Grappling with faith

Wrestling with

Neglected and abused, GARETH THOMPSON found a way to deal with his difficult childhood through wrestling. At the same time, he was also introduced to faith. He talks about how he was able to bring the two parts of his life together to start a wrestling church and help people from all backgrounds

Interview by Sarah Olowofoyeku

BACKBREAKERS and gut-busters

have provided a thrill for wrestling fans for decades. Growing up, Gareth Thompson was one such fan. He is now bringing those moves into a church in Bradford, using wrestling as way to reach people in the community.

When he was young Gareth loved to watch wrestling. But for him it was more than just entertainment – it was his escape from a difficult childhood.

Gareth’s dad had walked out, and he had been left to grow up with his mum, who had an alcohol problem. Gareth was bullied at school. He was sexually abused by a relative. By the age of 15 he was homeless and living in a skip.

Now 35, he looks back on how the world of wrestling changed his life for the better.

‘I’d get absorbed into the characters and use it as a way to get lost in something that wasn’t rubbish. As I grew older, my mates and I used to practise the moves on each other. One day I put a video up on YouTube of me wrestling with a friend, and someone commented to say that I should come along to this wrestling school in Blackburn.’

Gareth attended the school for about

six months, advancing quickly. ‘I knew how to use the ropes and do all the physical stuff, but I also had charisma and character and the ability I had a lot of to work a crowd. So they said that if they got me some gear bitterness and a character, I could start working shows, which I did.’ and anger The start of Gareth’s professional wrestling career as Gareth Angel, 11 years ago, was a positive step and it coincided with another change. ‘I had kind of got my life sorted after my childhood,’ he says, ‘but I bounced around jobs, racked up a lot of debt, I’d got married and the marriage had fallen apart. I had a lot of bitterness and anger – I was not happy. But I was invited to church and, as we were singing songs about love, I felt my heart break. I found myself in floods of tears, and a guy said to me: “You’ve just felt love for the first time in your life and not known what to do with it.” He was right. I realised I needed to give this church stuff a chance.’ It wasn’t straightforward at first. Gareth felt as though life was still not going well. He eventually connected with someone who became a mentor to him and who talked him through how to move forward – primarily through forgiving those who had hurt him. Forgiving his

faith

Gareth hosting a wrestling event last year Thanks to their training, Gareth and his wrestlers can perform moves without hurting each other

parents felt doable, but to forgive the man who had abused him felt impossible.

‘I prayed to God and said, “If you’re real and can help me fix this, then I’m all in, you’ve got me.” That was a bold prayer, but I meant it.’

It wasn’t long before his prayer was answered.

He says: ‘I got a new job in a computer store and one day my abuser walked in. I had to serve him. As I gave him his change, I felt it was a fork in the road and that God had presented an opportunity for me to fix it. I looked him in the eyes and said, “I forgive you for what you did.”’

From then, Gareth fully committed his life to God, and he brought his passion for faith and wrestling together by starting GT Ministries.

‘We began touring churches. We’d rock up with a wrestling ring and a bunch of wrestlers and put on an event for the community,’ he says. ‘In the middle of the show, I would share my testimony and invite people to find out more about the church.

‘Then I thought about starting a wrestling school – teaching people how to wrestle while sharing faith with them.’

He contacted a church that was taking over old nightclubs and using the spaces for Christian community outreach projects. The idea was well received. After a successful first weekend of events, including a fundraiser and a takeover of a Sunday church service, Gareth and his wife, Beth, decided to launch a wrestling church.

Every month, Fountains Church in Bradford either stages a straightforward wrestling show or holds a wrestling church service that features live worship, baptism, wrestling and preaching. The shows and services attract all types of people, Gareth says.

‘We get parents who come with their kids, homeless people, old ladies, lots of young men. There are many people who I don’t think you’d normally see at church on a Sunday. During the event, l For more information visit we invite people back for other stuff at fountainsbradford.org/wrestling

Baptisms take place during wrestling church, which runs every other month

church, like the mental health wellbeing café, free food on a Saturday night for the homeless, and the wrestling training school every Thursday. ‘The idea is that people come in and hear something of God and hear the gospel and Bible stories told in a way that is easy to understand. I want them to come away thinking that church isn’t what they expected it to be – that it’s a lot more fun.’