Wrestling Church: A Pro Manual On How To Attract Converts By Gareth 'Angel' Thompson

Sitting around a wrestling ring, churchgoers roared as local hero Billy O바카라�Keeffe body-slammed a fighter named Disciple. Beneath stained-glass windows, they whooped and cheered as burly, tattooed wresters tumbled into the aisle during a six-man tag-team battle. (More Sports News)

This is Wrestling Church, which brings blood, sweat and tears 바카라� mostly sweat 바카라� to St. Peter바카라�s Anglican church in the northern England town of Shipley. It's the creation of Gareth Thompson, a charismatic 37-year-old who says he was saved by pro wrestling and Jesus 바카라� and wants others to have the same experience.

Thompson says the outsized characters and scripted morality battles of pro wrestling fit naturally with a Christian message.

바카라�Boil it down to the basics, it바카라�s good versus evil,바카라� he said. 바카라�When I became Christian, I started seeing the wrestling world through a Christian lens. I started seeing David and Goliath. I started seeing Cain and Abel. I started seeing Esau having his heritage stolen from him. And I바카라�m like, 바카라�We could tell these stories.바카라�바카라�

A match made in heaven

Church attendance in the U.K. has been declining for decades, and the 2021 census found that less than half of people in England and Wales now consider themselves Christian. Those who say they have no religion rose from 25% to 37% in a decade.

That has led churches to get creative in order to survive.

바카라�You바카라�ve got to take a few risks," said the Rev. Natasha Thomas, the priest in charge at St. Peter바카라�s. She acknowledged that she 바카라�wasn바카라�t entirely sure what it was I was letting myself in for바카라� when she agreed to host wrestling events.

바카라�It바카라�s not church as you would know it. It바카라�s certainly not for everyone,바카라� she said. 바카라�But it바카라�s bringing in a different group of people, a different community, than we would normally get.바카라�

At a recent Wrestling Church evening, almost 200 people 바카라� older couples, teenagers, pierced and tattooed wrestling fans, parents with excited young children 바카라� packed into chairs around a ring erected under the vaulted ceiling of the century-old church.

After a short homily and prayer from Thomas, it was time for two hours of smackdowns, body slams and flying headbutts. The atmosphere grew cheerfully raucous, as fans waved giant foam fingers and hollered 바카라�knock him out!바카라� at participants.

Some longtime churchgoers have welcomed the infusion of energy.

바카라�I think it바카라�s absolutely wonderful,바카라� said Chris Moss, who married her husband Mike in St. Peter's almost 50 years ago.

바카라�You can look at some of the wrestlers and think바카라� 바카라� she scrunched her face in distaste. But talking to them made her realize 바카라�you shouldn바카라�t judge a book by its cover.바카라�

Wrestling was a lifeline

Thompson, whose wrestling moniker is Gareth Angel, both wrestles and presides over the organized mayhem. He바카라�s a mix of preacher and ringmaster, wearing a T-shirt that says 바카라�Pray, eat, wrestle, repeat.바카라�

He바카라�s loved wrestling since it provided solace and release during a troubled upbringing that saw him survive childhood sexual abuse and a period of homelessness as a teenager.

바카라�I could watch Shawn Michaels and the Rock and Stone Cold (Steve Austin) and I could be like, I want to be like them,바카라� he said. 바카라�So it바카라�s always been an escape for me, and a release and a way to get away from stuff. But then God has obviously turned that around now and it바카라�s become this passion.바카라�

He found Christianity in 2011, ran his first Wrestling Church event in a former nightclub-turned-church in 2022, and moved to St. Peter바카라�s last year.

As well as the monthly Saturday night shows, his charity Kingdom Wrestling runs training sessions for adults and children in a back room of the church, along with women바카라�s self-defense classes, a men바카라�s mental health group and coaching for children who have been expelled from school.

For many in the close-knit community of U.K. wrestlers and fans, religion is a new ingredient, but not an unwelcome one.

바카라�I바카라�m mainly here for the wrestling,바카라� said 33-year-old Liam Ledger, who wrestles as Flamin바카라� Daemon Crowe. Sitting in a pungent changing room as wrestlers discussed fight plans, donned knee pads and laced up their many-holed boots, he said it바카라�s a bit 바카라�surreal바카라� when baptisms are held between bouts.

바카라�It works both ways,바카라� he said. 바카라�There바카라�s people that come here that are big on religion, and they바카라�re here for all of that sort of stuff. And then they go, 바카라�Oh, actually this wrestling is sort of fun.바카라�바카라�

Kiara, Kingdom Wrestling바카라�s reigning women바카라�s champion, said the organization has helped her bring her Catholic faith into her wrestling life.

바카라�It바카라�s thanks to Kingdom Wrestling that I바카라�ve had the confidence to pray in the locker room now before matches,바카라� said Kiara, 26, known outside the ring as Stephanie Sid. 바카라�I invite my opponent to pray with me, pray that we have a safe match, pray that there바카라�s no injuries and pray that we entertain everybody here."

Going for growth

Only a handful of people have gone from watching the wrestling to attending Sunday-morning services at St. Peter바카라�s, but Wrestling Church baptized 30 people in its first year. Thompson, whose brand of born-again Christianity is more muscular than many traditional Anglicans', plans to expand to other British cities. One day, he says, he may start his own church.

There has long been overlap between Christianity and wrestling in the U.S., where figures like Thompson's hero Shawn Michaels proudly proclaim their faith. But Britain is a less religious place, and Shipley, a former mill town 175 miles (280 kilometers) north of London, is a long way from the Bible Belt.

Thompson, though, is unfazed by doubters.

바카라�People say, 바카라�Oh, wrestling and Christianity, they바카라�re two fake things in a fake world of their own existence,바카라�바카라� he said. 바카라�If you don바카라�t believe in it, of course you will think that of it. But my own personal experience of my Christian faith is that it is alive and living, and it is true. The wrestling world, if you really believe in it, you believe that it바카라�s true and you can suspend your disbelief.

바카라�You suspend it because you want to get lost in it. You want to believe in it. You want to hope for it.바카라