Proselytizing in city parks

[Stephen Calhoun]

Posted on Fri, Jul. 08, 2005
http://www.sunherald.com/mld/thesunherald/12080575.htm
Skateboarding becomes evangelistic tool
By HELENA ANDREWS

RELIGION NEWS SERVICE

Tattoos, piercings, skateboards - and Jesus?

That combination seemed too heretical a decade ago, but now mainstream churches have flipped a "one-eighty," using skateboarders to bring teens into the fold.

"I think it often takes time for Christians to catch up on culture trends," said Kevin Palau, executive director of the Oregon-based Luis Palau Evangelistic Association. The religious group produced "Livin' It," a 40-minute DVD featuring skateboarders who are Christians.

"It takes time for churches and larger ministries to feel safe and comfortable with something new," Palau said, but thanks to the ministry his father started in the mid-1960s, mainstream churches are seeing the advantage of blending boards and Bibles.

Skateboarding, which has gotten a bad reputation over the past 20 years as leading boarders into drugs, alcohol and sex, isn't the rebellious teen subculture it once was, Palau said. It's a powerful evangelistic tool, he said.

The definition of Christian skateboarding is loose, but the Palau method melds wicked tricks on the half pipe with a Billy Graham-style evangelistic message. After demonstrating the newest moves, skateboarders then tell their personal stories to an onlooking crowd of teens.

In 1987, Skatechurch, arguably the nation's first organized skateboard ministry, was founded by two friends in the parking lot of Central Bible Church in Portland, Ore. Other groups followed, and traveling skateboard ministries sprouted across the country.

There are the King of Kings Skateboard Ministries based in Idaho, Steel Roots in North Carolina and Glory Skateboards in California, among others. Estimates of how many skateboard ministries exist nationwide exceed 300.

Palau's "Livin' It" has been one of the most popular skateboard videos of all time, and now PalauFest Productions, the production arm of LPEA, is making a second DVD, "Livin' It LA," set for release in October. It will feature big-name skaters Christian Hosoi, Matt Beach, Lance Mountain, Lynn Cooper and others.

In addition, a "Livin' It Tour 2005" launched in May, with skateboard demonstrations and Christian testimonies planned for 20 cities.

Palau "festivals" have attracted young people to festival cities with a combination of skateboarding, BMX biking, contemporary Christian music, food and a message from Luis Palau, the 70-year-old evangelist. The next festival is Oct. 8-9 in Washington, D.C.

Tom Fain, a former pro skater turned youth pastor, says the Palaus have put a new spotlight on Christian skateboarding, but it has been around for years.

"My first experience with a skateboard ministry was actually in the late '70s, and there were a few organizations doing it back then," Fain said.

Fain said the connection between grinding and the gospel is obvious.

After winning the National Skateboarding Association's world championship in 1978, he said, he found his life empty.

"The fame and the money wasn't making me happy, so I just walked away from my career," Fain said. So for most of the 1980s he wandered the streets of Ventura, Calif., homeless, an alcoholic, sleeping on beaches and landing in jail.

Getting locked up, he said, is what saved him.

"I cried out to God one night and someone gave me a Bible in jail," Fain said. A week later he stopped drinking and in 1995 he convinced Sap Skateboards, a Christian skateboarding company with religious-themed boards, to sponsor him.

He traveled around Southern California demonstrating the company's religious-themed boards and telling his story.

Now the owner of Sap and a youth pastor at Ventura Assembly of God, the 43-year-old Fain considers himself "a cutting edge type of a Christian."

The Palaus want to be on the cutting edge of evangelism.

Since 1999, the ministry has been using skateboarding to grab the attention of the new extreme-sports generation. It builds a 10,000-square-foot skate park at each of its U.S. festivals, which have seen nearly 2 million attendees in the past six years. About 30 percent of those are young people.

"Our vision was to take an evangelical celebration outdoors and make it more appealing to not just the Christian community, but the community at large," said Craig Chastain, director of communications at LPEA.

By their count, about 52,000 people have converted to Christianity at these revivals.

This article reprinted in full without permission for the purposes of discussion and review, as permitted by Section 107 of the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976.

[Stephen Calhoun]

http://www.skatechurch.net/

***

There's a story here it would seem. Think about it: it turns out that skateboarding is a mainstream contact point of ministry, and so, with respect to this, the condemnation of skateboarding likely falls far outside the mainstream of evangelical practice.

Consider this: if skateboarders are sinners, then what would an evangelical church be if it promotes skateboarding as a way to reach the 'lost'?

Wow. What a great trip today. Wouldn't of happened if Lakewood hadn't made a home for its fantastic skaters.

