Pastor preaches, rolls with parish 'Board for the Lord'

Youngsters get sermon with free skate time.

By JEFF WILSON

The Associated Press

VENTURA, Calif. --- On the cement floor of an industrial park warehouse of ramps and curved plywood walls, 120 youngsters sitting on skateboards bowed scuff-marked helmets in prayer.

"Check this out. This is so awesome," the Rev. Ryan Delameter --- skater, surfer and servant of Christ --- told the youths gathered around him at the foot of a plywood ramp.

He read a passage from his well-worn Bible, peppering his word of God oration with "dude" and references to the 12 disciples as "homeboys."

It is part of a 7-month-old outreach program the 25-year-old Assembly of God pastor calls "Board for the Lord," and in that short time, his flock in this Southern California town near Los Angeles has almost tripled. His house of worship: Skate Street, a plywood paradise for skateboarders and in-line skaters.

The youths usually pay $12 for three hours of skating. But when Delameter is preaching, they skate for free in a deal the minister worked out with Skate Street's owner. The only caveat: sitting quietly through a 15-minute Bible lesson.

While Delameter talks, the skaters, wearing neon or chrome helmets scuffed from bad landings, sit on their boards, and they listen. Their ages range from 12 to 18. Boys outnumber girls 100-to-1.

The Bible lesson ends with prayer, and many take off their helmets and bow their heads.

Sometimes, Delameter brings Christian rockers who play while the skaters jump back on the their boards and head for the half pipes and rails.

It is the right message at the right price, said Tyler Batten, 16.

"It's in our setting, and we learn about God," he said.

For others, 15 minutes of Bible stories is a small price for free skating on a weeknight.

"It keeps the kids off the streets and keeps people from yelling at us," said Morgan Bier, 16, who adds with teen-age pride that his surname is German for beer.

On one recent day, Ryan Latham, a friend of Delameter and a youth pastor at Torrance Assembly of God, took over the Bible lesson with an anti-drug message. Latham, the 21-year-old son of a police chief, told how he regularly had smoked marijuana and got drunk on tequila and gin.

Finally, he said, "I kind of lost hope."

His friends suggested he read the Bible.

"I didn't believe in God. They challenged me, and I said it was bogus," said Latham, who was wearing black shorts, a gold Los Angeles Lakers shirt and black ballcap. "I started reading. The more I read, the less I could prove it wrong."

Then he went to a Christian rock concert.

"They were dressed just like me. They were cool," he said. He said he gave up cigarettes, drugs and booze and "surrendered to the Lord."

"I not only believe it, I live it, too," he told the Skate Street youths.

He urged them to look for him on the skate ramps if they want to talk. Then he grabbed his own skateboard and joined them.

In seven months, Delameter's "24-7" youth group (an every hour, every day commitment) has grown from 60 skaters to 175 some nights.

"We've been building friendships with kids," Delameter said. "It's great letting the kids learn about God on their level."

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