The Power of a Gathering
The first International Gathering in Europe. Circa 2004.
The Power of a Gathering
The First Christian Surfers International Gathering in Europe
"When I turned 18 in 1989, I went on a grand adventure to New Zealand, and bumped into some Christian Surfers. I had never met young vibrant Christians who were like me. They even had a major surf contest called the Jesus Surf Classic. I was so impacted and thought to myself, ‘We could do this back in Croyde!’” Remembers the founder of Christian Surfers UK, Simon Twitchen.
As told by Brett Davis:
Returning to the UK with a calling to start Christian Surfers UK, the response was less than impressive. Simon belonged to a conservative church and his vision and zeal was just too radical. Nevertheless, he and a handful of others formed the Croyde Christian Surfers and even launched the first Jesus Surf Classic in 1993.
As good as it was to have this Croyde handful, outside eyes were needed. Enter Phil Willliams!
“My first contact with CS was an advert in Surf Scene magazine in April 1992 asking, ‘Are you passionate about surfing and God?’ Even though I was passionate about both, I did nothing about it. I finally went along and had a great weekend at the CS surf camp at St. Georges House with 20 others. As an outsider I could see both the potential and the limitations of the insular Croyde-based group. I was invited to become the national coordinator in 1996.” said Phil Williams.
Phil had the drive, the leadership skills and connections to help CSUK become a true national movement. By 2000, he took the step of faith to go full-time with CSUK and grew the volunteer base to start supporting events.
In 2004 Phil Williams had the crazy notion of holding our sixth international gathering in France. The problem was that we had no CS in France! By holding the conference in a place of our weakness rather than strength we hoped it would kickstart ministry in wider Europe. It was a risky step, but God honoured it with some 160 surfers attending the conference and a breakthrough outreach event when we premiered the ‘Outsiders’ surf movie at a local cafe.
CS Brazil at the first Christian Surfers International conference in France. Circa 2004.
Since then, France has become ground zero for Christian Surfers Europe, with missions now established in 14 nations throughout the continent.
The 2004 international gathering birthed by Phil Williams initiated a continent-wide movement to reach surfers throughout the region.
Team USA at the France International Gathering circa 2004