The spandexed and helmeted faithful gathered at Christ Church Cathedral Monday afternoon for a ceremony acknowledging Vancouver鈥檚 other religion: bicycling.
Anglican Bishop Melissa Skelton presided over the second annual 鈥渂ike blessing鈥� as part of a weeklong 鈥淔aith Commuter Challenge.鈥� Eleven Lower Mainland faith communities have signed up for the initiative, which coincides with Bike Month, and encourages worshippers and non-worshippers to reduce their carbon footprint by using means of transportation other than the almighty car.听 听
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After several prayers and scripture readings, Skelton and local clergy led a procession of two-wheeled chariots out the front door of the church to a booth on the Burrard Street bike route. There, cyclists could get their trusty steeds anointed with chain oil or blessed with holy water, which also made its way to helmets, water bottles and the riders themselves. Transit users could have their Compass cards blessed, and those who preferred biped power had their shoes blessed, reinforcing the notion that they鈥檒l never walk alone.
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鈥淓fforts like cycling, that people do for all kinds of reasons, actually advance the goal of the fifth Mark of Mission [to strive to safeguard the integrity of creation, and sustain and renew the life of the earth], and those who are riding bicycles are attempting to reduce their carbon footprint,鈥� says Skelton, who doesn鈥檛 own a bike, but was given a loaner for the event.
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According to the bicycle-friendly bishop, the bike blessing is an acknowledgment that the church is 鈥渞iding along鈥� with its environmentally minded followers.
鈥淚t鈥檚 not every day that someone will have an object like this blessed, but these kind of activities are the expression of what we do here inside this beautiful space,鈥� Skelton says.
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Reverend Christine Boyle, a minister at Canadian Memorial United Church in 麻豆传媒映画and the director of Fossil Free Faith, which helped organize Monday鈥檚 blessing, says cycling has become increasingly popular among her congregation.
鈥淢y church has lots of cyclists,鈥� says Boyle, who rides a Brodie 鈥減erformance hybrid,鈥� with a bike trailer in tow for her young son. 鈥淐ertainly it鈥檚 a bit seasonal, but we鈥檙e pretty casual so people don鈥檛 have to worry about showing up in what used to be your 鈥楽unday best,鈥� which I think has been historically an impediment in cycling to church. So we have bikes lining both of our bike racks on Sunday mornings.鈥�
The way people worship in 麻豆传媒映画has also changed the way they get to church, says Skelton.
鈥淎 lot of our churches that didn鈥檛 think about bike racks before are now thinking about them,鈥� she says. 鈥淎nd many of our churches give directions to public transportation and bus routes, so that鈥檚 becoming a much more important conversation than a long time ago when people were in the neighbourhood where their churches were located. That鈥檚 not the case anymore because people are choosing different congregations that best express who they are and where they go to, even if they don鈥檛 live in the neighbourhood.鈥�
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Monday鈥檚 bike blessing wasn鈥檛 restricted to the faithful, either. Alan Chor, who isn鈥檛 a church goer, says he usually rides his 鈥渙ld clunker鈥� to ball hockey games and learned of the event through Bike Month emails. 听
鈥淚 asked [the bishop] if she thought it would make me safer, and she believes it, so if it鈥檚 good enough for her, it鈥檚 good enough for me,鈥� he says, laughing. 听
Then there are riders such as Tor Dekker, who brought his bright green, 1997 Specialized FSR bike to the corner of Burrard and Georgia for a little higher-powered protection.
鈥淵our bike, like all machines, has a consciousness, so I鈥檓 just about the consciousness of my bike and I鈥檓 just observing and acknowledging its consciousness as my partner in getting me around town.鈥�
Although Dekker can鈥檛 recall the last time he went to church, he does consider himself a spiritual person. 鈥淏esides, you can never have enough help when it comes to riding a bike.鈥�
