In true NASCAR fashion a flagman heralded the start of a lawn mower race that pitted five pastors and one director of missions against the power of the mowers and pitfalls of the track.
Covington Baptist Association sponsored the event as part of its intentional evangelism strategy, which draws people to the church through a specific interest.
Gary Holloway, pastor of Pigeon Creek Baptist Church, Red Level, organized the event that raised $760 for missions. More than 300 people attended the May 22 race.
“It was fantastic. I think people really enjoyed it,” Holloway said.
Larry Cummings, Covington Association director of missions, said the offering taken at the race went to the association’s missions team, headed by Holloway. In July the 15-member team will travel to Rio Bamba, Ecuador, to do missions work on two college campuses.
Money for missions
The missions team exceeded the amount of money they needed to finish funding the trip and had enough to add one more member to the team, Holloway said.
The race for missions generated excitement. With their mowers often slinging a little dirt during their 30 laps, the Baptist preachers roared around the track. “We had some spinouts and it was interesting,” Cummings said.
“It reminded me of riding go-carts in Panama City, Fla., except you are on a dirt track with banked curves and you have no brakes,” said Barry Holcomb, pastor of Bethany Baptist Church, Andalusia. He placed second.
The winner of the race was Frankie McVay, pastor of Zion Hill Baptist, Andalusia. Scott Ferguson, pastor of Westview Baptist, Opp, was third.
Other pastors that participated were Barry Wilkinson, pastor of Hopewell Baptist, Andalusia, and Darrell Pace, associate pastor of Pigeon Creek Baptist, Red Level.
Lawn mower races like these are not rare among Covington Association Baptists. Three different churches sponsor races each month.
No admission is charged, but the sponsoring church keeps the love offering and profits from concession sales.
Pigeon Creek, for instance, gives the money it receives to its youth group.
Holloway said 100–150 people show up for the races that are held on Saturday afternoons.
Baptists racing lawn mowers began about two years ago at Pigeon Creek Baptist Church, Holloway explained.
“It started as a joke at church. I think it was at a Fourth-of-July get-together. A bunch of the guys decided to bring their lawn mowers and have a contest,” he said.
After mower racing the men became serious about it. They removed the cutting decks and souped up their mowers for performance and speed.
A serious sport
Before long they were holding races that were open to the public almost every Saturday at what are now called the Henderson Lawn Mower Speedway and McVay Hill Lawn Mower Speedway.
Hubert Henderson and Hubert McVay, both members of Zion Hill Baptist Church, funded the building of the tracks on their respective properties for the purpose of church outreach, Holloway said. “It’s a real good outreach tool for developing relationships with lawn mower racers and fans and it helps get them into the church,” he said.
The organizers of the races keep the spiritual goal at the forefront with public prayer and encouragement for the lost to know Jesus Christ, Holcomb said.
The races routinely have up to 40 lawn mowers at a time on the racetrack, with 10–12 at the starting line each time.
Holloway said what makes him want to race lawn mowers is the same thing that makes a person want to race anything — a competitive spirit. “There’s a lot of things out there in the world that would be fun if people did not mess them up,” he said.
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