Kern Road Mennonite Church, South Bend, IN

Kern Road Mennonite Church in South Bend, IN, has built a summer Sunday tradition on biking to church. A few families of cycling enthusiasts started the practice by simply picking some Sundays to bike to church and letting others know about it. Soon other families joined them, and now up to a dozen families participate.

“When one person starts something like this then, the next thing you know you have a whole group of people,” said Deanna Waggy, a church member.

The group stops mid-ride for breakfast, providing a good break for kids and those who live far away. The rides provide great family fellowship, as well as an opportunity for witness.

According to Waggy, “It provides camaraderie and it makes a statement to other people in the congregation when bikes are out in the parking lot. They might at least think twice about driving their cars.”

Children and youth of all ages are involved in the rides. Many families have purchased “tag-alongs”—single-wheeled add-ons that transform an adult bicycle into a tandem bike for an adult and a child. As children outgrow them, they get passed on to other families in the church. Meanwhile, some of the youth of the church plan to share their love of cycling across the region. They are training to bike from their church to a Mennonite youth and adult convention in Cincinnati, Ohio, 250 miles away. The youth hope to inspire their peers to try cycling as a means of reducing dependence on fossil fuels.

Kern Road Mennonite Church,
Contact: Will and Kathe Streeter
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Website: www.krmc.net