by Madeleine Collins

‘Street Level’ is reaching parts of society that the average suburban parish can’t reach

A group of Christian bikers who work on the streets of Western Sydney say local youth involved in ‘gang culture’ want to hear about Jesus as a result of Scripture classes in local high schools.

The Street Level Christian Community and its ministry arm, Brotherhood Christian Motorcycle Club, have joined forces with local Anglican churches to build a long-awaited drop-in centre as a base for their outreach work, which is designed as a stepping-stone to establishing local young people and biker club members in Bible-based youth groups and churches. Archbishop Peter Jensen will open the centre in December. An interest-free loan from St John’s, Parramatta has enabled them to redevelop a church property site in Merrylands.

The centre will provide crisis intervention, free counselling and a Kids Club. A biker clubhouse has been established in one building, while the other will be renovated for seminars and entertainment for young people.

Apart from local parish support, the project is self-funded. However, the venture is a long way from the few bikers who met together for Bible study in the late 1970s. Founding member Greg Hirst says when Brotherhood formed their aim was to ‘feed people into mainstream evangelical churches’. But the cultural gap between the bike scene and churchgoers proved too wide. Street Level started in 1981 as a ‘stepping stone to get people used to church in an [informal] house environment’.

“Once they get used to church they find it a lot easier to join a local Anglican or Baptist Church,” he said. “So many of the people who we run into have just been rejected. They’ve basically learnt through life that you’re not good enough for God because you’re not good enough for everybody else, – that they’ve done so many bad things, they couldn’t be accepted.”

Like Greg Hirst, Grant Howard has devoted his life’s work to ministering to young people and those ‘on the fringes’. As unofficial chaplains to the motorcycle community, they work regularly with secular motorcycle clubs such as the Sydney Hell’s Angels.

Grant says many young people he ministers to are part of social cliques that may involve crime and be perceived as ‘gang culture’. At a recent seminar, the students asked him why he believes in Jesus and why he was there. “I was about to say what difference Jesus makes in my life with a group of young people who, other than Scripture, would not have any contact with the Christian church. And these guys were genuinely asking,” he said.

However, both men admit the community has trouble accepting them. “I’ve had colleagues who’ve said to me that if they didn’t know me they’d cross the road,” said Grant.

The hard men of the biker world are no easier to reach. “We have over the years built friendships as the basis for evangelism,” Greg says. “[I have] had lengthy conversations with one of my friends in the senior outlaw clubs. He’s a really heavy fellow in the bike scene and has a fearsome reputation.

“It wasn’t until we’d known each other for a long time that we became friends. The last five years have been exceptionally fruitful. He still has [an] issue with accepting the resurrection, [but] our friendship continues.”

The Rev Stephen Gibson, rector of St Luke’s, Miranda, who will hold a fundraising auction for Street Level this month, says integral to the Diocesan Mission is that churches reach people ‘at multiple entry points’.

For Street Level, this is crucial. “We’ve spent years building relationships on the street, sharing Christ and practically caring for people, but we haven’t had any resources. Over the last little while, our relationships with Christian congregations have been developing too,” Greg said.

Grant agrees. “We’ve never been in the sort of situation before when we’ve had these resources or been able to get a loan. This is all very new for us.”