Celebrating 45 Years of CS

The first CS Girls group!

Cover Image: 1986 National Conference Group Forster.

Our Christian Surfers Fellowship got seriously underway in February 1978. Thommo Dave Gillis and I rounded up some guys from other churches, typically misfits and wayward church kids whose parents were desperate for something Christian that might catch the grom who was sliding (or surfing) out the backdoor of the family church. From older drug-induced schizophrenics through to groms who wanted lifts to the beach, we were an eclectic bunch of surfies.

In 1981, we somehow convinced a Cronulla realtor to rent us a three-bedroom apartment named Seville to four 22-year-old surfers. Within months, a mini-revival broke out! Our group of 12 turned into 20 and then 40, then 80 until over 100 teens were using our house and attending our CS meetings. We lived together as a true Christian community sharing our lives together as a team and with the many groms who made our home theirs.

Cronulla groms

 Reckless surf camps down the coast soon followed where nervous parents allowed their kids on adventure with us. Club nights with wild games typically resulting in some minor injuries.  We were the first surfing club to include girls and even bodyboarders! We were sold out, hardcore, no compromise, idealistic 23-year-olds. Rumours of other Christian Surfers clubs around the country soon began to circulate. One on the northern beaches of Sydney, another in Maroubra until eventually, we began to organise interclub ‘Expression Sessions’.

As good as these combined events where, we knew there there had to be a better way of letting the surf world know who we were. So we took out a full-page ad in Surfing World magazine in May 1982 titled, ‘Just Surfers?’ which garnered much interest, new enquiries and lots of letter writing. Thomo then used his doodling expertise courtesy of his years spent doodling during maths class to create an evangelistic surf comic - ‘Making the Section’ which was published in Tracks magazine.

“How about we host a national conference?” Said Thomo which I quickly laughed out loud at the thought. A national conference sounded so organised, so professional, so formal compared to what we had been doing. We mailed out invitations anyway - to all our contacts, and amazingly they all came to Stanwell Tops Christian Conference Centre. It was Easter, 1983.

We soon realised how different we were in church backrounds as cracks quickly appeared between the charasmatic and mainstream churches. I was devastated. Would our dream of working together fold before it even got started?

Matt Colby

Despite my anxiety, God was gracious, and we agreed to become a national movement called Christian Surfers Australia with the Cronulla-based logo by Thomo becoming our shared identity. 

It was rough and raw, but full of youthful zeal. God pulled it together and Christian Surfers began in earnest.  As told by Brett Davis