Churches now fostering fitness, too

By Ellena F. Morrison

Star-Telegram Staff Writer

Posted on Sat, Feb. 28, 2004

http://www.dfw.com/mld/dfw/news/8065072.htm

Eventually, almost everybody at North Richland Hills Baptist Church parades past a table stocked with gooey, glistening Krispy Kreme doughnuts and coffee.

"We call it the 'Coffee and Baptists Doughnut Hole,' " said Senior Pastor Tommy Teague, who started to see his body affected by what he called "chest-of-drawers syndrome."

"Everything that used to be in the chest has fallen to the drawers," said Teague, who works out three times a week. "I am a work in progress."

"Tighten thy stomach" may not be in the Bible, but many congregations and church leaders are following a fitness proverb. The slimming of church members -- despite traditions of stocky ministers, pancake breakfasts and potluck dinners -- reflects a move to view the body as a temple of God.

Teague faces a difficult journey, especially in a region where church is often followed by some sinfully fattening fare and where the word "preacher" may be a prelude to "Would you like to come over for some chicken-fried steak?"

"It is almost a way of life for us," Teague said. "As Christians, we are to glorify God with our body, but many leaders don't always portray that."

With any group -- and especially church groups -- if two or more people meet, eating usually takes place, said Kelly Slavko, assistant director of fitness and wellness at Texas Christian University in Fort Worth.

"And it is usually not the best food," she said. With church groups, "eating is sometimes seen as 'a better vice' than drinking or smoking or drug use."

A 1998 study by Purdue University sociologist Kenneth Ferraro concluded that church members were more likely to be overweight than other people. Ferraro analyzed public records and surveys involving more than 3,600 people. Broken down by religious groups, Southern Baptists were the heaviest, and Jews, Muslims and Buddhists were less likely to be overweight.

"In many respects, a lot of the Christian religions, especially the fundamentalists, just have not made the connection yet that you can dig a grave with a fork," Ferraro said.

But some churches are heeding the call. Many offer First Place, a Christian weight-loss program that includes Bible study and prayer. Others, such as Fellowship Church in Grapevine, provide healthful activities such as running, cycling, basketball, soccer and even a fitness "boot camp."

Fellowship Church Pastor Ed Young delivered a series of sermons focusing on treating the body as a temple for the Holy Spirit. It incorporated a cooking demonstration about how to reduce fat. Young also axed the weekly Krispy Kreme gorge-fest, to the chagrin of some members.

"I think when people understand this is a spiritual issue and not some humanistic vanity issue, I think the lights come on," said Young, whose wife, Lisa, self-published a Body for God cookbook. "The message is that the body is a temple. Don't trash the temple."

More work is needed, according to High Calling, High Anxiety, a new book by the Rev. O.S. Hawkins, president and chief executive of the Southern Baptist Convention Annuity Board in Dallas. The board administers medical and retirement plans for the denomination's ministers.

The top two medical claims paid by the denomination's health insurance program in 2002 were for ailments such as back problems and high blood pressure, often the results of obesity or a sedentary lifestyle.

"It seems the secular community is sounding the alarm over the evils of obesity, but Christian churches do not seem to have heard the message," Hawkins wrote.

He cited denominational statistics showing that 75 percent of Baptist pastors eat fried foods at least four nights a week and 40 percent snack two or more times a day on cookies, chips or candy.

"We're pretty good at avoiding alcohol and tobacco, but 25 percent of us drink six or more cups of coffee a day," Hawkins wrote. "Baptists definitely hold the heavyweight title in ministry."

For Senior Pastor Lloyd McCutchen of Colleyville Assembly of God Church, seeing himself on a wedding video several years ago drove home the image of the portly preacher.

"That was what really sparked me. " said McCutchen, who has since lost about 45 pounds. "I think the Lord wants us to be our best."

But church leaders cannot wait until Atkins, Weight Watchers and other diet programs save them from weight problems, said Judd Vier, associate pastor of Harvest Baptist Church in Watauga.

"If we wait until we are perfect in an area, we may never preach on it," he said.

Young suggested a diet similar to the tithing many churches promote. People should eat 90 percent healthful food, he said. Junk food can make up the other 10 percent.

"Make the tithe count -- Krispy Kreme, Domino's, chicken-fried steak," he said.

This report includes material from the Associated Press.

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Ellena F. Morrison, (817) 685-3888 emorrison~star-telegram.com