Young Skaters in Line for His Sermons

Hundreds of teens worship God in a place that would have been unimaginable a generation ago.

These kids don’t get up Sunday morning to put on neatly pressed church clothes and ride along with their families to a chapel down the street.

Their Sabbath is on Tuesday nights where they learn about God at Skate Street, a 25,000-square-foot indoor skateboard, in-line skate and BMX bike emporium. The worshipers wear jeans, T-shirts and helmets as they sit quietly on wooden ramps instead of pews.

Usually it costs $12 to play at the facility, which is full of various ramps, including a 12-foot half-pipe and some quarter-pipes, where beginners and near-professionals practice. But on Tuesday nights the price of admission is listening to a short sermon from Ryan Delamater, the youth pastor at Ventura’s First Assembly of God Church.

Delamater, 25, seems years younger. He uses his boyish looks to relate to the kids, he said.

When he preaches, some in attendance don’t even know it. He isn’t standing behind a podium sounding like an orator. Instead, he stands among them and speaks to them as if they are his best friends.

And, they listen.

“I want them to be godly people, to live lives of integrity, to know how to be a good friend, to keep their promises and to be honest,” Delamater said.

To accomplish this goal, Delamater spoke recently about a trial he and his fiancee faced when her father suffered a stroke, and the couple rushed to Cleveland to be by his side.

“I was supposed to take 50 kids to the mountains camping last week when I was out of town. I called on a good friend of mine and he took those kids camping in my place,” Delamater said.

The point he emphasized was the importance of being a good friend, and having good friends. He also stressed how much he and his fiancee prayed for her father and the importance of praying when there is difficulty in our lives. But he also said it’s necessary to remember to pray when things are going well.

“We should pray because we’re thankful. Like when we’re thankful for good friends,” he said.

His talk only lasted about 10 minutes and then the pandemonium returned. Bikers, in-line skaters and skateboarders resumed their high-speed play, just missing each other as they took turns with their daring, skillful maneuvers.

“They have their own etiquette,” explained Delamater, who soon joined them on his own skateboard.

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Some kids “got air”--flying over a ramp by four or five feet--and others practiced kick flips or hard flips with their skateboards. At least 90% of those drawn to the indoor park are boys and the few girls present were mostly there to watch.

“I’ve been coming for about a month to listen to the sermon. I like to hear how God’s helped people and coming here gives me some form of God in my life,” said 18-year-old Matt Lagerstrom of Ventura.

Nicole Field, who manages Skate Street, said it opens its doors for free as a way to help teens find their spiritual center.

“We do it as a community outreach program to provide a positive place for kids to come,” she said.

Delamater said he knows what it’s like to be a teen and not know God because, he said, as a child he did not attend church regularly.

He recalled a day when he was 17. Delamater said he was on a surfboard in San Clemente and just happened to hear other surfers talking about God.

“I paddled over to them and they talked to me about God and invited me to go to church with them,” he said.

Delamater learned they lived near his Orange County home and he soon went to church with them. Within months he began a Bible study group at his high school, with only himself and one friend, which grew to more than 100 students by the time he graduated, he said.

“I knew then I wanted to work with teens,” Delamater said.

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As a youth pastor he coordinates Monday game nights at his church, offering Ping-Pong and video games.

And he and his fiancee, Meredith Krejci, are inviting all the teens to whom he ministers to the wedding reception in July, he said.

Delamater said he has become attached to his skateboarding congregants. Some of them credit him as being the only person in their lives who has taught them about God.

“They ask me to pray for them,” he said.

Prayer requests often involve preventing a parental divorce or seeking a better relationship with their parents, he said.

“I like coming here because I think Ryan’s cool and I know he would be there for me if I had any problems I needed to talk about,” said 12-year-old Shaydon Towe of Ventura, adding that he enjoyed the message but not the large crowds. On a typical Tuesday, nearly 200 teens will show up for the combination lesson and roller frenzy.

Ashlie Glaze, 15, of Camarillo, agreed there were many people filling the ramps, but it didn’t bother her because she was not participating in any of the sports. She came just to hear Delamater, she said.

“I like the way he teaches us about God in a good, fun way. It makes me feel more positive about things when he tells us the good things in his life,” Ashlie said.

Oxnard mother Susan Thompson said she enjoys bringing her son Ryan, 9, and his best friend Ricky, 10, to Skate Street on Tuesdays to learn religion from a good male role model.

“We come on Tuesdays because of the sermon,” she said. “It’s good for them to hear and they like it because they can relate to what he says.”

Sariah Chun went to the park to videotape her boyfriend, C.J. Kester, work out on his skateboard. The two, both 17 and from Thousand Oaks, attend Moorpark College. Sariah said she was glad to learn there also was a sermon.

“I wonder if he realizes when he gives a sermon what a good and important influence he is on these kids’ lives?” she asked.