Youth ride wooden
waves in church parking lots
By Jeanette Gardner
Littleton (9/12/04)
“Whenever you’re
reaching out to more kids, it can get messy,” says youth
pastor Jon Purkey of Lenexa (Kan.) Christian Center. “But
in the overall spectrum it’s worth it to save someone
from hell.”
The Assemblies of
God congregation was one of the earliest ones to embrace what
is now a trend in the Christian world — reaching out to
church kids who love skateboarding, or to unchurched skateboarders
who are tempted by the expansive church parking lot. Staff at
some churches are irritated by teens grinding on the rails or
stair-bashing. But others, including LCC, are drawing droves
of professional wannabes into their churches.
Though the first
skateboards entered the scene in 1959, skating has finally become
a major extreme sport. Skateboard superstar Tony Hawk has filled
arenas and other venues to the tune of a half-billion-dollar
industry. Skateboarding has become a huge subculture in North
America.
Accordingly, ministries
and Christian businesses are creatively skating into the deep
end. Among them:
The Luis Palau Evangelistic
Association builds 9,000-square-foot, temporary skate parks
at the organization’s outreaches.
An entire church
in Portland, Ore., is designed for skaters.
Summer camp programs
include skateboarding along with other high-adrenalin adventures.
King of Kings Skateboard
Ministry, which also creates a line of skate wear, takes a demo
team around the country proclaiming the gospel and displaying
incredible stunts.
Steelroots Media
Industry produces a weekly Christian TV show on skateboarding
and snowboarding.
LCC’s skating
ministry started somewhat by chance. Purkey was building some
ramps for his own use when the project expanded and eventually
became a church outreach. Now hundreds of skateboarders from
across the Kansas City metro area enjoy the park before and
after youth group every week. The church also sponsors competitions,
and 3,000 young people attended when it brought in skater Jamie
Thomas.
Offering a skater
ministry isn’t easy. City ordinances prohibit LCC from
building a concrete park, so twice a year the church replaces
wooden structures that are deteriorated by weather and heavy
use. A good ramp system might cost thousands of dollars. And
though plenty of Christian young adults are interested in skating,
such a ministry may also reach a tougher customer — people
who might smoke, use profanity, dress inappropriately or do
other things unchurched young people sometimes do.
But Purkey says Christians
need to keep the big picture in mind. “We use a lot of
different bait to reach out to teens with the gospel,”
he says. “Especially in the skateboard community, we found
kids who are agnostics or atheists.”
Assemblies of God
National Youth Director Tom Greene says an increasing number
of youth pastors are choosing to use skating as a way to attract
non-Christians.
“We’ve
yet to see what can happen as the result of this kind of ministry,”
Greene says. “Many people who might have been hesitant
to use this ministry in the past are just beginning to see that
this can work in their communities.”
