By Cliff White
Staff Writer

Mark Wheeler is the head pastor at a church with no walls or ceiling and a big flooding problem. And for his congregants, “staying afloat” is no metaphor.
Still, Wheeler wouldn’t make any improvements even if he could, and those who attend his services don’t seem to have any complaints.
Eight years ago, Wheeler founded the House of David in Old Orchard Beach to give teens from Southern Maine a place to hang out, surf, and if they want, to talk about God.
The House of David is located at 36 East Grand Avenue, and on Friday nights, Saturdays and Sundays, its doors are always open. But its real headquarters is at the beach, or just a little further offshore.
“My pulpit is a fiberglass surfboard,” said Wheeler, who is also a youth pastor at the Grace Bible Church of Gorham. “I bring (the teens) to the Creation, and if they like it, I introduce them to the Creator.”
Wheeler first began his work at Old Orchard Beach in 2000, when he and five of his friends purchased a conversion van and brought their five surfboards and a few guitars to the beach. They alternated between catching waves and singing modern praise and worship devotionals on the beach, which Wheeler said attracted the interest of many people.
A year later, Wheeler moved the operation into a roomy storefront space right by The Pier, which provided both easy access to the beach and high visibility to passers by. Wheeler encouraged — and still does today — anyone walking by who looks interested in the center to come inside and have a look.
“This is prime real estate right on East Grand Avenue,” said Wheeler. “On most summer days, a couple thousand people walk by every day.”
Nowadays, the space possesses a lounge atmosphere, with cushy couches lining the room and a stage where musicians often play on the weekends.
“Though our primary activity is surfing, we also do music, and when it’s calm on the water, we watch surf movies or play games,” said Wheeler.
At the center on a recent Friday afternoon teens from Old Orchard Beach, Scarborough, Biddeford, Standish, Buxton, Hollis and Winthrop were hanging around. The center hosts between 10 to 30 teens on an average day and is open year-round.
“We founded the center to give teens an alternative to everything else out there,” said Wheeler. “We want to help kids stay away from things like drugs and alcohol and find purpose in their lives, and we do this by introducing them to surfing. Surfing brings clarity to the troubled mind.”
Wheeler explained that the center is primarily about giving teens a safe and fun place to hang out, and only secondarily about teaching them about religion and God.
“We don’t watch people come in the door and throw a King James Bible at them,” said Wheeler. “I hated people who pounded religion at me. We let them have some freedom, and they learn to trust us. Religion is not a prerequisite at the House of David. But to those that come looking for answers, we’ll tell them that God has helped us find some answers in our own lives.”
    Since its creation, the House of David has received numerous gifts of surfboards and wetsuits from people across the country who have heard about the center and its purpose. The center has received donations from as far away as Florida, California and Hawaii.
    People have also come from over the state and even distant parts of the country to surf or learn to surf at the House of David. Wheeler taught some of the kids at the center to surf so well that several now assist him with teaching the free lessons that the House of David has always offered.
    Mark Aimes, 17, who attends Scarborough high school, is one such youth. Aimes grew up in Biddeford and started coming to the center two years ago, after attending a Christian camp in New York where a friend told him about it.
    “This is a great place,” he said. “It helped me find out who I am and made me a better person. Before I started coming here, I felt like I had no place to go, and no idea of who I was or what I wanted to do with my life.”
    “Surfing takes me to another plane,” Aimes continued. “I love the natural high I get out of it. There’s so much intensity to it. I feel the religious side of me the most when I’m out on the water.”
Aimes said that Wheeler’s style of preaching has helped him reach conclusions about God on his own time and in his own way. “The way he preaches is easier for me to understand,” he said. “It’s more enjoyable. He puts humor into it. On top of everything else, he’s a role model, and I look up to him.”
Fred Foster, who helped found the center and still volunteers there, agreed that Wheeler has a way of interacting with teens that seems to connect with them.
“One of my favorite sayings he uses with the kids is, ‘The ocean a giant wave machine and God creates all waves. All you have to do is throw a quarter’s worth of prayers in and you can surf all day,’” Foster said.
Wheeler explained his ability to connect with the teens at the center as being a result of interacting on their level and staying positive. “People have always told them ‘you can’t,” he said. “When they come in here, they hear ‘you can.’”
As for keeping the kids out of trouble, Wheeler takes an approach that is slightly different from fire-and-brimstone.
“I tell the kids that I know what it’s like to make a bad decision, because I’ve made them too,” Wheeler said. “All adults have. There isn’t anyone alive who hasn’t made a mistake. Nobody’s perfect. I tell them if they make a bad decision, there’s always a way out. Redemption is a wonderful thing.”