Sundays Are For The Spiritual, Even Sturgis Motorcycle Rally Hellraisers

The Sturgis Motorcycle Rally may be a time for bikers to raise a little hell, but that doesn’t mean they miss church. After mass, Horatio Vela of south Texas told Cowboy State Daily, “Right now, I’m riding alone, but I know Christ Savior is always with me.”

Justin George.1/3. 8/4/24

STURGIS, South Dakota — The sign above the double doors to St. Francis of Assisi’s sanctuary seems timeless, as appropriate during Sturgis’ Wild West days just as they are today.

“PLEASE CHECK YOUR GUNS, GUM, HATS, AND CELL PHONES … UNLESS YOU ARE MEDICAL OR EMERGENCY PERSONNEL.”

Behind the doors, rough-and-tumble-lookingbikersin faded jean vests and wind-worn leather jacketsknelt at their pews during Catholic Mass on Sunday. They got up to receive Communion, then sat back down to sing hymns.

Even at the 84th Sturgis Motorcycle Rally, Sundays are for the spiritual.

All across the small South Dakota town, riders gathered for services while hellraisers slept off their Saturday nights. At 8:30 a.m., the streets of Sturgis were dead, but the churches were alive.

For The Faithful

Across from St. Francis of Assisi, members of the Messengers of Hope riding group with the Christian Motorcyclists Association held a prayer for its volunteers.

Grace Lutheran Church put on a breakfast for rallygoers.

One mile to the west, Lifespring Wesleyan Church beamed out a sermon on David and Goliath to online viewers. ==The church, which gathers in-person on most Sundays, chose to hold streaming-only services during the rally= .

That’s because many Sturgis residents, including churchgoers, hightail it out of town in late July and early August so they don’t have to deal with all the traffic and noise that comes with their town of 7,200 swelling to half a million people during the 10-day motorcycle revival.

“Our regulars get away,” the Rev. Timothy Castor of St. Francis of Assisi said. “They flee.”

Even so, the pews were nearly full Sunday. But that didn’t surprise Castor, who has served in Sturgis for 10 years.Bikers have regularly attended Mass as long as he has been there.

Some, he said, are lapsed Catholics who, for whatever reason, decide that the Sturgis rally is the time and place for them to return to the faith fold.

“I hear some very profound confessions of people being back after years and years,” Castor said, declining to elaborate on the specifics of those confessions due to his solemn vow to protect confidentiality.

https://cowboystatedaily.com/2024/08/04/sundays-are-for-the-spiritual-even-sturgis-motorcycle-rally-hellraisers/