Service Offers Relief from the Road
Between 30 and 50 Sea to Sea cyclists and support staff gather each week in a circle around a candle-lit cross. Some read Bible verses. Some play instruments. All participate in worship and prayer.
Normally, the mid-week service is held on Wednesday night. But this week’s service emphasizing justice and peace was moved to tonight to accommodate Thursday’s long and difficult ride from Craig, Colo., to Kremmling through Rabbit Ears Pass.
Friday’s 34-mile, 55-km ride to Winter Park, on the other hand, is the shortest leg of the tour.
The Sea to Sea Bike Tour’s mid-week prayer service offers a break from the daily rhythm of eating, breaking camp, cycling, setting up camp and sleeping that, three and a half weeks into the tour, has become an established routine.
Hans Doef, a cyclist from Lacombe, Alta., is the designer and leader of these half-hour long services, which normally include prayer, liturgy, scripture reading and singing around a particular theme. Attendance is optional.
“These are different than the (weekend celebration) rallies,” Doef says. “They’re more intimate. They offer a nice space for cyclists and support staff to worship together. They’re great for taking a breath, for refreshment.”
Doef says that a service that included reading all four chapters of the Book of Ruth was particularly well-received. He hopes to do the same with the book of James in a future gathering.
Both Ruth and James have themes of justice and putting faith into action, tying in well with the Sea to Sea’s goal of helping to end the cycle of poverty. He says he also picked those books “because they’re short and I like it when we can read scripture as a whole rather than just bits and pieces.”
When the tour reaches Denver this weekend, cyclists will have another opportunity to serve meals for low-income families and those who are homeless and hungry.
Sea to Sea is partnering with Denver Rescue Mission to help those in need and shed light on the reality of inner-city poverty. Saturday evening, 18 cyclists will assist in serving dinner at two separate locations run by the mission: The Crossing and Lawrence St. Shelter.
“Anytime you can connect the cause with an individual person, it makes the entire experience that much more meaningful,” said Liz Meyer, from Chandler, Ariz. who participated in a similar service project with Sea to Sea in Yakima, Wash., two weeks ago.
Another weekend celebration rally takes place this Sunday at 10 a.m. at Englewood High School, two miles south of Denver Christian High School where the tour will camp for the weekend. The rally will include a message from Rev. Jerry Dykstra, executive director of the Christian Reformed Church, as well as an address from the office of Denver mayor John Hickenlooper.
