Christian summer camp endless fun

His name is Zach Scribner, and his summer camp is called “The Endless Scribner.”

At the Lighthouse Church School, nine kids kicked off yesterday Santa Monica's cheapest (?) summer camp. It costs $150 a week and is scheduled to end Aug. 22.

During the school year, Pastor Zach teaches history and biology at the Lighthouse Christian Academy, the high school counterpart. But now, he's simplifying his lessons to keep kids – up to middle school age – sharp academically over the summer. There's science, math, history and language lessons daily.

In the afternoon, the summer camp kids hike, go on field trips and hit the beach. As the name of the camp suggests, there are surfing lessons for the older kids.

Surfing is not the only sport they will learn. Pastor Zach is a passionate golfer. He was a walk-on on the UCLA football team. If golf hadn't distracted him, he might have gotten in a game.

“I really enjoy golf,” Pastor Zach said. “It's a game you can never completely conquer.”

Pastor Zach is now the leader of the Lighthouse Church youth group which meets on Friday nights at the Yale Street facility. He was the quarterback at Lighthouse Christian Academy playing 8-man football. Then he played quarterback for Santa Monica College. He graduated from UCLA in 2012 with a bachelors in history.

Pastor Zach is married, and his wife is expecting.

“Serving God is fun,” he said. He should know. He has a knack for finding fun. Around Lighthouse, Pastor Zach is famous for setting up airsoft gun wars in the sanctuary with all the youth. He's also been known to put together golfing contests in the sanctuary. They use plastic balls and try to shoot them off the carpet into a 1-foot-by-1-foot square hole on the back wall of the church that ventilates an upstairs storage room.

Pastor Zach is the third-to-last child of Senior Pastor Rob Scribner, who has eight kids in total.

Don't think he's led a charmed life though. He's known his angst. First there was the time that the high school principal challenged a senior to NOT go easy on Zach during football practice. Disgusted with Andrew Czer's low output (he was going easy on Zach the freshman), then-principal George Neos threatened laps for every time Andrew failed to knock down Zach.

Zach wasn't thrilled with this prospect. It combined with other parts of his daily life that were miserable, an unfun routine that made him despair. “I felt like I was nothing. I was depressed and suicidal.”

Then in college, a comparativereligions undercut his childhood faith. In his mind, he “became” a Buddhist.

Not long after, Pastor Zach read a book about a Christian man whose life fell apart when he lost his wife. A long journey of rediscovering life and discovering the supernatural of life drew him back to God, Pastor Zach said. That pulled Zach bck to God too.

Pastor Zach is one of the most patient people I've ever known. In addition to these ministries, he also heads up janitorial work in the church. I've never seen him get angry. He's lowkey, easy-going and fun-loving.

“The key to having fun is making sure others have fun.”