IT WAS the Victorians who brought us Muscular Christianity, but now a vicar in Devon has taken the concept a step further by repurposing a medieval church building into a parish gymnasium.
Tattooed, bearded, and bearing a muscular frame, the Team Vicar of Okehampton, in mid-Devon, the Revd Leigh Winsbury, had a moment of inspiration in the local pub last year, and soon set about a new model of mission.
“We had just completed a sponsored abseil to raise funds for restoring our church tower at St John the Baptist, Haverleigh, on the edge of Dartmoor,” he said this week. “I was reflecting on what we might do next, and the idea came to me.”
Mr Winsbury had been lifting free weights at home, around the vicarage: the nearest gyms were at least a 20-minute drive away. A recent public survey about another vacant building in the town had suggested that the community was keen to have an exercise facility. He believed that the little building at the church gate was ideal.
St John’s, HatherleighThe Team Vicar of Okehampton, in west Devon, the Revd Leigh Winsbury
“I got some mates out, and we worked together over successive Saturdays to get it ready,” he said. “My wife made bacon rolls for us and everyone put their back into it.”
Within weeks, the “old vestry” as it had been known in the parish — a space measuring 20 feet by 15 feet — was transformed into “John’s Gym” (“for John the Baptist, because it is his parish”).
Equipment was easily sourced, and there are about 70 members, “of all ages, male and female”, who each pay £10 per month. The parish has decided that income from the initiative will be used to fund further mission work, including a café, coffee mornings, and a carers’ group.
“We’ve been so surprised by the demand for it, and thankfully it never feels too busy. Up to 12 people come each day, and there’s a buzz about the place. The community has really embraced it.”
Mr Winsbury estimates that the overlap between those who have a fitness regime and attend church is “probably ten to 15 per cent of people”.
The gym even starred in the town carnival this year. One float featured revellers in choir robes on exercise bikes and lifting weights: a humorous reference to the parish gym.
“When you’re in the carnival, you truly know you’ve made it,” Mr Winsbury said.
His is a ministry of both stamina and strength. “You know how it is in the country. I have five parishes to care for here, and this is a great way to be available and have good conversations. It’s also good for physical and mental health.”
The old vestry building, he believes, began life as a dwelling for the parish’s chantry monks, who were dispersed at the Reformation. It now pulses to a different daily rhythm, although not without theology.
“I’m planning a banner for the wall with a quote from Psalm 139: ‘I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made.’ The incarnation says the physical world matters so we should treat our bodies with some honour.”
Inspiration, certainly, for the muscular and the Christian alike.