I have mixed feelings about this. Maybe it's not important, but there is a part of me that feels this type of recruitment is more of a brainwash than anything else.
"You may be outcasts elsewhere, but we'll take you in."
Newsday wrote:Making Christianity trendy
BY RACHEL LEIFER
STAFF WRITER
August 11, 2005
With their shaggy haircuts and piercings, the three teenage boys lounging atop their low-riding BMX bikes outside Glory Zone Ministry in Sayville looked more like extras from a punk rock video than churchgoers.
Enticed by a recent show featuring a visiting team of professional skateboarders, the boys were willing to stay for the Christian message afterward.
"This is awesome," said Zach Pisoni, 13, of Medford.
Packaging an evangelical message with trendy pastimes appeals to kids, and Glory Zone knows it. The skateboarding preachers from actor Stephen Baldwin's Livin' It Ministry have sold more than 100,000 DVDs and countless armbands and T-shirts, mostly to young people attracted to a brand of Christianity that approves of "countercultural" fads frowned upon by traditional churches.
"This is a new kind of Jesus movement," said Mark Gagnon, 17, of Medford, fiddling with the studs in his lower lip. "I've never been to a church where I can bring my bike."
The boys set their bikes down in front of a white tent in the parking lot on church grounds, where more than 1,000 people listened to Baldwin, a native of Massapequa, preaching from an onstage halfpipe in shorts and a Livin' It T-shirt, with a large gold cross around his neck.
"Check it out," said Baldwin, who has appeared in films such as "The Usual Suspects," "One Tough Cop" and "Bio-Dome."
"You can be a hard-core skater kid and still be a person of faith."
After describing how embracing born-again Christianity in 2002 helped him kick materialism, cigarettes and foul language, Baldwin, 39, passed the microphone to Sean Plimmer, road manager of the King of Kings Skateboard Ministry, a posse of skaters contracted to tour with Livin' It. Many are sponsored by Reliance Skateboards, a Christian company based in Nampa, Idaho.
"Thanks, Stevie B.," Plimmer said, waving to the crowd as a hip-hop beat filled the tent. "We're here to give glory to the Lord with our skills!"
Scores of children and teenagers gathered at the foot of the stage. Mouths hung agape as the athletes zoomed around the ramps while Plimmer, 26, provided play-by-play, identifying tricks like the tail-grab and the kick-flip.
When one of skater Josh Kasper's maneuvers failed, Plimmer consoled him. "We love you for who you are, not because you can do awesome tricks every time," he said.
Elijah Moore, 25, has been a skateboarder for 11 years and spent two touring with Livin' It. "Skateboarding and BMX is great entertainment that gets kids in to hear our message," said the native of Garland, Texas. "That's how we lure them in. God gave us the talent so we could preach the gospel."
Mitch Gusman, 16, of Dix Hills, said he was proud his church is including people so often miscast as rebels. "No matter who you are, God will use you," he said, recounting the tale of David, the underdog who felled a giant with a pebble.
"My skateboard is my slingshot."
Copyright 2005 Newsday Inc.
Still cynical though, I will admit.
