The Grand Rapids Press
t's a humid summer Wednesday night and hundreds of teen-agers have gathered at one of Grandville's newest hot spots.
A kid with a mohawk haircut high-fives somebody in khakis. Groups mingle around billiard tables, tapping their pool cues in time to the live music that blares from the stage.
At the entrance and all around the club, dozens of beefy college guys in T-shirts marked "Crew" keep an eye on the action.
It's not a nightclub, however. It's the Ground Floor Cafe and Grill, Resurrection Life Church's new youth ministry center, which opened last month on the grounds of the church at 5100 Ivanrest St. SW.
"Generally, you walk into a kids room and they have it decorated the way they want, so they'll be comfortable," said youth pastor Scott Vruggink. "White walls and a real sterile environment isn't appealing to them. Young people want something just for them."
The Ground Floor can accommodate around 2,500 youngsters at a time for worship, and is outfitted with 18 pool tables, a second-floor mezzanine, 30 televisions sets -- even in the restrooms -- and a full-service, 75-seat restaurant staffed by volunteers that offers typical teen fare such as burgers, french fries, cappuccinos and according to Vruggink, "killer milkshakes."
"We're just trying to give them a place to hang out," said Vruggink. "The two strongest influences in their lives are their families and their friends. We want them to meet their friends in a place that's safe and secure."
The $5.5 million 15,000 square-foot center was paid for by the church's building program, and includes four classrooms for younger children in second through fifth grades that will be decorated to appeal to that age group.
Currently open on Wednesday evenings and Sunday mornings and evenings, the Ground Floor will also start offering Saturday night services in the fall from 7 to 11 p.m. that will include free and low-cost concerts by local and national Christian musicians.
Church officials also are hoping to make it a youth hangout for Monday night football.
The Ground Floor provides the perfect place to minister to high school through college age people, said Vruggink. Its setup also encourages youngsters to gather as group rather than in cliques.
As evidence, two girls who have just met sit together in the cafe on a recent Wednesday evening, sipping strawberry daiquiri fruit smoothies and taking in the sights.
"When I come here, I don't think of it as coming to church," says 15-year-old Stephanie Baar of Jenison. "The music is loud, what teenagers like, and the preaching is more on our level."
Twenty-year-old Anneka Veenstra of Grand Rapids is old enough to get into college nights at local nightclubs, but prefers the Ground Floor's "clean" atmosphere.
"There's no drinking or smoking, and no jerks following you around," she said.
The lights go down, then up again. Anneka and Stephanie join those who have abandoned the pool tables and gravitate toward the stage. When the band breaks into song, heads bow in prayer.
For information about upcoming concerts and other events at the Ground Floor, call 249-3715 or go to the Internet at www.getfloored.com.