SkateChurch Launch

We had a great launch party for Skate Church this week with more than 35 people in attendance. We had a great time skating and the skaters love the new quarterpipe, though I had to yell at the for jumping off of the storage building where it was positioned against. The guy standing next to me is Josh and it was his first time at the park. Before I started the devotional I asked for a volunteer to hold the bucket of tickets that we were going draw from for the new skateboard. Josh volunteered right off. I told all the kids that I didn’t know him and that he looked a bit shady so they should keep their eyes on him to make sure he wasn’t putting extra tickets in the bucket. When it came time to draw guess whose name came out of the bucket? My man Josh’s. What are the odds? I met his mom after we finished and she really loved seeing her son skate and what we were doing with the park. We had for older teens from the local skatepark show up early and help set the park up. A couple of these guys dropped out of school, but would like help getting back on track. They would like to get their GED and go to college.

I am learning that effective ministry can really boil down to time. How much time do you have to give? Do you have time to just hang out and talk with students and really get to the core issues of their problems? Many times we try to apply a huge message to a large group of students and spend a lot of time not connecting with the issues they are really dealing with. Maybe it is time to start getting back to a biblical model of small group where one leader leads a small number of students and really invests in their lives instead of one guy preaching at 50, 100, 500 or more students, but never connecting with them individually with what they really need right now. Jesus was able to spend quality time with each of his disciples. Maybe it needs to be quality over quantity. Maybe that is teaching less for more. Teach less students for a greater impact. Teach less messages so that they can work on one thing at a time. Less talking and more listening. I am starting to rant so I will cut this one short.

Great launch party can’t wait for next Tuesday.

Later people.

Skate Church

      We had our first Skate Church since school started tonight and it was amazing. We had over 25 people there including 12 first time skaters. There is something about connecting with first time guests that is just thrilling. If you are free on Tuesdays from 4:30-8:00 PM and are looking to get involved in a ministry that reaches out to the community and the unchurched then come check us out next Tuesday. After we had put the ramps up I walked outside and there were 7 students I have never meet before that were ready to get on the ramps. God is blowing me away with how He is working through skateboarding to connect with students.

      We need volunteers to help register students, work in the concession area, check out video games, and just hang out and encourage the skaters. Send me an email at jeremy@arrowheights.com if you are interested in getting involved.

     Next week we will posting some pictures of the ramps and telling you about the Family Fun Day we will be putting on in September.

Skate Church

We had a great time at skate church last week and I thought I would post a picture of some of the guys. I got them to pose like a family portrait, as best that they could. These guys are a blast.

Summer T-Shirt Fundraiser

       Hello friends.  I wanted to let you get a look at the summer shirt I have designed for Arrow Heights this summer.  I think it has a bit of a Hollister look to it.  We will be selling the shirt for $12.50 and it will be available in youth through XXL sizes.  It is a great way to get the name of Arrow Heights out there and the proceeds from the shirts will help Skate Church purchase a storage unit to keep our ramps in.  If you want to get your hands on one of these email me at Jeremy@arrowheights.org or call me at (405) 615-3666.  They will be available in the third week of June, just in time for you to wear it to the Sunny Summer Sunday party at Central park.  Help support Skate Church and get a cool shirt to boot.

Lunch With Sean

I got to have lunch today with Sean Whisenhunt from www.Sk8churchowasso.com today.  Sean has been helping me think through the launch of www.SK8BA.com, giving me plans for the ramps, and working through the details of skate park ministry.  I am so grateful for his insights into running this ministry.  They had a big night last Thursday with over 200 people in attendance.  Channel 6 came out and did a story on them that you can find here.  The Skate Church in Jenks baptized over 50 people last year and have already passed 30 at this point this year.  That is a pretty amazing number when you consider that the average number of baptisms for a Baptist church in 2007 was 7.7 baptisms or 6.9 if you include mission churches.  I got those figures from the Lifeway web site.  God is doing amazing things through skate church ministries and I can’t wait to see what is going to happen through www.SK8BA.com. 

      If you are interested in learning more about how you can be a part of Skate Church Broken Arrow please contact Jeremy Davidson at jeremy@arrowheights.org or call (405) 615-3666.  We still have several needs we are trying to meet and need to recruit several more volunteers for our Tuesday night meetings.  Please put us on your prayer list and come out on Tuesday nights starting next week to see what is happening.