Fight Pastor is a Christian ministry organization led by Pastor Brandon Beals of Venture Church (formally Canyon Creek Church) in Mill Creek, Washington. Venture Church is a large multi-site church in the Seattle Area. The Fight Pastor ministry provides the mixed martial arts (MMA) community with a wide range of services, including chaplaincy and MMA news from a Christian perspective. Pastor Brandon Beals also hosts a weekly podcast titled Pastors Unfiltered.
History
editFight Pastor was started by Beals in 2009 as a blog on the Venture Church website.[1] Beals is an avid MMA fan and decided to start a separate MMA blog at FightPastor.com.
Beals was interviewed at UFC 100 by the Las Vegas Review-Journal[2] and soon after Yahoo Sports [3] due to the unusual nature of his work. Shortly thereafter, a handful of other media outlets took notice.
Fight Pastor was featured by The New York Times after a reporter stumbled upon Beals' blog and featured it in an article with front page column space.[4]
Ministry focus
editThe main focus of the Fight Pastor ministry outlined as:
- To be an ambassador for Christ to the MMA community, and,
- to be an ambassador for MMA to the Christian culture.[5]
The ministry of Fight Pastor has been featured on NBC affiliates in Seattle, WA,[6] Montgomery, Alabama,[7] Fort Myers, FL [8] and Augusta, GA [9] as well as international television stations Canal+ and ARD.[10] The Fight Pastor has also been featured in many newspapers nationally from The Herald (Everett, Washington)[11] to Seattle Post-Intelligencer.[12] The May 2011 issue of Ultimate MMA Magazine features an article called "Religious Firestorm" that discusses the Christian faith in mixed martial arts, and Beals' ministry to provide spiritual direction to fighters.[13]
Chaplaincy and fighter sponsorship
editAnother purpose of Fight Pastor is to provide a chaplain presence in the MMA community, as well as sponsor fighters. Currently, Fight Pastor sponsors Justin Wren[14] and Demico Rogers [15] who were competitors on the tenth season of The Ultimate Fighter.
In 2010 The Fight Pastor began sponsoring and chaplaining Joe Brammer[16] who fought Aaron Riley at UFC 114. Fight Pastor also chaplains Jeremy Stephens and Otto Olson.
References
edit- ^ Holzinger, Sky. "Kimbo Slice on The Ultimate Fighter Season 10 | Canyon Creek Church". Canyoncreekonline.com. Retrieved 2015-05-30.
- ^ Hill, Adam (2009-07-09). "Simple formula fuels UFC's appeal". Las Vegas Review-Journal.
- ^ Cofield, Steve (2009-07-09). "UFC 100: WWJD? Of course watch UFC at the church". Yahoo Sports.
- ^ Schneiderman, R.M. (2010-02-01). "Flock Is Now a Fight Team in Some Ministries". The New York Times.
- ^ "About – Fight Pastor". fightpastor.com. Archived from the original on 23 December 2009. Retrieved 17 January 2022.
- ^ "Fight Club for the faithful". King5.com. 2010-02-15. Archived from the original on 2014-04-27. Retrieved 2015-05-30.
- ^ "Church holds MMA fight nights - WSFA.com Montgomery Alabama news". Wsfa.com. Archived from the original on 2015-05-30. Retrieved 2015-05-30.
- ^ "Church uses mixed martial arts to spread word about the Messiah - NBC-2.com WBBH News for Fort Myers, Cape Coral & Naples, Florida". Nbc-2.com. 2010-02-16. Retrieved 2015-05-30.
- ^ "Do you get bored at church? Try 'Fight Church' | NBC Augusta 26 | news, weather, sports, community, entertainment, shopping for Augusta, Georgia | Sports". Archived from the original on March 5, 2010. Retrieved March 21, 2010.
- ^ [1] Archived March 30, 2010, at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Halpert, Oscar (2010-03-02). "Lynnwood pastor uses martial arts to reach athletes and parishioners | HeraldNet.com - Local news". HeraldNet.com. Archived from the original on 2015-05-30. Retrieved 2015-05-30.
- ^ Monica Guzma (2009-12-09). "Lynnwood 'Fight Pastor' prepares to take on the UFC". Seattlepi.com. Retrieved 2015-05-30.
- ^ [2] [dead link]
- ^ "Justin Wren Fights, Fight Pastor Prays – Fight Pastor". Archived from the original on July 11, 2011. Retrieved March 21, 2010.
- ^ "Fight Pastor now sponsoring Demico | Demico Rogers - Official Site". Archived from the original on July 9, 2011. Retrieved March 21, 2010.
- ^ "Fight Pastor Partnering with Joe Brammer – Fight Pastor". Archived from the original on May 5, 2010. Retrieved April 30, 2010.