After seeing its congregation’s numbers sink, St Peter’s in Shipley, England, has come up with a novel way of wrestling people back into its seats.
The church’s Kingdom Wrestling is a faith-based professional fighting charity that combines entertainment.
Rev. Natasha Thomas tells the Daily Star, “People may have a certain perception of what church can be but actually church can be anything about worshipping God and that can be having fun — and wrestling is part of that.”
The group has put on dozens of performances since its creation in 2021 and baptized more than 30 people, although it’s just a drop in the bucket.
Figures for 2023 show the institution has 170,000 fewer worshippers each week compared with 2019, falling from 854,000 to 685,000 across Britain, according to the outlet.
Too many Brits, it seems, are wrestling with a crisis of faith.