Ministry to Skaters

This article talks about a ministry in Redwood City, CA which is specifically targetted at the skater community. Many consider the culture to be unreachable, but this church is showing that anything is possible with God.

For the past year, the 26-year-old Davidson has been heading Skatechurch, a ministry of Peninsula Covenant Church in Redwood City that has been slowly infiltrating the local skateboarding community. During the past six years, it has ministered to more than 1,000 kids, ranging from middle-schoolers to high school graduates.

As a skateboarder for more than a decade, Davidson understands the unsavory side of the popular sport. Inundated with skate culture at a young age, he hung out with the wrong crowds inhigh school and eventually fell into drugs, flitting in and out of rehab. While fulfilling his community service, he met a pastor who eventually led him to Jesus.

"Here's this guy who would take me bowling and go eat double baconburgers with me," recalled Davidson. "I saw God's character in his life, and it was something I wanted in mine."

The first Skatechurch was founded in a Portland, Ore. church parking lot in 1987 by two Bible college students who were both sponsored skaters, and is currently the longest running indoor skate park in the United States. It blends recreational skateboarding with the word of God.