FLEMING ISLAND, Fla. (BP) – When Mike Stewart took over as national director for F.A.I.T.H. Riders in April 2016 after the death of founder Buddy Newsome, he received advice to just be himself.
“We already had a Buddy, and we needed a Mike,” said Marcus Merritt, who was introduced to F.A.I.T.H. Riders in 2007 when he worked for the Alabama Baptist State Board of Missions. A lifelong motorcycle enthusiast, Merritt became a member and continued his involvement after moving to a position with the Georgia Baptist Mission Board, eventually joining F.A.I.T.H. Riders’ board in 2017 on Stewart’s request.
A member of Hibernia Baptist Church in Fleming Island, Fla., the 73-year-old Stewart was stopped on his motorcycle at a traffic light Nov. 11 when he was struck by a car. He was on his way home from an event honoring veterans and law enforcement.
A memorial service was held today (Nov. 16) at Hibernia Baptist Church. Stewart is survived by his wife, Diane, three daughters and 10 grandchildren.
Chapters nationwide, plus Cuba
Just as Newsome’s law enforcement background impacted how he led F.A.I.T.H. Riders, so did the military structure of Stewart’s past as a Vietnam Veteran.
“Mike brought his gift of administration to our growing ministry, and it expanded into the organization it is today,” said Merritt, currently the director of the Doctor of Ministry program at Luther Rice College and Seminary.
“He had an innate gift for organization, detail, follow-up – it was second nature to him.”
Stewart was set to retire at the end of the year and had been working through a succession plan with Philip Cook, who will officially step into the national director role on Jan. 1. F.A.I.T.H. Riders will launch its 400th chapter by the end of the year, with those groups spanning the country alongside two in Cuba.
“He spent a lot of time with the Lord and wanted to make sure this ministry was done right,” said Cook, a member of Enon Baptist Church in Montevallo, Ala., and member of F.A.I.T.H. Riders since 2015.
“This ministry has meant a lot to me,” he added. “It’s helped me develop a skill set of doing what the Lord has called us to do as Christians – to go out, be bold and tell others about Him.”
F.A.I.T.H.-ful history
Stewart was born in Warren, Ohio, but moved to Deming, N.M., when he was around 4, graduating high school in 1968. He immediately joined the Navy and served as a Hospital Corpsman for 30 years, serving in Vietnam with the Marines and aboard three different submarines and surface ships before retiring in 1998 as Force Master Chief of the Medical Department.
Stewart’s passion for riding motorcycles began in high school and led to becoming involved in motorcycle ministry in 1999. After Newsome founded F.A.I.T.H Riders in 2002, Stewart became the original director at Hibernia Baptist Church. He was later named the state coordinator for Florida and in 2013 became the assistant national director.
The organization’s title is connected to the evangelism strategy spearheaded by former SBC president and First Baptist Daytona Beach pastor Bobby Welch, who gave his blessing to the name’s use.
Every F.A.I.T.H. Riders chapter must be in a Southern Baptist church, explained Merritt.
“This is not a parachurch ministry, but a local church ministry,” he said. “It falls under the local pastor’s authority.”
Like churches, chapters host numerous local events throughout the year. Each year they gather for evangelistic purposes in Sturgis, S.D., and Daytona Bike Week in Daytona Beach. In 2019, the Dakota Baptist Convention announced it would no longer host the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally gathering, instead handing it off under the direction of F.A.I.T.H. Riders.
A heart for evangelism continues in the ministry’s DNA, placed there by leaders with a heart for the lost.
“Even though Mike wasn’t a pastor, he was an excellent preacher and one-on-one soul-winner,” said Merritt. “He brought a military mindset of seeing himself under his commander, Jesus Christ, and going to serve with all his might a loyalty.
“It made us feel like we were a part of this great army of soldiers for Christ whose mission was to spread the Gospel throughout the world.”
