City Beat Cover Story-Xtreme Evangelism

Xtreme Evangelism

How churches are trying to turn skating punks into believers

by Darryn Bennett

Wheels whir as the small, crouched boy speeds his skateboard up the slope of the plywood ramp,

latches the trucks onto the wooden lip, then, with a grinding swoop, sails down until the board meets the grainy asphalt and screeches to a halt. Loud, flat music interrupted by static from the shoddy sound system permeates the parking lot of the small Bonita Valley Baptist Church. Across the lot, another shaggy-haired boy with muttonchops leaps up onto a crate-like box and slides his board jarringly across the edge while the afternoon sun beats down.

The blare from the speakers abruptly ceases, and the sweaty skater crew seems to lose their rhythm; a few boards roll aimlessly away toward the sanctuary doors at the front of the church. A stocky man with a pleasant face and an easy gait claps his hands and calls the skaters over. As they congregate in the dip of the center ramp, decks on laps, Pastor Mark Strouse stands over them.

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