9-19-2023 4:23am

Pastor Dave Bitler Asks, “Does Your Tattoo Have a Story?”

Lesley Misko Editor

by Jane Stahl

Dale Carnegie assures us in his iconic book How to Win Friends and Influence People that asking people to talk about themselves is a sure-fire first step in establishing a relationship.

Pastor Dave Bitler of St. John Hill United Church of Christ employs Carnegie’s suggestion in his efforts to invite people who may be hesitant about institutionalized religion to visit or join his fellowship. Pastor Dave arrived to St. John Hill UCC in 2020, recruited from Rodgers Park Reformed Church in Kannapolis, North Carolina, and has become a “tattoo story hunter.”

And so, when Pastor Dave asks, “Does your tattoo have a story?” he finds folks eager to have a chat—even, “tell [you] the secrets of the[ir] soul.” “Stories are important,” he offers; “it’s where lives intersect with Jesus. And that’s the point of evangelism—giving meaning to communion.”

I met Pastor Dave at Boyertown's Philadelphia Avenue Street Fair in June; the question on the booth and on the t-shirts he and other congregants/volunteers were wearing caught my eye. This coming weekend, find Pastor Dave at the Oley Fair (September 21-23, 2023) from 9am - 10 pm daily. He is looking for tattoos with stories; and if people are willing, he will record them for the church’s social media sites. “No judgement, just listening,” he promises.

Ask him about book studies fashioned after Allan Dayhoff’s books and workshops: “The Confessor: Healing the Secrets of the Soul” and “The Genius in Your Wound” where congregants come to understand their own story of healing.

He mentions, as an example, the tattoo of a semi-colon that has become a symbol of someone who at one time overcame some sort of hardship and at times represents someone who has attempted suicide. The semicolon has become a symbol of hope for people who have battled depression, anxiety, addiction, and other mental health issues. For example, a woman he met on a visit to the Boyertown community park confessed that she’d been raped at eleven; her tattoo reminds her that she got strong.

“In this type of evangelism, we take the long view,” Pastor Dave says and shares that he was encouraged to learn from Allan Dayhoff an evangelical minister and author whom he met during his seminary experience in St. Louis. Dayhoff has written several books including God and Tattoos: Why Are People Writing on Themselves? in which he explores why people wear tattoos. Feeling estranged from everyday people and recognizing the diminishing church attendance nationwide, he began knocking on doors all over the country and settled on interviewing people with tattoos at an old bar that played blues music every Sunday.

Initially, when he was discovered as a “priest,” he was told, “we don’t want you here”; but, over sweet tea, he assured the patrons he was not there to convert them, just to get to know them, and the more he sat and listened, the more he came to love his many new tattooed friends. The bar eventually became the location of his ministry.

Dayhoff writes, “Many see a person covered in tattoos walk by and harbor a snarky and judgmental response, when in fact the tattoos just tell a very personal story. Stories of pain, loss, hope--sentiments of great importance--are revealed on the skin of the wearer. And those without tattoos may very well have missed a loud, yet intimately revealing, message.” Asking about the stories behind the ink is a caring gesture that disarms people leery of talking to “religious folk.”

Pastor Dave’s connection with Dayhoff is a story in itself. In 2018, when Dayhoff was ready to launch the second edition of his "Tattoo" book, he wanted to do something special and go to the Harley Davidson motorcycle rally in Sturgis, SD. He called Dave to invite him to the rally.

Dave asked his wife Rose about taking the trip. She and other local pastors encouraged him to go figuring that if it’s a crazy idea, God’s hand must be in it. In raising funds for the trip, he was greeted with uncommon support. Instead of hesitance, he found encouragement from donors whose only hesitation was, “thinking how much money to give you.”

Pastor Dave, his wife, and five other pastors attended the event where people lined up to talk to them and share their stories.

The experience proved life-changing for Pastor Dave and has led him to Pennsylvania to serve the congregation at St John-Hill UCC. Contact Pastor Dave: pastordave@stjohnhillucc.org

Alan Dayhoff

Allan Dayhoff is the Founder and Executive Director of Evangelize Today Ministries. He offers church leaders the naked truth about evangelism and the challenges of ministry in “the Wild.” He has pastored for more than 30 years, including a Church in a Blues Bar in suburban Washington D.C.

Alan Dayhoff Books

The Confessor: How Did I Miss This
The Genius in Your Wound: Life’s Worst Can Reveal Your Best

Blues Parish: Will We Dance in Heaven
Tattoos: Telling the Secrets of the Soul

Church in a Blues Bar

Contact Al Dayhoff at EvangelizeToday@gmail.com