History of Skatechurch
The people
Paul Anderson and Clint Bidleman became inseparable friends in the eighth grade.
Paul, a skater since age 11, and Clint, since age 14, grew up in the San Luis Obispo, California skate culture in the late 70’s and early 80’s.
Fellow teammates on the Central Coast Surfboards skate team, they both emerged as top freestyle competitors.
Skating, drugs, alcohol, stealing wood to build skateboard ramps—it all went together.
But at age 17, they both underwent a radical lifestyle change when they individually came to know Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord through the bold witness of obedient
Christians.
In 1987, the 23-year-olds were sponsored amateur freestyle skaters
attending a Portland Oregon Bible College, and informally skateboarding with local neighborhood skaters. One night while studying, Paul met some
skaters on campus who had wandered away from a gym night at nearby Central Bible Church. Returning the
skaters to the gym, Paul was encouraged by Central Bible Youth Intern John Stone to
come weekly and minister to skaters who didn't fit in.
Determined to follow the path Jesus had for them, Paul and Clint
then joined forces with Youth Pastor Mark DeYmaz and founded Skatechurch in
the Central Bible parking lot.
Tragically, Clint passed away in 1993 from the AIDS virus after contracting HIV in 1983 through a blood transfusion he received following a near fatal motorcycle accident.
His famous 180 tracts remain on the merch page of the website as a memorial
to his faithful service to Christ and the skaters of the world.
The place
The Skatechurch building was completed and dedicated in 1996, through a sizeable donation from a member of Central Bible Church.
Skatechurch’s current 6400-square-feet of indoor skating area includes a
9-foot roll-in to 12-foot x 22-foot foampit, a 4-foot tall 28-foot wide mini-ramp,a 2.5-foot tall 12-foot wide micro-ramp,
a seven-stair, a eurogap and a street course with multiple ledges, launches, quarter-pipes, banks, hand-rails, etc.
Ministries include:
- Peewee skateboard / in-line.
- Junior High skateboard.
- High School skateboard.
- Over-18 skateboard.
- Family skateboard.
Combined weekly attendance averages approximately 100 skaters. Each one hears the Gospel each week.
In addition to scheduled outreach / skate times, 25 come weekly for separate discipleship-oriented Bible studies.
Current staff: 30 adults
The ministry
The past 21 years have been a testimony to answered prayer and God's power to save souls and change lives.
Paul and his staff affirm with wholehearted zeal, "The gospel is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes" (Romans 1: 16), that prayer is the backbone of spiritual ministry, and that one plants, another waters, but it is God who causes the increase (see 1 Corinthians 3:5, 6).
- 8337 skaters in the greater Portland area have heard the Gospel through Skatechurch.
- Skatechurch has held three skate camps.
- 1,146 people locally have claimed Christ as Savior and Lord.
- 19 Skatechurch students have gone on to Bible College in some capacity.
- After getting saved, one skater went on to teach Bible Study Methods and Biblical Hebrew at the Bible college and seminary level.
- Skatechurch has assisted many other skate ministries in getting started and maintaining their own
skateboard / in-line ministries throughout the US, Canada, Australia,
Europe and Africa.
- In 1998, Skatechurch produced a 29-minute video to help other ministries
start and run ministries to skaters. The latest "How To" DVD, produced in
2007, is available for $29.95 in the merch section of this website and comes with other information,
including a copy of the tract it developed to witness to skaters. 584 videos / DVD's have been distributed worldwide.
- The skateboard demonstration team has preached the Gospel to
approximately 17,710 people throughout California, Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Montana,
Arkansas, Canada and Ireland.
- Gerald Griffin, Skatechurch pastor from 1999-2002, and Ben Thomas, Skatechurch pastor from
2003-2005, led a team of skaters to France and Ireland in the summer of 2002.
Joel Coombs led Skatechurch mission teams to Ireland in 2004 and 2005. Possibilities exist for planting skate churches in both locations in the near future.
- 694 people have professed faith in Christ through the witness of the demo team.
- In addition to these demos, from 2000 to 2004 Skatechurch partnered
with the Luis Palau Evangelistic Association to do 11 demos at Palau
Festivals in the U.S. and Europe. These festivals included:
- building 4,500 to 9,000-square-foot skate parks.
- organizing teams of professional Christian skaters.
- preaching the Gospel to the large crowds that attend the skateboard demonstrations,
resulting in 1849 decisions or rededications to date at the festivals alone.
- Paul Anderson, a partner evangelist to Luis Palau, and Skatechurch's involvement in these festivals became the seedbed
for Palau's ongoing Livin' It Extreme Sports Ministries.
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