We possibly all have been there. Yes, we all have heard of a church or ministry that is doing something out of the ordinary. Something that isn’t the status quo and it is ending up making the church or ministry stand out from others around it. There are different emotions that possibly creep in such as; shock, disbelief, how dare they, disdain, and the reactions could go on and on.
There are different emotions
I personally have seen this happen in my own ministry. I recall when the church I was pastoring started looking into doing a skateboard ministry. Yes, you read that correctly, skateboarding ministry. It started with a dedicated church member coming to me and mentioning their passion to connect with the youth they had seen walking the street carrying skateboards. The longer time went on, the stronger the passion became. So, what did this (me) pastor do? I tried to fan the flame of passion. I started doing my homework
- What were other churches doing?
- What about responsibility?
- What type of property insurance?
- What would others think?
- How to approach the church board?
The questions could go on, but believe me it was a path that I had never trod and I tried to prepare the church for future times. Yes, there was opposition, questions, and some bewilderment. As I talked with other pastors, ministry leaders, and other mentors I had, you could quickly tell the difference between those who were “out of the box” thinkers and who were not. So, I continued on my quest to get all the info possible to find out the possibilities of seeing this through. I called our church insurance and got the typical response, “You don’t want to do that” but ” There are churches doing it” and the resistance continued. I then talked with the insurance agent long enough to find out, no matter what happens on the property the church was responsible. The agent stated, “Even if an elderly person was just walking across the parking lot and fell, due to their own fault” the church would be responsible.
My mind got to thinking, I would rather be doing something for God and trying to reach souls than to do nothing and the youth of the city continue onto their path of destruction. So we proceeded and the board agreed to follow through and the skateboarding ministry was born. It started out with just a small patch of concrete behind the church. Skateboarders from across the city heard about it and started coming. And there we were, on Wednesday afternoon at 4:00 pm we would gather. Skaters would skate from 4 to 5 and then we would stop for Little Caesars pizza provided by the church. Actually each week was provided by a family in the church and then in the rotation, the church would buy the pizzas. Then from approximately 4:15 to 6 pm the skating would happen again. While the skaters were eating I or someone from the church would give a short (emphasized) devotional. The goal was planting a seed, not dumping a whole sermon.
I would rather be doing something for God and trying to reach souls than to do nothing
It was a year or so in, and the same dedicated church member designed a permanent concrete ramp to attach onto the patch of concrete already completed. Of course it didn’t stop there, they then designed portable ramps and other improvements. Were there problems? Oh yes, we had to deal with different individuals, smoking, language, attitudes, and other situations, but the Gospel Seed was being planted.
I wish I could give reports of multiple skateboarders coming to church, their parents getting saved, and an explosion in attendance, but I can’t. What I can say though, we had more parents on the grounds and knowing where the church was located than in previous years. We also opened up the church and allowed the skaters and parents to use the facilities if needed. Our goal was to start breaking down the barriers to getting them to church. Allowing them to feel comfortable on the church property, getting familiar with being inside the church building, and also showing them that the church people cared and were “normal” people too.
To this day, I don’t know what has happened to many of the skaters, but I do know I can look back and because of a faithful church member desiring to “do something” there are young people who might have never heard a gospel message now know that there is a God that loves them. This ministry is still going on today and I thank God that there was a church member and a church board willing to “take a chance”.
My goal of this post is to encourage anyone that reads it, not to allow Satan to keep you “in the box”. Also it is a reminder to myself that no matter what we do, when we do it for God we let him control the outcome. We don’t do it for man’s applause, or for notoriety, we do it to see the kingdom of God increased.
no matter what we do, when we do it for God we let him control the outcome.
If you desire to contact me, please do by emailing me at james@jjmediaonline.net
