To mark National Fitness Day, which took place on Wednesday 23rd September, Sports Chaplaincy UK has launched a new specific website homepage to communicate the opportunity for Christians across the country to serve the gym community.

With over 9 million people part of the gym and fitness community in the UK, there is a growing sense from the leadership of Sports Chaplaincy UK that this will become a significant part of its work moving forward.

Sports Chaplaincy UK has a dream to see Christians serving in every sports and gym community in the country. Whilst Sports Chaplaincy UK already has a number of gym chaplains, this an area which the organisation hopes will grow.

As part of their work in promoting Gym Chaplaincy as an opportunity, Sports Chaplaincy UK is calling upon local churches to explore how they might ‘adopt’ and take pastoral responsibility for a gym in their nearby community.

During the recent lockdown, gym chaplains have continued to serve their local community by offering drop-in coffee mornings online, receiving prayer requests, and walking alongside people on a one to one basis.

One of the challenges, as we emerge from this pandemic, is the need for positive well-being and so it is hoped that new chaplains might be able to contribute significantly to that in their local sport club and gym communities.

Speaking about the launch of gymchaplaincy.org.uk, Carolyn Skinner, Pastoral Support Lead for Gyms and Fit Lives for Sports Chaplaincy UK and CEO of Third Space Ministries said:

“Gym Chaplaincy is a truly amazing ministry to be part of; it is truly rewarding and I’m delighted that Sports Chaplaincy UK is continuing to further its work in this area. I’ve seen firsthand the value that gym chaplaincy can make, as we
seek to love and serve the person in front of us.

The call for more gym chaplains is as important as ever and this new website will share the vision of what we are doing and inspire people to join in this ministry. I think we need to ask God to help us see, as local churches, how the gym community can be a mission field and even adopt a local gym!”

Warren Evans, CEO of Sports Chaplaincy UK adds:

“We are stepping out as an organisation to call the local church to this area of ministry afresh as there are growing needs for us to be present in every gym.

A good gym has all the facilities, but a great gym is one where there is a sense of community and care. As Christians, who carry the love and compassion of God, we need to see how we can do that in gyms in the days, weeks and months ahead.”

To find out more about the work of Gym Chaplaincy, visit www.gymchaplaincy.org.uk