Motorcycling and church – does that fit together?? Some people might think. For pastors arnold kroll and stefan lipfert, the question does not arise. Both are enthusiastic bikers and – there's that, too – motorcycle ministers. You were behind the founding of the "church and bike" group or kuk for short, which is active in the deaneries of coburg, kulmbach and thurnau.
To kick off the season, kuk invites all bikers, regardless of their spiritual orientation, to a motorcycle service (mogo). Sermon and songs are adapted to the scene. Afterwards there will be coffee, cake and "benzingesprache. This year the opening mogo will take place on saturday, 6. May, 2 p.M., in the churchyard of weibenbrunn vorm wald, where pastor arnold kroll has his congregation. But also tomorrow, sunday, bikers can ask for god's blessing for the season – at the service in the context of the star ride to kulmbach, where they meet thousands of motorcyclists. It starts at 10 am at the main stage.
At the kuk motorcycle services, there is always a donation to the "orphaned parents" self-help group collected. Among those affected, some have lost their child in a motorcycle accident. Like ronald braun, to whom pastor arnold kroll and his colleague stefan lipfert now presented the collection from the last service. Over the years, several thousand euros have been donated to the "orphaned parents" group.
Conscious help
"We consciously support this group because it is dependent on donations and does very valuable work", arnold kroll emphasizes. For example, the group uses the donations to provide financial support for those affected so that they can take part in a seminar on grief awareness.
"I would wish that more fathers would dare to participate in such seminars", says ronald braun. He has always found that it is much more difficult for men to admit how much they suffer from the loss of a child than it is for women. "But when they accompany us to a seminar, they are usually surprised afterwards because they had imagined it quite differently.", says braun. The male participants then consistently give a positive assessment of the benefits they have drawn from the seminar.
In the meantime, a lasting relationship has developed between the bikers of kuk and the self-help group. "Kuk has existed since the beginning of the 90s as an open meeting in the church for people for whom "two wheels are enough to get around", describes stefan lipfert the emergence of the group.
Since 1995 there have been day trips in spring and autumn, since 1998 an additional four-day trip on the first weekend in august, and since 2003 pilgrimages (to assisi) have also been on offer. Since 2010, there has been kuk in the deanery of thurnau since 2012 also in the deanery of kulmbach.