San Francisco’s Church of 8 Wheels skating rink still rolling along in abandoned house of worship

By Loureen Ayyoub

Inside the Church of 8 Wheels, roller skating is more than a pastime — it’s a way of life.

Housed in the former Sacred Heart Catholic Church on Fillmore Street in the city’s Western Addition, the venue has transformed a once-traditional place of worship into a vibrant community hub centered around music, movement and connection.

The concept was created by David Miles Jr., a Bay Area skating icon often referred to as the “Godfather of Skate.” He first approached the building’s owner with the idea in 2013, proposing something unconventional: a roller skating rink inside an abandoned church.

“I mean, just imagine, somebody asks you, can you have a roller skating party in your abandoned church building,” Miles said. “I wouldn’t. I’d be, like, nah man, you can’t be doing that here. But he didn’t say that. You know what he said? He said, ‘Well, let’s try it out and see how it goes.'”

More than a decade later, the experiment has endured.

What began as a risqué idea has grown into a cultural fixture in San Francisco, drawing skaters of all ages and backgrounds. With retro-funk music filling the space and disco lights reflecting off the stained glass, the Church of 8 Wheels has become a place where diverse communities gather and thrive.

“We are bringing people together, we are interacting together, we are showing love for each other and caring,” Miles said. “And if that’s not what a church is, then I don’t know.”

Farrell Johnson, a San Francisco native, said he often attends weekend sessions — sometimes on his own.

“I feel that skating is a form of expression for me,” Johnson said. “And I guess I could say that I feel free.”

That sense of freedom is exactly what Miles hopes to preserve, fostering an environment where strangers can connect without effort or expectation.

“People that probably have nothing else in common, you know, they don’t know each other, they don’t hang out,” Miles said. “But there’s a guy here — every time it’s someone’s birthday, he’s got birthday gifts to give.”

As skaters glide across the floor beneath the church’s high ceilings, the space still carries a sense of something sacred, just on eight wheels.