. . . but to surf, is divine
"Just so you know: This is my first interview..." Howard said into the phone. He laughed nervously.
"That's ok." I told him. "It's only my second."
Howard was a Christian. He attended regular functions and services at Hope Chapel in Huntington Beach, a congregation of hundreds. Several years ago, Howard and a friend heard about Christian Surfers (CS), an international organization of surfers. CS claims to form the "bridge between the beach and the church". Howard became interested. He began attending meetings in San Clemente where a local chapter meets. He was interested in starting a Huntington Beach chapter. When a group of local surfers also became interested in starting a Huntington Beach chapter of the organization, the fledgling group was born.
Howard described his groups and their evangelical message as "low pressure". He admits that Christians have a reputation for evangelical behavior. Other Christian groups play a very hard game of selling salvation. One of the goals of CS is to attract people shunned or turned off by traditional churches. Surfers are known for individuality and non conformity. CS has attempted to bring the Christian message to surfers in their own language. Their published literature includes "The Grommet's Guide to Jesus" and "The Surfer's Bible" a printing of the Bible with a roaring wave on the cover.
At the time I spoke to Howard, the Huntington Beach chapter of CS had a building membership. Participation at the weekly bible study meetings ranged from eight to fifteen people. Participants were generally high school age teens or adults over thirty. Participation was building, and Howard was hopeful of making the chapter into a staple to serve the HB community. "I've got like 70 people on my mailing list." he told me.
Chapters of CS were required to hold a minimum of one bible study meeting and one outreach activity each month. The HB chapter chose to hold Bible study meeting weekly. For outreach, they organized events to open to the public. Howard excitedly told me about a screening of the surf movie "Noah's Ark" at the Huntington Beach pierside movie theatre. "It's by the guys who made 'The Outsiders'". Both surf films were produced by a San Diego based Christian non-profit organization group called "Walking on Water", who produce videos in addition to running Christian surf camps.
Members of the HB CS chapter surfed together, but their schedule was sporadic. They used short notice word of mouth to coordinate times and places. "We'll be at 9th street tomorrow." Howard told me. While the surfing sessions were not intended as an evangelism crusade, Howard saw the opportunity. He talked about maintaining an open mind towards reaching out and helping someone in the water. "You always talk to someone." He told me. "Someone says hi, or someone's complaining about the waves." A group of CS in the water could be an attraction to a surfer who is interested in seeking a spiritual connection but would never darken the doors of a church. The group hoped to attract by example.
Regionally, CS organized a southern California contest series for the fall and winter of 2004. Between September and April, eight events were held between San Diego and Santa Cruz. Contestants pay registration fees to compete in a series of contests leading up to a regional championship. CS volunteers worked the contests. At each contest, there was a raffle for a prize. Entrance into the raffle was provided to all who filled out a questionnaire about spiritual status and dropped it in a raffle box. While guests completed the questionnaire, volunteers were available to talk about the Christian message.
CS’s goal was to be a presence for Christianity within the surfing community. CS was not, in and of itself, a church but a group that partnered with local Christian churches and groups in surfing communities. Starting the chapter in HB, Howard saw the CS chapter as a service group.
CS US owned several “surf mission base locations” in Costa Rica, Panama, Puerto Rico, Barbados, and Hawaii. Members can participate short term mission trips where they host bible studies, build skateboard ranps, show surfing videos, or minister to children. Cost of a 7-day mission is $550, plus personal airfare and any applicable surfboard cargo fees.
Howard and the new HB chapter considered a trip to mexico. The purpose of the trip would be to build strength in the new group, and provide an opportunity for outreach into the HB community. “Guys that come could invite a friend.” For a new group, outreach and formation was critical. He told me about difficulties getting people involved in a new group. “People don’t want to change when they surf.”
The connection between Christianity and surfing can be traced to the latter half of the 1970s. In the aftermath of surfing’s seemingly unshakable association to drugs and counter cultural rebellion, several professional surfers announced their Christianity, and began surfing for Jesus. CS, as an organized group, began in Australia in the late 1970s. CS was founded in the US in 1984 in Santa Barbara.
