This Viral UK Church Is Using Pro Wrestling To Attract New Followers

A local church in England has gone viral for using a novel yet unorthodox method to attract new followers and bring others back to faith. Started by Gareth Thompson, 37, St. Peter's Anglican church in the northern English town of Shipley is popularly referred to as the Wrestling Church where attendees receive both WWE-style entertainment and religious sermons.

Mr Thompson, who started the church in 2022, says he was saved by pro wrestling and Jesus and wanted others to have the same experience, according to a report in New York Post. Currently, he is a mix of preacher and ringmaster who wears a T-shirt that reads: "Pray, eat, werstle, repeat."

"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.'"

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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

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In recent tears, church attendance in the UK has been declining with a 2021 census showing that less than half of people in England and Wales now consider themselves Christian. Rev. Natasha Thomas, the priest in charge at St. Peter's said this situation has prompted churches to get creative.

"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."

During a typical Westling Church evening, a short prayer is offered by Mr Thomas before two hours of body slams, headbutts and smackdowns grace the place.

"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.

While the success of the church remains debatable, Mr Thompson said they had baptised 30 people in the first year of its initiation.