Fighting the Good Fight

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Posted by Josh Boyd

Many of you are probably familiar with the concept of chaplaincy.  The military, law enforcement, fire & rescue, hospitals, prisons, government, and even corporations have chaplains.  What you may not aware of is that there are also chaplains in every major sport in the US and around the world.  A sports chaplain provides basic pastoral care for the athletes and the broader sports community including the coach, administrators and their families.  Chaplains to sports communities have existed since the middle of the 20th century and have significantly grown in the past 20 years. The United States, the UK, and Australia have well established Christian sports chaplaincy ministries.

There is one sport where this information does not apply.  That sport is MMA.  There are a few reasons why this is true.  The number one reason is that the sport is so young.  There are many aspects of MMA that are still being established.  Another reason is the overall logistics of the sport as a whole.

There are a few individuals and organizations that are working hard to bring MMA into the fold so to speak.  One of these organizations is Fight Church.  Fight Church is located in Las Vegas, the fight capital of the world, home of the UFC and the hub of this international sports phenomenon.  They have been in operation for nearly 2 ½ years and have spent that time serving the MMA community with no strings attached and building authentic relationships.  In the process, Fight Church has established their place in the MMA community and has been extremely well received.

Rather than reinvent the wheel, check out this link to a great story about Fight Church that appeared in the Las Vegas Review Journal this past Sunday…

http://www.lvrj.com/living/ministering-to-mma-fighters-on-their-own-turf-188560431.html

For more information about Fight Church and to find out about how you can be a part, be sure to visit www.fightchurch.com.  You can also connect with them on Facebook at www.facebook.com/fightchurchMMA and Twitter at www.twitter.com/pjoshboyd.