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Church Boxing: Saturday Night Slam Service!

Orginally published on Tuesday, February 03, 2009 at 8:49 AM
by Todd Rhoades

A special thanks to Alex Klimchuk for sending me this link. Alex is the pastor of a Sioux Falls, SD church that was recently featured in USA Today. Here's part of the article:

Jerry James took a right to the chops for Jesus the other night. Clad in sweats, boxing gloves and headgear, the former standout amateur boxer stood inside the ropes during the homily Saturday night at New Life Church in Sioux Falls. The church bulletin referred to it as "Saturday Night Slam." But Pastor Alex Klimchuk's intent in turning his altar into a boxing ring was more enticement than entertainment. "We try to reach out to those who aren't already going, who think church is boring," says Klimchuk, 30. "The truth is, the church is having problems getting young men inside them. So we ask, 'What will reach the guys?' This seems like a perfect answer."

For three weeks last month, the church used a fight ring as a parable for the spiritual battles of mankind. New Life staged a tae kwon do bout and submission matches. James and four other pugilists went through a half-dozen two-minute rounds of sparring in front of 75 to 100 mostly young males. It is putting on a self-defense program.

Each round was followed by a message from Pastor Alex...

Thanks for thinking outside the box, Alex…
Here’s the whole article in USA Today...

What do you all think of this approach?

Todd

This post has been viewed 1046 times so far.

There are 6 Comments:

Posted by

Tuesday, February 03, 2009 at 11:41 AM

I think this would be better attended if the pastor got in the ring and took some shots!
Posted by

Tuesday, February 03, 2009 at 2:12 PM

“Alex Klimchuk’s intent in turning his altar into a boxing ring was more enticement than entertainment. “We try to reach out to those who aren’t already going, who think church is boring,” says Klimchuk, 30. “The truth is, the church is having problems getting young men inside them. So we ask, ‘What will reach the guys?’ This seems like a perfect answer.” “

And why doesn’t the Gospel, pray tell, reach these young men? That’s right--because it’s easier to entertain goats than it is to care for sheep.

When will this idiocy stop? Seriously.

--
CS
Posted by

Saturday, February 07, 2009 at 4:11 PM

I’m sick of seeing the gimmicks churches are using to increase their attendance (money). The “foolishness” of preaching the Gospel isn’t enough
Posted by

Monday, March 02, 2009 at 5:13 PM

I love the preaching of the Gospel and a good old fashioned fist fight. Bring on the miracles and the MMA. Humanity and divinity at its best.
Posted by Vya

Wednesday, May 27, 2009 at 3:10 AM

Wowa, pators boxing! Amazing. Do they also enjoy watching NFL games and wear nfl jerseys sometimes?
Posted by

Saturday, July 04, 2009 at 11:20 AM

Quote: “The truth is, the church is having problems getting young men inside them. So we ask, ‘What will reach the guys?’ This seems like a perfect answer.”

Once again, someone who is titled as a pastor wondering"What will reach these guys?” Hey! Here’s an idea...how about going out into the communities and telling them the truth about sin, righteousness and judgment to come?

Sinners are as interested in coming to church as criminals are in visiting the jailhouse. Let’s go out and apprehend them with the foolishness of the message preached and arrest them with the Gospel. These shenanigans are nothing more than an exercise in narcissism. These so-called pastors want to be popular rather than Biblical.

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Hi... I'm Todd Rhoades. I'm a Christ-follower, husband, father and I love to connect leaders with other leaders. Hopefully you'll find something here at MMI you like and will return often. If you want, you can find out more about me or follow my every step on Twitter.