God's Biker: Motorcycles and Misfits

by Sean Stillman

Overview

'An extraordinary, authentic example of discipleship, and the honouring and validation of the radiant "broken jewels" on society's margins.' Stewart Henderson, poet, broadcaster and lyricist

Zac’s Place is a church in Swansea. It is a small chaotic community of Jesus followers where some of the most fragile of life’s walking wounded try to work out their faith. It’s also the spiritual home for the local chapter of God’s Squad motorcycle club.

Zac’s Place, founded in 1998, is led by Sean Stillman, whose front-line ministry has cost him dearly and has included physical beatings. In Zac’s Place, chaos and disorder sit alongside community and grace in an environment resembling an AA meeting mixed with a casualty department.

This is Sean’s personal story of a transformed faith amid the broken, the church community that formed from it and the European-wide growth of an unlikely bunch of biker missionaries. God’s Biker asks the questions, ‘What if it’s not about perfection? What if it’s about beauty in broken places?’

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780281079445
Publisher:	SPCK Publishing
Publication date:	09/20/2018
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	256
File size:	4 MB

About the Author

Sean Stillman works in Christian ministry primarily among those many consider to be far removed from many church cultures.

Much of Sean’s work has been among fringe groups including biker communities and associated groups, where he has operated in both a missional and a chaplaincy role – a role which has been hard earned over many years and many miles on the road.

His work has also given him opportunities of speaking in mission gatherings, prisons and in a wide variety of mainstream churches throughout the UK and overseas – including Australia, New Zealand, Ukraine, Finland, Germany, USA and Holland. He was a regular contributor at Spring Harvest for many years and has previously been an associate of Youth for Christ and a supported missionary of Baptist churches in his hometown of Reading and also Swansea. Aspects of his work have been widely covered in the press over the years, including ‘The Guardian’, ‘The Independent’, BBC1, CH4, Scottish TV, BBC Radio 4, BBC Radio Wales and he has worked in conjunction with HTV on a TV series.

Having been in Christian ministry since 1988, he was ordained in November 2002, by Rev. Dr. John Smith and the leadership of St. Martins, in Melbourne, Australia, with whom he and Exousia Trust have had a long association. Sean has also been an Associate Missioner for Fresh Expressions.

Table of Contents

Foreword
Introduction: The righteous brothers
1 The red door
2 Foundations
3 The masks
4 The call
5 Blessed revolution
6 My confession
7 Colours
8 Standing for something
9 Broken spokes
10 Emergence of Zac's Place
11 Crossing borders
12 Scrambled eggs
13 Gethsemane
14 Interruptions and side tracks
15 Primary colours
Acknowledgements
Notes
Further reading
Photograph acknowledgements

Editorial Reviews

Sean is a remarkable man with a wonderful story. His ministry resides among the margins, the outliers, the broken, the forgotten. Rides a mean bike too.

Rick Elias

An extraordinary, authentic example of discipleship, and the honouring and validation of the radiant “broken jewels” on society’s margins.

Stewart Henderson

I put some miles on my bike alongside Sean back in the day, and he remains the kind of Christian and human being I aspire to be. Compelling.

Sean Gladding

You don’t need to have interest in motorbikes to find principles that we do well to apply to any demographic of the population who would struggle to enter our church gatherings.

Peter Grier

A very human story of a self-aware, flawed individual who has used his faith . . . to help and support people on the fringes of society.

Andy Hornsby

Read God’s Biker at your own peril, and with a significant bit of fear. The closer we connect with God, the more he changes us. Sean transformed from a “painfully shy, nervous preacher’s kid” to working with motorcycle clubs and shepherding the “sometimes chaotic community of Zac’s Place.” A dangerous process? Absolutely. But man, what a ride you get when striving to fully follow Jesus. Sean would say that’s the normal Christian life. I agree.

Tim Riter

The mystique of pioneering ministry can easily be alluring to those who want to do things differently. But Sean Stillman has always done things differently and, in this powerful and moving book, he shows how deep trust in God can lead to costly mission which makes a real difference to fragile lives. If you are looking for full-on glamour and minute by minute excitement this isn’t for you. But if you want to see a transformative God at work in pioneering ways and far from easy places, go out and buy it – now!

Norman Ivison

The story of how Sean Stillman, a shy preacher's son from Reading, started and led a long-term outreach to the motorcycle clubs and street people of Swansea.

From the Publisher