Finding Faith in the Fast Lane

___By George Henson
___Staff Writer
___FORT WORTH--Roger Marsh gets an adrenaline rush every time he approaches the Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth. Not because of the fast cars, but the lost hearts.
___"It's a mission field. There's never a time that I drive by or into the racetrack, that I don't think, 'This is our mission field,'" said Marsh, pastor of Calvary Baptist Church in Pilot Point. He also is chairman of the executive council of the Texas Alliance of Raceway Ministries, known as TxARM.
___Marsh now has a third title. He recently was elected president of the National Fellowship of Raceway Ministries.
___While he feels privileged to serve in a leadership capacity for the both the Texas and national ministry organizations, he admits not everyone believes a racetrack is an acceptable place to find a preacher.
___"Sometimes you hear, 'A preacher doesn't belong at a dad-gum racetrack,'" he admitted. "But many of these people go from track to track, and they'll never darken the door of a church. These are real people with real needs who need to know Jesus."
___Mike Rucker, pastor of an independent Baptist church in Wichita Falls, has gone one step further--he drives late model stock cars. He also has found opposition to his ministry, but not at the racetrack.
___"I've gotten the most critical criticism from Christians," he explained. "They say I shouldn't be out at the racetracks, hanging around those people.
___"I don't go to these tracks and drink their beer. I don't smoke their cigarettes. I don't cheat when I race. But those people at the tracks are still people who need Jesus. They die. They get cancer. I get calls almost every week from people who need ministry but don't have a pastor because they don't have a church. We're in this to reach lost souls, and there are lost souls at the racetrack," Rucker explained.
___Marsh said he has found that it is possible to have both a ministry at the church and at the track, however.
___"There's mixed feelings, but the church is understanding. They realize it's a ministry, but it is time-consuming. They work with me, though. Instead of having two weeks off to preach revivals in another church, they allow me to take that time and minister at some of the big races, especially those that happen on Sunday," he said.
___Marsh has a little extra support now because about 10 people from his congregation have gotten involved in the ministry.
___"Sometimes there are strains, but as long as you cover all your bases, everything works out OK," he said. Covering those bases takes a toll, however. Marsh estimates that during the racing season he spends about 15 hours a week at the track. Before big events, he may spend 35 hours at the track in preparation. All this is in addition to his normal hours spent with his church.
___There is no substitute for consistency in racetrack ministry, Rucker said. Many of the people there are suspicious of Christians and churches, and it takes a while to break down walls for relationships to be built.
___"You have to pay your dues. You have to let them know you are for real. You have to win their trust," Rucker said.
___He cautions people who go with him to the track for the first time not to come on too strong.
___"I tell them, 'Don't talk to these guys about their drinking or their cussing. Leave that to me. You do it, and they'll probably take a tire iron to you. I can tell them to stop their cussing and put their beer away because I've paid my dues,'" he said. "Too often we want to clean the fish before we've caught it."
___Rucker also suggests that people who are serious about raceway ministry make some preparations. Learn the language and find out how to talk somewhat intelligently about the thing that has brought these people to the track--cars.
___Rucker also cautions that this isn't the type of ministry that can be done by picking out one weekend a year and hitting the pits and hoping to save the drivers and crews.
___"You have to be there every week. It's like your church. You have to be there when they need you," he said. "When they bleed, you can minister. When they die, you can minister. But only if you're there.
___"There's a wide-open pastorate right over there," he said pointing toward the pits and fan seating areas of the speedway.
___One way Rucker has built relationships is by providing drivers and pit crews with a pamphlet that has a gear ratio chart on the front and the plan of salvation and information about the church on the back.
___"These guys love these gear ratio charts. This is one thing I know they won't throw away," he said.
___Reports from the nation's various tracks indicate 845 volunteers ministered there last year, and 275 decisions for salvation were recorded. Most racetracks have no ministry at all, however, because no volunteers are available.
___In addition to Marsh being elected president of the National Fellowship of Raceway Ministries at the recent meeting, Tom Elam of Bluff City, Tenn., was named vice president; Fred Culler of Jamestown, N.C., was named vice president and coordinator of local venue raceway ministries; and Elaine Schenck of Fort Worth is secretary/treasurer.
___For more information on how to become involved in raceway ministries, call (940) 686-2274 or go to www.dentonbaptist.org/TxARM. The next volunteer orientation is set for Feb. 24.

The Baptist Standard