Bless this Bike

Lord knows I have little use for church, but this Sunday morning, May 3, the University Christian Church is inviting community members to bring their bikes to church for a unique service celebrating the bicycle.

UCC’s Bicycle Sunday — which marks the beginning of National Bicycle Month — will feature a bicycle blessing, the first event of its kind in a Seattle church. Churches in other cities hold annual bike blessing services, most famously New York’s Cathedral of St. John the Divine which held its 11th annual Blessing of the Bikes on April 18.

All bicyclists and their machines are welcome to ride into the sanctuary, and according to the UCC announcement, proxies are encouraged to attend and “bring a helmet to be blessed if a family member or a bicycle cannot be there in person." Those who have died in bike-related accidents over the past year will also be remembered during the service, and family members of these individuals are encouraged to attend.

“We’re doing this to recognize the importance bicycles have in improving our environment, and making this a better city and community,” said the Reverend Janetta Cravens Boyd, who will bless the bikes and ask for the safety of their riders, and who bikes to church every Sunday.

The fascinating picture of God blessing a bicycle is from a stained glass window at the monastery of Debre Libanos in Ethiopia, and is borrowed from the blog Bodhi Tree Swaying. Thanks!