CRONULLA'S Christian surfers caught a break 35 years ago which has not stopped surging.
Started by a small group of Sutherland Shire boys seeking to define themselves, the movement has reached 34 nations with more than 1000 volunteers across the globe.
Brett Davis is a director of Christian Surfers, and was among a handful of people that started the group in 1977.
"We were surfing Cronulla and lived in the Sutherland Shire," he said. "I was from a non-church family, like most of our people were.
"We were coming to terms with our newfound Christian faith and our surfing identity and how those two intersected.
"We felt marginalised from Christians because we were surfers, and marginalised from the surfing group because we were Christians."
What started out as a community of Christians who surf became an outreach group for people who would not normally take refuge with the church.
The Cronulla Christian Surfers group expanded to a national movement in 1983 and in the year 2000 Christian Surfers International was launched.
They now have have 180 groups in 34 countries, with around 40 staff and 1000 volunteer leaders.
The group even has chaplains on the professional surfing circuit who were called into action when former world champion Andy Irons died in 2010.
Mr Davis has written Ground Swell, a book detailing the history of the Christian Surfers which will be launched at Cronulla Rydges tomorrow night.
"The theme of the book is ordinary people trusting God for the extraordinary," he said.
BOOK LAUNCH
The Ground Swell book launch Friday night will be a homecoming of sorts for the Christian Surfers at Cronulla. The group ran an open house (pictured) in a property at the Rydges hotel site before it was demolished to make way for the newer building. Mr Davis said the house was opened to surfers for seven years, and had been well known in the community. The book launch will be held in Rydges from 8pm.
Do you have memories of the Christian Surfers open house?