[Kenneth Warren]

This far reaching Lakewood Observer inquiry into “Proselytizing in City Parksâ€Â￾ now poses an interesting question about skateboard communities as sites for evangelical intervention.

Dr. Calhoun’s research suggests that in many Christian faith communities skateboarding is not irredeemably sinful.

So from the Lakewood experience, if we are to make any sense of the story here, we are compelled to inquire among those advancing evangelical intervention in the park with the following:

Is the skateboard always sinful wood, giving fallen man occasion to sin?

Is the skateboard ever wood to which one may cleave for redemption?

Perhaps answers to such questions will depend where in the continuum of the Christian drama the action is determined to be.

Where in the action was the Lakewood Skate Park intervention?

Have the middle, the end of the drama been postponed or cancelled?

Vince has brought additional details to light which suggest that something of an allegorical Christian drama was being presented at the Skate Park.

For something this full-bodied, with equipment and music blaring, it would seem that a permit could be required.

The law is not the focus right now.

Instead I want to graph the scaffolding for the allegorical Christian drama, simply for the sake of understanding the broad presumptions about sin and psycho-social pressures unleashed in the park from the unneighborly condemnation and judgment. Again, I am not justifying the enactment of the drama, which as described so rudely and crudely impinged children and parents trying to enjoy an evening at the skate park.

The description of the actions surrounding the black and white garments suggests that the initiatory rite of baptism was somehow being dramatized.

So here is my allegorical reading of the signs presented so far in light the Pauline Christian narrative, which at some level would likely inform the drama in the skate park:

The skate part is “the world,â€Â￾ a thick site of flesh and blood corporeality, under the grip of the “Lord of this World.â€Â￾

The black clothing is the old human, full of vices - “sin.â€Â￾ The removal of the black clothing is the putting off the old body.

At the same time, at least in the sense of traditional Mystery teachings, the black color warns of both psychic disruption and moral paralysis. Heavy Metal.

The white clothing suggests revitalization in baptism, putting on the new body.

The key theological question is whether or not these evangelists from Four Square and West Virginia can see the possibility for one in white clothing to ride the skateboard.

Can the New Man, filled with the Spirit of Christ, ride the wood?

These are rich lines for inquiry. As Dr. Calhoun’s research suggests, the flesh and blood corporealized feats so evident in the skateboard sport presents an interesting opportunity to evangelization.

How will notions of physicality, pushing in from the sport, meet Christian ideas about the flesh and blood, the experience of Christ and the life blood of the spiritual self.

It is interesting to consider how the functional reality of human form – Logos, ratio – which so informs the Christian vision, may find expression in the world of skateboarding.

Kenneth Warren

[Vince Frantz]

Man.. I am so glad I closed my email and browser for the past six hours or I wouldnt have finished any work today!

Great stuff Steve. Starting with the Richard Mulder interview. Far and away skateboarding is presented as a positive activity in youth ministries vs the road to hell. My brother (who I mentioned before) was one such skating soul saver. He is a very good skater, and kids look up to him after just watching him for a few minutes. He and a large group of skaters from his church even took a trip to Mexico to skate with some poor kids and help bring them the gospel. In around 1994 a wave of Christianity swept through the skateboard industry and guys like Richard and whole teams of riders became pretty vocal about their beliefs. Some found God after riding the fame and money train. Some found it after some severe injury. Some found it after a tough break up with a girlfriend. Some just grew up and got back to the system they were raised with. Pretty much like every other walk of life. Tony Hawk, Rodney Mullen, Steve Caballero, Jamie Thomas - and many other mega-mega pros are pretty open about their beliefs. Unfortunatly for them (and youth ministries everywhere) ESPN doesn't like to show that side as it probablly hurts ratings.

The Skateboard+Christian combo is not new and before the Xgames most local skateparks were built by churches - not cities. Although I know of none in Northeast Ohio, Toledo was home to 3 church+skateparks from 1995 to 1999. I rode for the local shop and we held demos for the kids. They didn't force us to convert or to sign a paper that we wouldn't do drugs. They just saw that a good number of their kids were skating in the parking lots at night and on weekdays so why not make them some ramps? We even held a huge skate-video premiere at a local church because they had the extensive AV equipment.

One of my best friends and one of the best skaters in the midwest is a conservative baptist and listens to Rush Limbaugh. He owns the main skateshop in Toledo and while he isn't out to convert his customers, he holds true to his beliefs. He won't sell anything that doesn't meet his standards and he isn't shy about letting people know what he thinks.

I think that the closer anyone looks in to skateboarding the only common thing you find amongst the skaters is a love for riding their boards. For us, that's the only requirement. Stuff like this...

