Motorcycle gang looks to heaven

The bushy beards, the bellies, the blue jeans and the black leather vests covered in emblem patches created an intimidating presence.\nTheir motorcycles lined the sidewalk. \nMingling with these bikers were men wearing khakis and button-down shirts, women in dresses and skirt-and-blouse ensembles. Everyone in the Rose Firebay Room of the John Waldon Arts Center that day have two things in common: They are all friends of Rich Remsberg, and they were all there to celebrate his book release.\nRemsberg, Bloomington photojournalist, neither a motorcycle rider nor a devout Christian, spent two years photographing and interviewing members of the Unchained Gang and another two years writing his book, "Riders for God: The Story of a Christian Motorcycle Gang."\nIts publication date was Oct. 16 and its release party was Sept. 11 in Bloomington. It has recently hit public libraries and has been at bookstores for several weeks. At 7:30 p.m. Thursday, there will be a slide show at Borders Books & Music, 2634 E. Third St., on the photos in the book.\nA closer look at the bikers revealed something startling -- the patches on their vests were Christian symbols and slogans. Instead of Harley Davidson slogans and images covering the backs of the vests, they were covered in huge patches reading "Servants of Jesus Christ" and "Jesus is Lord" and "Bond Slaves" and "Unchained Gang." Black T-shirts reading "Jesus Christ died for Bikers too" were under their vests. Almost every single biker had the small black "100 percent Jesus" patch with a red border and white lettering. \nPhotos from Rembsberg's book were on the walls around the book release party.\nBikers celebrating their lord. A biker with a scraggly ponytail praying over his breakfast of eggs and toast in a diner. A circled group of bowed heads and closed hands standing in front of a restaurant, praying before they entered. Hands waving and faces upturned huddled around a Harley, giving a blessing to the bikes. Hands on shoulders. The prints were on sale for $300 or $400.\nThe guests at the party included a range of people. Remsberg's wife, Lisa Nilsson, his editor, Judy McCulloh, and his book designer, Cope Cumpston were all present. Several founders of the club the Unchained Gang also came, Pastor Larry Mitchell, president of the Monroe County Chapter, and Carl Beetle.\nWill Counts, a retired photography professor, socialized and took photos. The president of the Unchained Gang, Christian Easton, made an appearance. After Remsberg's welcoming speech, he stood in a corner unnoticed by most of the chatting crowd, and blessed and prayed for a woman who was afflicted with Hepatitis C. The woman's friend stood by in tears.\nCurious about the religious imagery, Remsberg was looking for a project to do on Christianity.\nHe saw the patches on the bikers' vests around Bloomington a couple of years ago and suggested a photography project on the club to a friend. Later in 1995, a schism had developed between teens that hung out in People's Park and the police.\nThe Unchained Gang rode their bikes to the park to talk with the kids and listened to their side. Rembsberg said the gang had "a calming presence" and that he had been impressed with how dignified they had been in their action.\nRemsberg first made contact with the group when he met Duier, who then introduced him to Mitchell. Members of the club were suspicious of Remsberg when he first started going to services at the House of Prayer, he said.\nTo his surprise, they thought he was a cop. He spent three months getting to know them before shooting pictures. During the two years he spent gathering information and images from them, he sometimes saw them only a few times a week. But in some periods he found himself among them daily, even taking to the road with them in his truck.\nRemsberg said he "listened and observed their world and found it interesting and worth telling other people about." His book has a strong point of view -- his "personal view."\nHe said the work includes a number of themes, including extremism, which "run deep and run as cross currents." It is also about class division, he said. And, he said, it shows the readers two worlds they would not ordinarily see: spirit folk Christianity and the outlaw biker world.