclists Association.

What does that mean? Well, for one thing, women can’t become members. “They stay on the sidelines like property,” said Barbara, her voice getting low. She’s in a tough place. Many of the clubs are this way, she says, and at times she can love and hate biker culture. But she’s in it, and always works for change.

And change is happening. Barbara estimates that about 10 percent of bikers are members in Christian clubs. Even Hell’s Angels now have a chaplain, or someone to perform religious functions, something that would never have happened earlier.

Talking about spreading the Gospel is where Barbara shines. She told me stories about preaching before drunken bikers (she no longer drinks), and how she tossed her notes and spoke from the heart. She said the depth of her sentiment meant she could talk for almost an hour with no help, as words just came to her.

My favorite story she told me was of the Sturgis rally a few years ago when a young man approached her. It’s easy to tell that she’s a member of the CMA, as she wears a leather jacket covered in patches that show her faith, with Jesus-centered slogans. “Will you pray for me?” he asked her.

“Of course I will, hon,” she told me she said. They got into a long conversation, and the young man divulged that he had been left at the rally by his girlfriend who took off with another man. “One of my jobs is working with mentally ill children, and I could tell that this man was in danger of suicide,” she explained.

You could tell as she was telling the story how much she felt for this stranger, the same empathy and wanting to please that she showed everyone that I saw her interact with. She goes against everything the tough, stolid, stereotypical image of a biker brings to mind.

She said she spent a good half hour or more with the young man, before letting him go when she was sure he would be all right. She never heard from him again.

So, I’ll end this post, even though there’s more I could say. I’ll end it with another little tidbit about Barbara.

Remember how she said “one of my jobs?” Well, her other job is working as a waitress in a restaurant. She mentioned this as she exited the car to drop me back off at my motel, pulling her leather biker vest on. (She drives with it on her lap, as it’s considered disrespectful to the group to wear it while driving a car, a subordinate means of transportation.)

“That’s my bike money,” she said. Get it? She’s so devoted to biking that she’s taken an extra job just so she can afford it. That’s Barbara’s trinity: family, God, and her motorcycle.