Mission & Purpose

The Lakewood SK8 program is meant to fulfill as its primary purpose EVANGELISM (REACH) and as its secondary purpose FELLOWSHIP (HANG). As such, while the presentation of Bible lessons is important, imparting Biblical knowledge is not the primary goal of Lakewood SK8. The main focus of these lessons will be to provide some idea as to why we do the things we do (through the Person of Jesus Christ). Connecting with students will be the primary goal for all adult SK8 leaders. It is our hope that these life-on-life relationships will lead the non-Christian student to a serious consideration of believing on the claims of Jesus Christ and challenge the Christian student to grow in Christ and reach out to their Christian and non-Christian friends in the community. Students will be encouraged to be actively involved in the ministry and mature students will have the opportunity to develop applied leadership skills.

Local Church Integration

As a ministry Lakewood SK8 also seeks to work jointly with other local area churches that do not have the facility or equipment for a skate park and would like to promote Lakewood SK8 to students in their own ministry programs. We exist to extend a way to connect students to Christ and to provide an entry level program into the Christian church whether or not they are regular attendees at Lakewood Family Church. While one of our goals is to move students into the middle/high school Sunday/Wednesday programming here at LFC, we are more concerned with getting students connected with an area Christian church than specifically increasing student attendance at Lakewood Student Ministries programming.

Student Ministry Integration

The SK8 program desires to move students who only attend SK8 into the rest of the Student Ministry programming here at Lakewood Family Church if they do not already have a church home. We believe that if we are whole heartedly pursuing and communicating our purpose to our students and our ministry is healthy, then we will experience numerical growth. As new students come to SK8 it will be important to encourage them to get involved with other weekly programming here at LFC. The rest of the Student Ministry programming will provide other important opportunities that will not be possible with just the Lakewood SK8 program. However, our main goal will be to get students involved in a healthy, Bible-believing church whether or not it is LFC.

Why Skate Ministry?

Good question!!! There are an ever increasing number of alternative/extreme sports that are gaining widespread popularity and acceptance as legitimate, professional activities. Many of these sports appeal to today’s youth. These sports include skateboarding, inline skating and biking. There are an ever increasing number of skate park locations being built in the surrounding community. With the continuing popularity of these types of sports, a skate park ministry is a viable option to reach a segment of the population that might otherwise be easily overlooked.

Benefits of Lakewood SK8

There are many benefits that a church run skate park can offer students and parents. These benefits include but are not limited to:

* Adult Supervision
* Positive Relationships with Caring Adults
* Biblical Teaching & Worldview
* A Safe Environment
* Community Outreach
* An Exciting Place to Bring Friends

The Cost of Insurance

Lakewood SK8 understands that the cost of insurance may place a financial difficulty on some families and may hinder some parents from signing their child(ren) up. Unfortunately, we are unable to cover the cost of the insurance at the present time. However, we do not want any student left out of Lakewood SK8 just because of the insurance cost. We are more than happy to discuss payment options if the $30.00 or $38.00 upfront fee would place a burden on any family. Please contact the Program Director for additional information.

Cost Breakdown for a Skater Under the Age of 18

$30.00 per year ($30.00/year)

$0.58 per week ($0.58/week, given 52 weeks per year)

$0.15 per hour ($0.19/hour, given 4 hours per week)

Most students will spend more at the Snack Bar while they are at SK8 per week than they will on the cost of insurance per week.