But surfing’s appeal stretches across dogmatic boundaries in the competition for souls. From Hawaii to Israel and the Far East, surfing may contain a more common and universal spiritual element, recognizable by a variety of faiths.
From it’s Polynesian origins, the riding of waves has been connected to spirituality. Hawaiian surf songs and spiritual chants reflected a deep spiritual connection to nature and to the ocean waters which was expressed and appreciated in the act of riding waves. The Hawaiian term “aloha kai” was used to express a connectivity, a love and a caring for the sea.
Rabbi Nachum Shifren, the “surfing rabbi”, learned to surf in Malibu with some of the legendary surfers of the early 1960s. He moved to Israel in 1977 during the Yom Kippur War, and served in Israeli Defense Forces. Back in the states, he was ordained a rabbi in 1990. He is the founder of Jewish Surfers International and has written articles on kabala, mysticism, and the power of the ocean waves on the individual spirit. In 2001, he wrote a book, entitled “Surfing Rabbi: A Kabbalistic Quest for Soul”
Jack Reiley, an instructor at California State University Channel Islands, teaches a class called “PHED105: ZEN OF SURFING”. The class is two hours per week for a credit of one unit. It is taught through class lectures, movies (the “Yoga for Surfers” video is on the reading list) and, of course, surfing. Reilly feels that Zen and surfing are a natural combination. Riding a perfect wave is an act between the human senses and an entirely spontaneous natural force, the rider is attuned to the wave in Zen harmony.
I asked Howard for his thoughts about surfing and its significance to human spirituality. He naturally struggled for words at first, but eventually began to speak about a connection to being in nature, finding a peaceful moment, and being in a place where one can experience something transcendent, where one may be more open to God. He spoke of the value of quiet and peaceful time away from the worldly tasks and traffic. “Anything to pull you out of the day to day hustle” he said “creates an environment where God can reach you."
More Later
Travis
copyright 2004 Travis R. English
"That's ok." I told him. "It's only my second."
Howard was a Christian. He attended regular functions and services at Hope Chapel in Huntington Beach, a congregation of hundreds. Several years ago, Howard and a friend heard about Christian Surfers (CS), an international organization of surfers. CS claims to form the "bridge between the beach and the church". Howard became interested. He began attending meetings in San Clemente where a local chapter meets. He was interested in starting a Huntington Beach chapter. When a group of local surfers also became interested in starting a Huntington Beach chapter of the organization, the fledgling group was born.
Howard described his groups and their evangelical message as "low pressure". He admits that Christians have a reputation for evangelical behavior. Other Christian groups play a very hard game of selling salvation. One of the goals of CS is to attract people shunned or turned off by traditional churches. Surfers are known for individuality and non conformity. CS has attempted to bring the Christian message to surfers in their own language. Their published literature includes "The Grommet's Guide to Jesus" and "The Surfer's Bible" a printing of the Bible with a roaring wave on the cover.
At the time I spoke to Howard, the Huntington Beach chapter of CS had a building membership. Participation at the weekly bible study meetings ranged from eight to fifteen people. Participants were generally high school age teens or adults over thirty. Participation was building, and Howard was hopeful of making the chapter into a staple to serve the HB community. "I've got like 70 people on my mailing list." he told me.
Chapters of CS were required to hold a minimum of one bible study meeting and one outreach activity each month. The HB chapter chose to hold Bible study meeting weekly. For outreach, they organized events to open to the public. Howard excitedly told me about a screening of the surf movie "Noah's Ark" at the Huntington Beach pierside movie theatre. "It's by the guys who made 'The Outsiders'". Both surf films were produced by a San Diego based Christian non-profit organization group called "Walking on Water", who produce videos in addition to running Christian surf camps.
