Unconventional church with a conventional message

GLENFORD — Tin Cup Ministries held an outreach event Saturday to help reach new people as well as to celebrate its five year anniversary. The outreach event had free food and music performed from God’s Dirt.

The Tin Cup Ministries was organized by a group of motorcyclists five years ago. The motorcycle group has visited other congregations in the county in the past and continues to do so today. Pastor Douglas Wells has made it his mission to create an “unconventional church with a conventional message.” Wells is the founding member of the church and moved to Perry County as of last year.

“Unconventional because we all have a past and our mission is for people that don’t feel quite comfortable in a conventional church,” Pastor Wells told The Perry County Tribune. “Appearance doesn’t matter. Where you’ve been, what you’ve done doesn’t matter. It’s all about the love of God.”

The outreach event started at 3 p.m. and was followed up with a service which began at 6 p.m. The church typically hosts a service every Saturday evening.

Members of the motorcycle ministry come from various backgrounds which helps create a safe and understanding atmosphere for members of the congregation, according to Wells. The ministry uses its conventionalism to promote the love and spread the word of God.

“We don’t have cotton candy mountains and Kool-Aid rivers,” Pastor Wells said. “We have the truth and it’s for everybody.”

“We are not here to judge that’s not our job,” Joe Chambers said. Chambers is one of the original members of Tin Cup Ministries and is still involved with the congregation.

Saturday, the Tin Cup Ministries opened its doors to the public for anyone interested. Since the church was founded, it has created a following for anyone even when others have doubted.

“A lot of people said ‘having a church open to non christian — to everyone, wouldn’t work,’” Pastor Wells stated. “This is special to us because we have succeeded in doing God’s work for five years.”

As the audience continues to grow. Wells hopes that the church will continue to be open for years to come.

Before Tin Cup Ministries established a home, the motorcycle ministry traveled around the state to visit small churches. The main goal of traveling to various churches, Wells stated, was to dispel the stigmas that are associated with other biker groups. Members of the ministry, along with Wells, have tattoos and wear, some would say, prototypical biker attire.

When visiting churches, Wells along with others would give their testimony to church members in hopes that they would accept them into the church. When some churches accepted them, they would spread their message of acceptance to others in hopes that those who live under the stigmas would go to those churches.

Wells and his motorcycle ministry work with another group in New Lexington. Both decided that since there was a lack of churches who accepted people such as Wells and Chambers, they would start their own where everybody is welcome.

Everything was falling into place. The ministry was given a computer system that help curate music which was donated by people in Kentucky. The ministry was also donated a sound system. Wells stated that others have donated to the ministry from residents in the county to out of the state of Ohio.

Some Perry County residents are no strangers to troubled times. Doug Bell, a fellow biker, started associating himself with the ministry in order to better his life. After relapsing his drug and alcohol addiction, Bell was involved in an accident that left him in a coma for three days. When Bell came out of his coma, the first person he saw was Pastor Wells praying over him.

“From that time on, my life has been blessed,” Bell said.

Bell stated that he had his gallbladder removed the Tuesday before the outreach event. He refuses to take pain pills because of his history with drug abuse. His riding name, “U-Turn,” was given for his dedication on turning his life around with the help of the motorcycle ministry.

“Now I would do anything to help a man get away from any drugs,” Bell said. “This ministry has saved my life.”