Lenten Campaign 2025
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When one hears the phrase “holy roller,” the Catholic Church does not typically come to mind.
Fr. Anthony Ferguson, a priest of the Diocese of Richmond, Virginia, wants to change that. With roller coasters, naturally.
Fr. Ferguson, who is the administrator of a parish in Virginia, loves roller coasters. He also loves being a priest. And starting next year, he will be combining those two things with Holy Roller Tours, a unique pilgrimage combining sacred sites with some of Europe’s best-known theme parks.
The first destination of Holy Roller Tours will be France, where pilgrims will see Catholic sites in Paris, Lisieux, Chartres — along with day trips to Parc Astérix and Disneyland Paris.
"Coaster enthusiast"
“I first got into roller coasters in middle school/high school days,” said Fr. Ferguson. His family had purchased season passes to Kings Dominion, an amusement park located not far from Richmond.
“We would go frequently, especially when my dad was laid off and we couldn't afford to do anything else except use the season passes we already bought,” he said.
Before long, the future priest became interested in the different types of roller coasters, and began to look more into how they were constructed, manufactured, and built. By the time he was in college, Ferguson considered himself to be a “coaster enthusiast” and was obsessed.
“What I love about roller coasters is that feeling of freedom – you kind of have to surrender yourself to the ride, even though it seems totally out of control. That experience is very liberating to me,” he said. “I especially love ‘airtime’ which is when you suddenly get thrown out of your seat and experience negative g-forces."
Spiritual conversion
But around the same time as his “peak coaster enthusiasm craziness,” Ferguson embarked on a spiritual journey, looking deep into his childhood faith. His family grew up going to Mass on Sundays, but did not do much more than that.
“I fell in love with the Lord through Eucharistic adoration, reading G.K. Chesterton, C.S. Lewis, and a whole bunch of other books that helped answer all my questions and doubts. Before very long, God placed an intense desire for sharing this love for Jesus with others, and this led me to discern the priesthood,” he said.
Initially, Ferguson thought entering the priesthood would mean the end of his time riding roller coasters.
“Part of my conversion story involves sort of coming to terms with the fact that I had made an idol out of theme parks and roller coasters,” he told Aleteia. “And for the longest time, I sort of thought God had ‘taken all of that away from me,’ if that makes sense.”
“God doesn’t compete with our interests – He redeems them.”
But as he began his priesthood following his ordination in 2020, Ferguson realized that this line of thinking was not entirely correct, and that these things were not mutually exclusive.
In a somewhat providential move for a roller coaster lover, Ferguson was assigned to be the parochial vicar at a parish located just minutes from Busch Gardens Williamsburg – and its nine world-class roller coasters.
“I certainly needed conversion, purification, and detachment,” said Ferguson, but “God doesn’t compete with our interests – He redeems them.”
Evangelizing and riding coasters
On his YouTube channel, appropriately titled “Father Airtime Coasters,” Ferguson posts vlogs, reviews, and theology – and sometimes one video contains all three.
In one vlog detailing a trip to Atlanta to ride a newly opened roller coaster, Fr. Ferguson stopped at the airport chapel at Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta International Airport for a holy hour, and explained what Catholics believe about the Eucharist. He then rode the roller coaster “like 17 times” before concluding the video.
“I’m also just interested in leading this type of trip because we often think in terms of either-or,” Ferguson told Aleteia.
“‘Either’ we are doing something holy, spiritual, and religious, ‘Or’ we are doing something fun and mindless like riding a roller coaster. We act like it’s some sort of competition — as if super religious people can’t have fun without feeling sort of guilty about it,” he said.
“I hope this kind of pilgrimage will help the people tap into their humanity which obviously needs good holy leisure and recreation in order to truly flourish! We aren’t puritans and we don’t have to be gloomy in order to take life seriously.”
On next year’s pilgrimage, Ferguson said he is most looking forward to visiting Liseux, and venerating the heart of St. Vincent de Paul, the patron of the Diocese of Richmond.
“And of course, it will be great to hit Toutatis, probably the best coaster at Parc Astérix.”