Members of the HB CS chapter surfed together, but their schedule was sporadic. They used short notice word of mouth to coordinate times and places. "We'll be at 9th street tomorrow." Howard told me. While the surfing sessions were not intended as an evangelism crusade, Howard saw the opportunity. He talked about maintaining an open mind towards reaching out and helping someone in the water. "You always talk to someone." He told me. "Someone says hi, or someone's complaining about the waves." A group of CS in the water could be an attraction to a surfer who is interested in seeking a spiritual connection but would never darken the doors of a church. The group hoped to attract by example.
Regionally, CS organized a southern California contest series for the fall and winter of 2004. Between September and April, eight events were held between San Diego and Santa Cruz. Contestants pay registration fees to compete in a series of contests leading up to a regional championship. CS volunteers worked the contests. At each contest, there was a raffle for a prize. Entrance into the raffle was provided to all who filled out a questionnaire about spiritual status and dropped it in a raffle box. While guests completed the questionnaire, volunteers were available to talk about the Christian message.
CS’s goal was to be a presence for Christianity within the surfing community. CS was not, in and of itself, a church but a group that partnered with local Christian churches and groups in surfing communities. Starting the chapter in HB, Howard saw the CS chapter as a service group.
CS US owned several “surf mission base locations” in Costa Rica, Panama, Puerto Rico, Barbados, and Hawaii. Members can participate short term mission trips where they host bible studies, build skateboard ranps, show surfing videos, or minister to children. Cost of a 7-day mission is $550, plus personal airfare and any applicable surfboard cargo fees.
Howard and the new HB chapter considered a trip to mexico. The purpose of the trip would be to build strength in the new group, and provide an opportunity for outreach into the HB community. “Guys that come could invite a friend.” For a new group, outreach and formation was critical. He told me about difficulties getting people involved in a new group. “People don’t want to change when they surf.”
The connection between Christianity and surfing can be traced to the latter half of the 1970s. In the aftermath of surfing’s seemingly unshakable association to drugs and counter cultural rebellion, several professional surfers announced their Christianity, and began surfing for Jesus. CS, as an organized group, began in Australia in the late 1970s. CS was founded in the US in 1984 in Santa Barbara.
But surfing’s appeal stretches across dogmatic boundaries in the competition for souls. From Hawaii to Israel and the Far East, surfing may contain a more common and universal spiritual element, recognizable by a variety of faiths.
From it’s Polynesian origins, the riding of waves has been connected to spirituality. Hawaiian surf songs and spiritual chants reflected a deep spiritual connection to nature and to the ocean waters which was expressed and appreciated in the act of riding waves. The Hawaiian term “aloha kai” was used to express a connectivity, a love and a caring for the sea.
Rabbi Nachum Shifren, the “surfing rabbi”, learned to surf in Malibu with some of the legendary surfers of the early 1960s. He moved to Israel in 1977 during the Yom Kippur War, and served in Israeli Defense Forces. Back in the states, he was ordained a rabbi in 1990. He is the founder of Jewish Surfers International and has written articles on kabala, mysticism, and the power of the ocean waves on the individual spirit. In 2001, he wrote a book, entitled “Surfing Rabbi: A Kabbalistic Quest for Soul”
Jack Reiley, an instructor at California State University Channel Islands, teaches a class called “PHED105: ZEN OF SURFING”. The class is two hours per week for a credit of one unit. It is taught through class lectures, movies (the “Yoga for Surfers” video is on the reading list) and, of course, surfing. Reilly feels that Zen and surfing are a natural combination. Riding a perfect wave is an act between the human senses and an entirely spontaneous natural force, the rider is attuned to the wave in Zen harmony.
I asked Howard for his thoughts about surfing and its significance to human spirituality. He naturally struggled for words at first, but eventually began to speak about a connection to being in nature, finding a peaceful moment, and being in a place where one can experience something transcendent, where one may be more open to God. He spoke of the value of quiet and peaceful time away from the worldly tasks and traffic. “Anything to pull you out of the day to day hustle” he said “creates an environment where God can reach you."
More Later
Travis
copyright 2004 Travis R. English
posted by travinator @ 10:54 PM
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