Tour de Faith shares powerful lessons about community, discipline, challenges, mortality, and more as pastor Robert F. Molsberry reflects on his experiences in the annual Des Moines Register's Annual Great Bicycle Ride Across Iowa (RAGBRAI). Each year, the race attracts tens of thousands of riders, including political candidates, governors, Hollywood celebrities, and renowned cycling champions Lance Armstrong and Greg LeMond. In Tour de Faith Molsberry offers a progressive Christian perspective on life in the fast and slow lanes of the twenty-first century.
Robert F. Molsberry participated in RAGBRAI for the first time in 1974. In 1997 he was left paraplegic after a near-fatal accident. He returned to ride RAGBRAI for the eighteenth time in 2006. He is currently director of administration at Eden Theological Seminary in St. Louis, Missouri.
A winsome primer on progressive Christianity spelled out on a bicycle ride across Iowa, with disarming modesty and bedrock wisdom that shows a progressive faith belongs in the heart of America. -- Delwin Brown, dean emeritus, Pacific School of Religion, Berkeley Molsberry's delightful tale of RAGBRAI had me thinking about rescheduling my summer calendar until reality hit and I realized that my fifteen miles on relatively flat city streets when the weather permits just wouldn't cut it. But then his sensitive theology kicked in, like carbs, and I began to see how I, too, can pedal circles faithfully and joyfully through life with the waters of baptism glistening on the back tire while the front wheel heads for the Jordan. -- The Rev. John H. Thomas, general minister and president, United Church of Christ Bob Molsberry, who is an inspiring rider in his own right, is also an eloquent spiritual writer. But his book's not preachy. In fact, it's hilarious in a lot of places, and also very touching in others. -- Chuck Offenburger, long-time Des Moines Register columnist, Iowa writer, and cyclist You needn't be a cycling enthusiast or a spiritual sojourner to find Bob Molsberry's odyssey entertaining, insightful, and surprising. -- Jerry Elsea, president, The Writing Academy I loved this book! Part memoir, part homespun guide to daily living, part spiritual reflection, Bob Molsberry's book takes the reader on a ride as varied as the storied bicycle adventure he chronicles. Memorably, he recounts the uphill-and-down journey of life as seen over the top of a bicycle's handlebars. -- Rev. Sharon E. Watkins, General Minister and President, Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in the US and Canada Bob Molsberry, a pastor and multi-year veteran of the ride, herein has captured the spirit, the joy, the spirituality, the chaotic rapture of RAGBRAI. His tale is part anecdote, part philosophy, part ethics, part spirituality most of which is couched in contemporary theological terms. I came away from it persuaded utterly that if he could have learned to ride a bike, Jesus would have loved RAGBRAI. -- John Karras, RAGBRAI co-founder Rev. Bob did an excellent job expressing the hospitality of Iowa during RAGBRAI while at the same time bringing spirituality into RAGBRAI in both a common and humorous way that will reach both riders and non-riders. In laying to myth the fact that Iowa is flat, Rev. Bob shows that hills (both spiritually and humanly) can be a very rewarding endeavor. I highly recommend that riders and non-riders read this book and accept the challenges it offers. -- Jim Green, former RAGBRAI director Bob Molsberry's meditation on bicycling the roads of life is at turns delightful, moving, funny, and inspiring. His stories of the Great Bicycle Ride Across Iowa make me want to get out the bike and discover for myself the life-lessons to be learned in this unique 'happening' of Americana. Molsberry has seen the gospel in spandex, and it rings true with every stop in every hamlet along the way. When I had finished his manuscript I could think only on words that come from another epic story of athletic spiritual bliss that unfolds among Iowa's corn fields: 'Is this heaven? No, it's Iowa.' -- Stephen J. Patterson, Eden Theological Seminary Molsberry has the clarity to see heaven and earth in everyday things and value them both. People who love bicycles, Iowa, faith and life itself, will thoroughly enjoy this book. -- David M. Greenhaw, president, Eden Theological Seminary In a folksy, humorous manner, Molsberry weaves together tales from RAGBRAI with reflections on life and community, politics and faith, all with a progressive Protestant spin. The Christian Century
