With skateboarders banned from many public areas, “skate churches” are the latest youth ministry craze. Churches provide ramps, rails, and pipes—plus a mandatory sermon. “We are seeing an explosion of youth,” Oceanway Assembly of God Pastor Danny Baggett tells The Florida Times-Union (more than 100 skaters show up Tuesdays and Wednesdays at the Jacksonville church).
Exploding youth is exactly what worries some church boards, but James Cobble, executive director of Christian Ministry Resources, says that with proper supervision and safety guidelines, churches shouldn’t fret. “Is there risk? Yes,” he told CT. “Is it greater than in other recreational activities? Probably not.”
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Skateboard ministries drawing young to church| Jacksonville pastors say idea working. (June 24, 2002)
