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Hai-yaah! Pastor uses karate for Christ

Aug. 4, 2005

NOTE: A UMTV report is available at http://umns.umc.org.

A UMNS Feature
By Steve Smith*

What began as a way for the Rev. Rod Brayfindley to drop weight and
lower his blood pressure has dramatically increased his ministry, and
now people are flocking to his United Methodist church to strengthen
their spiritual muscles.

Wearing karate clothes in the fitness center of the Church of the Joyful
Healer in McKinleyville, Calif., Brayfindley might not fit someone's
perception of a pastor. In fact, this holder of a third-degree black
belt often uses karate moves during his Sunday sermons to illustrate
scriptural points, such as not running away from problems but realizing
that the Lord's power is enough to face any challenge.

Brayfindley, 47, teaches the physical, mental and spiritual aspects of
the ancient art of karate to more than 120 church members, New Agers,
Muslims, Jews, agnostics and others from the eclectic religious
community in Northern California. They go to his church to train their
bodies and minds - and Brayfindley said he hopes they'll return for even
more.

"This is not Bible study or Sunday school," he said. "On the other hand,
because we're so careful not to make it into kind of an overt evangelism
program, what happens is people meet a pastor, and they learn that I am
trustworthy, that I'm credible. The next thing you know, they feel like
they've connected to a pastor.

"What they get is not a Christian education in karate but learning about
the whole question of personal balance and deep, life management. Karate
raises the issues of what you might call a whole-life integrity, the
condition of not only your body but spiritual self, and integrating all
of those into one kind of focused energy. If people learn something that
applies to their spiritual life, that's great."

As a teenager growing up in a tough area near Fresno, Brayfindley first
experienced martial arts from a teacher and gang member who taught
karate from a violence perspective. Afterward, another martial-arts
instructor fascinated Brayfindley by teaching karate as a source of
physical joy, not violence.

Later in life, Brayfindley returned to karate to lower his blood
pressure and lose weight. Seven years ago, when he moved from Aldersgate
United Methodist Church in Chico, Calif., to McKinleyville to start the
Church of the Joyful Healing, Brayfindley grew discouraged upon learning
the community didn't have a "dojo" or karate school.

"I began working with the annual conference people about how I could
communicate Christ in an area that has the lowest percentage of
traditional Christians in the country," Brayfindley said. "We have
Wiccans, Buddhists and other religions out here. We discussed that
karate emphasizes personal health in the broadest sense of the term:
spiritual health, mental health, physical health and social health -
many of the themes that also are taught in Christianity."

So he started the church and his own dojo at home with his wife, two
children, a neighbor and a family that responded to a newspaper ad. Soon
word spread about the class, which the local newspaper named as the
county's best martial-arts program. Now, the students - 120 and rising -
range in age from children to people in their 60s.

About 40 students started attending the 180-member church after
participating in the class. At the same time, longtime church members
are joining the classes to get in physical and spiritual shape, the
pastor said.

Members of different religious faiths who are in the class often
interact and talk about their religions, and so learn more about what
they have in common and the main teachings of Christianity, Brayfindley
said.

"The church is committed, and the program that now has become the health
and karate center is committed to giving people tools to make their life
more full of grace, more free to live in the temple that God gave us,"
he said. "It's about whole health, spirit, mind - everything you've
got."

He insisted that karate does not teach people how to use violence or
initiate violence. What he and other karate aficionados like him try to
teach is peacemaking. In fact, some martial arts have roots in Buddhism,
which teaches how to live healthy spiritual lives based on peace -
something the Bible also offers, Brayfindley said.

"Some people associate karate with violence, but we constantly ask, 'How
can we be agents of nonviolence and peace?'" he said.

Terry Pambianco, a karate student who has a daughter in the class, said
she is glad she gives up free time to attend the pastor's dojo.

"I was talking actually with another parent whose daughter was in it,"
Pambianco said. "We were talking about how out of shape we were and
decided this would be great for fitness.

"I was just asking someone the other day, 'Do you ever stop getting
sore?' But it's a good kind of sore."

Logan McKinnon, 14, said the karate ministry added a new dimension to
his life. He now has a brown belt in karate - and is a regular
churchgoer.

"Before I started coming here, I just sat on the couch and played video
games," Logan said. "I actually started to go to church after about a
couple of months here. I thought 'Hey, I like Rod, maybe I'll try church
out.' That changed my life a lot. Now, I go to church on Sundays, and I
train here. It's really changed me around."

Robert Graham, world director for the Christian Martial Arts
Association, said more churches and pastors are using karate and its
teachings in outreach initiatives. Graham, who lives in Summerville,
S.C., said his association brings together Christian martial artists,
schools and suppliers for fellowship and support, teaching self-defense
in a Western environment.

"Martial arts is about many things, not just one - fun, health, sport,
competition, fellowship and self-improvement in so many different areas
it will never end," Graham said. "Martial arts is a great tool to share
Christ."

*Smith is a freelance writer based in Dallas.

News media contact: Fran Coode Walsh, Nashville, Tenn., (615) 742-5458
or newsdesk@umcom.org.

********************

United Methodist News Service
Photos and stories also available at:
http://umns.umc.org

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