Skateboarding, which has gotten a bad reputation over the past 20 years as leading boarders into drugs, alcohol and sex, isn't the rebellious teen subculture it once was, Palau said. It's a powerful evangelistic tool, he said.

... is complete media pro-organized sports propaganda (an pretty dated by now). Take something you don't understand or value and simply write it off. Just because a kid can't tell you why he/she likes to skate doesn't mean it has them under control or is of zero value. Any time I read some crap like that I just replace the word Skateboarders with "teenagers" and it finally makes sense. And if skateboarding led to sex, I would think that the football jocks that picked on us would have jumped on the board instead of beating us up. Piercings, tattoos, dyed hair... this is NBA stuff - but no one cares if they can understand the value of a ball passing through a goal.

We can do more to peel back the layers of skateboarding but what you will find is as varied and "normal" as any other walk of life.

The real story - as I see it - is how a local church can prey on the youth by playing to their need to belong. By offering instant acceptance and group security, it is the weakest of the bunch that are turned into predators for the mothership. Heavens Gate. Scientology. The Landmark Forum. What's the common thread amongst the converted? Low self-esteem. A weak will. An addictive personality. The tactics - days-long sessions, deprived of food and sleep, separation from society and loved ones, the construction of a common enemy - and the final step - help someone else in order to save yourself. We take cash, check or credit.

[STOSH BURGESS]

One more reason not to build a skate park in your community. They always say that skate parks will bring drug dealers, drinking, and tramps. We can now see these where false claims. I think it is fair to say that if you build a skate park, Christians will come. I can see people getting up in front of their city council and saying “ I am against building a skate park. A skate parks will only bring Christians in from other communities.â€Â￾ Would you ever guess that this would be the discussion we would be having about the trouble at the skate park?

[Vince Frantz]

I hate to call them Christians because I am sure real Christians take offense to being lumped in to the same category. All skaters have been lumped under the image of a few bad seeds and that has perpetuated the stereotype for 20 some years. That's why it should be real Christians to make any kind of statement or public defense of their religion against this cultish version. It's not a matter of what is a sin or not - it's how a religion is twisted back in to a control mechanism. It's the same tactics used to recruit young suicide bombers for jihad. It just shows what can happen when a community doesn't stay in touch with its young adults. Stuff like this slips under he radar until it's too late.

[Stan Austin]

I was a suicide bomber.

Went down Stinchcomb on a piece of wood with steel roller skates nailed to it.

Lived to talk about it though

[Vince Frantz]

Oh Stan you just blew my mind. This changes everything!

[Stephen Calhoun]

I noted in doing my informal research that many churches are focused on how they can increase the participation of young adults. With the exception of churches on the fringes, churches focused on prohibitions of youth culture, it seems quite practical to co-opt the environments and interests of the young.

I would expect this has to do with norming the young into sympathy with the adult culture of a given church, and, this also refers to demographic features having to do with the aging of older churches, and the growth of newer churches.

***

Close to every issue on The Observation Deck has something to do with the web of moralities implicit in the over-arching human cultures of Lakewood. This is an unexceptional observation!

Still, often the dialogue is exceptionally sensitive here. Not every community is conversing together about issues so loaded with prospects for antipathy and sympathy.

[John Steele]

I also was there that Thursday night at the skate park, and I would like to commend the youth and their leaders who did the missions outreach. It was encouraging to see our young leaders in the body of Christ be able to share their faith in love with those who wanted to listen and not to force anything on anyone ( youth or adult ). To see their passion and zeal to do what God has called them/us who profess Jesus Christ as our savior and lord to do (see Matt. 28:18-20).
It was sad to read one of the responses that said that those who were involved with the missions outreach stated to telling the skatboarders that "skateboarding is evil" I know for a fact that statement was not true. Skateboarding in and of its self is not evil (but... this could be a another discussion).
Their mission was to let those who would listen, share the love of God (John 3:16).
"For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life". That means; young, old, bricklayer, teacher, city worker, professional (public or private sector), stay at home wife/mom, councilmen and oh yea even skateboarders. It was all about sharing the love of God and that is exactly what they did.
I would encourage those of you to search the scriptures to see if that is what they did.

[Stephen Calhoun]

Hopefully, next time, it will be better documented.

One of the issues sustained through this, regardless of mission or ministry, has to do with religious exposure and minority age persons. The issue is not so much youths sharing ideas with youths, but is adult perogatives, be they overt or hidden, guiding an agenda in which parental perogatives have actual legal standing.

It's not a trivial issue or one rationalized away by the ethos of one religion among many religions.

[Ellen Malonis]

Thank you, John, for posting. It was good to hear from someone involved in the outreach. The love of God is a wonderful thing to share.

