The Power of a Gathering
An image from the first national conference, which was held in Stanwell Park, New South Wales, Australia.
The Power of a Gathering
The First Christian Surfers National Gathering
As told by Brett Davis:
Christian Surfers Fellowship, Australia got underway in February 1977. 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 surfers.
Our first meeting was made up of BBQ’s (no salad!), slides projected onto a garage wall, followed by a Bible study. We tormented the groms, who struggled to
Surf Camps were a highlight. We would head down the South Coast in my dad’s EJ Holden and whatever other cars parents would lend us. We lived in tents, got smoked out around campfires, ate toasted cheese waffles and surfed four times a day at Bendalkong or Green Island.
It was heaven.
We removed the word ‘fellowship’ from our name and kept it simply as Christian Surfers - as we realised we had something unique to give the surfing community.
I remember in late 1982 when Thommo suggested, “How about we host a national conference.” - I laughed out loud at the suggestion!
A national conference sounded so organised, so professional, so formal and unlike most things we had done. We mailed out invitations anyway to all our contacts, and amazingly they all came to Stanwell Tops Christian Conference Centre. It was Easter 1983.
Even though we had vastly different church backgrounds and understanding of scripture, God was gracious and that very first conference served as a catalyst for us becoming a national movement called Christian Surfers Australia.
It was rough and raw, but full of youthful zeal.
God pulled it together and Christian Surfers began in earnest after that first national conference.