A church in England has gone viral after it employed an unusual but creative approach to draw in new believers and win back others to religion. Founded by Gareth Thompson, 37, St. Peter’s Anglican church in the English town of Shipley is famously known as the Wrestling Church where the members are treated to WWE-style entertainment as well as spiritual sermons.
A Preacher Saved by Wrestling and Jesus
Mr Thompson, the founder of the church in 2022, claims he was saved by pro wrestling and Jesus. Mr Thompson wanted other people to be able to share the same experience, as stated in a report. Now, he is a combination of preacher and ringmaster who wears a T-shirt that says: “Pray, eat, werstle, repeat.”
Biblical Narratives Through a Wrestling Lens in Church
“Boil it down to the basics, it’s good versus evil. When I became Christian, I started seeing the wrestling world through a Christian lens,” said Mr Thompson.
“I started seeing David and Goliath, I started seeing Cain and Abel, I started seeing Esau having his heritage stolen from him. And I’m like, ‘We could tell these stories.'”
🇬🇧#Great_Britain
In Britain, wrestling is held right in the church – to bring people back to faith🤔In Britain, wrestling fights have begun to be held right in the church to attract new parishioners. The idea belongs to 37-year-old wrestler Gareth Thompson, who claims that… pic.twitter.com/nAe6rE75tY
— Military Conflicts (@Alex_RobertsJ) April 5, 2025
Decline of Traditional Church Attendance Spurs Innovation
In recent years, churchgoing within the UK has been falling and a 2021 census confirmed that fewer than half of people in England and Wales now call themselves Christian. Rev. Natasha Thomas, St. Peter’s priest in charge stated this had led churches to become more imaginative.
“You’ve got to take a few risks. It’s not church as you would know it. It’s certainly not for everyone. But it’s bringing in a different group of people, a different community, than we would normally get.”
A New Kind of Service
On a typical Wrestling Church night, a brief prayer is said by Mr Thomas prior to two hours of body slams, headbutts and smackdowns fill the venue.
“If you don’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 it’s true and you can suspend your disbelief,” said Mr Thompson.
Irrespective of the church’s success being questionable. Mr Thompson stated that they had baptized 30 individuals in the first year of its implementation.
