Is Jesus your homeboy? Gone are the days of antiquated apostles and staid saints. Today, you can buy a T-shirt with a picture of Jesus slam-dunking the world. The caption reads, "Air Jesus -- The Ultimate High."
It's a hip slogan that seems to be working, as churches and religious groups are attracting more young people to their folds. From Martinez to Moraga, teens and pre-teens are joining religious clubs on school campuses, as well as local churches and temples, willingly and in large numbers.
What happened to the days of parents having to drag junior to Sunday School? Today, junior is begging mom and dad to let her attend bible camp with the rest of her friends.
"Kids are more attracted to the cultural and community aspects of religion," says Gabe Salgado, youth director for Temple Isaiah in Lafayette. "Even if they have challenged the concept of God."
At Temple Isaiah, Salgado runs three youth groups that draw adolescents from Walnut Creek, Danville, San Ramon and Concord, in addition to Lamorinda. LAFTY -- the Lafayette Area Federation of Temple Youth -- is made up of high-schoolers, Anachnu is for seventh- and eighth-graders, Simcha is for fifth- and sixth-graders.
"They get the formal side of religion in the classroom, but at the events they have fun with one another," Salgado says.
Activities include movie nights, ice skating, or trips to Los Angeles. Of course, each activity includes an element of Judaism.
More and more teens are turning to religion as a social outlet and alternative to "bad" activities such as drinking and partying, says Concord teen Rachel Suh.
Suh has attended the Concord Korean Baptist Church since she was 4 years old. At first, she went because she was told to. Now, the Ygnacio Valley High School student drives herself to Friday night events at the church and bible class.
"They have fun Friday nights," says Suh. "And, I get to see friends that I don't normally get to see."
The Concord church's youth ministry, run by Rev. David Yoon, includes teens from Contra Costa, Alameda and Solano counties.
He says his membership has gone up among teens, but he is also having to work harder to hold their focus and keep them entertained.
"The kids say, 'You have to show me why this is important,'" says Yoon. "We have to work hard to get them excited and make them see this is cool. Today, we are challenged by all of the multi-media tools available to teens."
Yoon incorporates video presentations, and hip music, chosen by the youth, to highlight elements of Christianity at church events.
At Northgate High School in Walnut Creek, the school's Christian Club is cutting edge, with an interactive and colorful Web site that invites students to join them "for some intense talk about Jesus and how he radically changed this earth."
If you don't want to join the club outright, you can also take the club up on its offer of a free copy of the Gospel of John with "information on becoming a Christian and other stuff."
Brian Calbeck, a 16-year-old Walnut Creek resident, and vice president of the Northgate Christian Club says religion is changing, which is allowing more people, particularly teens, to relate to religion on a new level.
"It used to be 'Go to a big church.' Now, there's Christian metal and Christian hard rock," says Calbeck. "It's gone from an untouchable thing that you have to follow, to something that's real."
In addition to using cutting edge multi-media tools and technology that drive today's teens, religious youth are also turning to the idea of creating fashion icons out of religious symbols.
Lafayette teen Jordan Smith, 17, created a stir at his school last year with an original T-shirt design for the newly formed Jewish club at Campolindo High School in Moraga. He created a T-shirt for members with "Jew Crew" across the front and "Challah Back" on the backside. The club decided to sell the extras, and suddenly everyone had to have one.
This year, Smith and a friend have created a new, hipper shirt, with "Jew Crew" on the front and "est. 3761 BCE" on the back. It is sure to be another sell out.
At Temple Isaiah, LAFTY has its own religious fashion, in the form of a sweatshirt with LAFTY spelled out in sign language. Salgado says the sweatshirts always sell out.
"I lived through the height of political correctness when I was a teenager," says Salgado. "I saw Madonna using religious symbols in her videos and I remember thinking this is the beginning of something big. I knew sometime in the future, religion would be trendy, religious symbolism would be trendy."
There's no telling which came first. Did teens turn to religion and make it trendy, or did religion become trendy and then teens began turning to it? Either way, Suh says her involvement in the youth group at her Korean Baptist Church helped convert an atheist.
"My best friend became Christian this summer after I took her to a bible camp," she says. "I had her come along to social activities, once she saw the difference between Christians and non-Christians.
Of course, most teens are going to bible camp and Friday night groups because of the social aspects, not just because they are devout Christians.
"You get an opportunity to meet people from different schools," says Smith. "In the last year, LAFTY has become a little more religious-oriented ... when I go to events, I enjoy the cultural and social aspects."