Blue jeans, body piercings, and leather pants aren’t what most United Methodists wear to church.   Then again, Crossfire United Methodist Church in North Wilkesboro, North Carolina, isn’t your typical UMC.  “There’s a freedom and acceptability here that makes us different,” said church member and avid biker Duncan Overrein. 

Crossfire brings their concept of extravagant hospitality – along with rock-n-roll worship­­ - to Annual Conference June 10-13 at West Virginia Wesleyan College in Buckhannon. It’s part of the Conference’s four-year emphasis on Evangelism, and there’s much Crossfire can teach us, says Rev. Amy Shanholtzer, Director of Evangelism and Congregational Development, who has worshipped at the church. “The welcome I received there is what I anticipate it will be like in Heaven,” she said. “There’s a sense of joy and comfort at Crossfire that’s truly unique.” 

The attitude of welcome ‘as you are’ reflects the experience of many of the members, who have struggled with addiction, poverty, and prison. “I know God wants to be in relationship with me, even though I am a sinful man,” said Overrein. “Other churches I’ve been in just didn’t seem to have a place for people like me.”   

Crossfire reaches beyond the typical educated upper-middle class demographic of the United Methodist Church. “Many of our members live at or below the poverty line,” said Rev. Alan Rice, a former district superintendent who pastors Crossfire. He says there’s a generous spirit among members, who believe in helping and do it because they’ve been there themselves. The churches website puts is plainly: “We pick each other up. We are brothers and sisters in Christ.”

Ministries include a weekly food pantry that serves between 40 – 50 families. Members hop on their Harleys regularly and talk with people from all walks of life - from trailer parks and suburban developments – to share the good news. “We go to bars and talk with folks sometimes,” said Overrein. “Honestly, the folks from the wealthier places don’t usually show up on Sunday morning, but several folks from the bar visits have checked the church out.”

At Annual Conference, members of Crossfire and Rev. Rice hope to show that people and generosity are the driving themes of their community: “We really aren’t about the building and what goes on inside it, we focus on people,” said Rice. The ministry setting has a lot in common with those in the WV Conference, says Rice who notes that: “We are a Conference of small churches too, in rural Appalachia.”

Duncan Overrein sums it up: “It’s not about what we wear, what we ride, or our music,” he said. “We are people who need God.”

Learn more about crossfire on their website, bikerchurch.com