I would appreciate hearing from anyone else who was there for more first hand accounts. If there were 30 to 40 people there from the church group, plus other skaters, there should be plenty of eye-witnesses to what went on.

The rest of us could talk until we're blue in the face, but we would be commenting without a full accounting of the situation. We weren't there. If we had a more broad range "documentation" as Steve said, perhaps the discussion would be more fruitfull.

Thanks again, John.

[Lynn Farris]

Thank you for sharing. There were many things that disturbed me about this encounter.

But Danielle said "They told some of the kids, including my nine year old, that skateboarding was an evil sport and that they were sinners."

Hopefully you are right, this was misinterpeted. There is nothing that I know of in the bible that makes skating evil. It is a fun sport that allows kids to use all of their energy in a constructive manner. (Actually, I've been really tempted to put on my skates and try it - I'm not quite brave enough yet.)

They told one girl whose father had died that he was going to hell.

I don't care what the father had done, this is cruel and not appropriate for people to be saying to anyone let alone a child. I lost my father when I was 10. It is very hard for a child to lose a father without "jerks" saying mean things like this.

They were saying homosexuals were going to hell. Again, this is negative, and out of place. And IMHO very wrong.

The bible talks about love and caring for others and helping the sick and homeless. In my humble opinion, exemplifying these virtues make the strongest case for being a Christian

Both Matthew 7 and Luke 6 say approximately the same thing and therefore to me the message is very strong.

Luke 6:42
How can you say to your brother, 'Brother, let me take the speck out of your eye,' when you yourself fail to see the plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye.


I also wanted to teach my children about religion, not have them pick up what could be misinformation on the playground/skatepark. I wanted to be able to talk with them about different religions and share with them my thoughts.

John,

You said
"It was encouraging to see our young leaders in the body of Christ be able to share their faith in love with those who wanted to listen and not to force anything on anyone ( youth or adult ).

I think that is positive. Maybe they just need to work on the way they are sharing, the location, and who they are sharing with.

I would have had less problems if they had handed out a pamphlet to the families that invited them to visit their church for an ice cream social or some such activity. Then used that opportunity to share more in depth with the families about their views on religion.

[Stephen Calhoun]

The encounter, (to repeat myself,) would be controversial regardless of the content, were any adults involved.

The first fact to establish is whether adults were involved and presumed to fulfill an unsolicited parental role with kids whom not only aren't their kids, but are strangers to them.

The second fact to establish is whether a single shaming or damning or denigrating act of communication happened.

We do, in fact, have reports.

This thread starts out with one, from Danielle,

I had an experience this evening while at the skate park with my family that I would like some community input on. There was a large (30-40 people) christian group inside the skate park this evening. They were preaching to the kids about God and Jesus. They told some of the kids, including my nine year old, that skateboarding was an evil sport and that they were sinners. They told one girl whose father had died that he was going to hell. They were saying homosexuals were going to hell. They were handing out pamphlets. Many of this was done on the actual skate ramps and platforms, not just on the bleachers.

Later, Ellen wrote:

I would be interested in knowing what church or group these folks are affiliated with.

We know what Church it was.

Vince, from second-hand reports earlier wrote,

From what has been reported to me through adults and skaters is that this group has made more than one trip to the skatepark but it was the most recent one where they actually entered the park with the preeminent message that skateboarding is a sin and that they were praying for people that were skaters. As far as I know, they were not addressing non-skaters. Their focus on the thursday visit was to confront skaters of all ages. In a previous visit, they wore all black, blasted some heavy metal music from speakers and held mock fighting and drinking skits. This was followed by "a minister guy" that came up to each one and "said a bunch of stuff" and then proceeded to remove the black clothing to reveal a pure white garb underneath. It was these white-clad teenagers and young adults that returned a day later to confront the skaters.

I don't know, from this, if there were any parent-age adults. For me, that's the missing piece. But, the rest of the affair's basic elements are known.

[Stephen Calhoun]

As for content aside from any intense rhetoric used to convey "out group" status, this would be a matter of research.

What does this particular church hope its members believe, behave, and aspire toward?

Whatever the details are of this...

You drill into this by doing the research and you'll learn a lot. right?

***

My own opinion is that any kind of contest about 'what is the bestest thing to believe given the remarkable contradictions of the Bible,' is a pointless discussion because of that 'bestest' part. Except for, and unless, it's very important for any reason that other persons 'would be better off' believing pretty much as one's own self does, and one is geared to doing something about it.

Then all bets are off. In this case, roll the cameras. I'm always curious to witness this kind of event. Fascinating stuff... 'cept, please don't parent my kids.

My guess is it is unlikely this will happen again. Something about the sanitizing rays of the Observer...