A lot of people might pray earnestly while trying to survive another grueling workout, but few have the opportunity to connect mind, body and spirit like the members of White Pines United Methodist Church in Belmont.
Going to worship in a hooded sweatshirt is the norm and being an active participant at White Pines likely means being a member of Wolverine World Wide Family YMCA.
Bev Thiel, the branch’s executive director, is a member of White Pines and soon after the church made the building its home she contrived the idea of a Sunday morning fitness group.
To say it has been a hit would be to put it mildly.
“The church was meeting to talk about how they could make an impact and I had done something similar at my past church before I moved here so I just kind of brought up that concept to (Rev.) Jeff (Williams),” she said. “It was the concept of a small group working out together and adding a spiritual kind of dimension to it.”
Rockford resident Tam LeFurge-McLeod was a member at Rockford UMC for about 10 years before her family felt called to be part of this new church start-up.
Lefurge-McLeod said the 70-80 member church has not only provided her family new opportunities — her husband learned how to play the flute because the praise band had a void and her college-age son developed speaking skills through participation in church services — but the idea that the church can serve another major function is exciting to her.
“It has been great for building community. You know a lot of times you go to church, at least I did…and it was easy to just walk in when church started, worship and then walk out when it ended,” she said. “When we work out together it brings up so many opportunities to just talk about your week, talk about plans, talk about concerns…so we have a workout and we always pray at the end.”
Six years after planting a new church Williams took his congregation’s relationship with the local “Y” to new heights in September 2008, when the church moved its services from a local charter school to the workout facility.
Now church members worship in the YMCA chapel, hold discipleship meetings in the building and often get spiritually and physically fit in one fell swoop.
And on Thiel’s first day on the job in 2007 she and Williams, whose family already had a gym membership, had an instant connection — one that has proven fruitful for both parties.
“It just became clearer to me at the time, of just how blended the mission was between our church and their organization,” Williams said. “Our mission is we are called to grow, love and serve together and the YMCA affirms a spirit, mind, body connection, and that is a great image of wholeness for us, and it’s inspirational.”
The YMCA was founded on Christian principles in the 1840s and Williams helps the organization maintain that identity as the leader of the Christian Emphasis and Diversity Committee.
He leads prayer at meetings, offers support and guidance to the YMCA staff and helps the center create a positive social influence.
The benefits flow both ways though.
Because of his church’s unique setting there are an unusually large number of opportunities to witness to community members.
“While I’ve learned that I like working with a church and the more internally recognizable congregation, the YMCA is this middle ground — it’s not a church, it’s a public space, a safe public space for gatherers — and what we’re able to do and what excites me is we’re able to sort of uncover the real spiritual foundation of what goes on here,” he said. “There is the whole body experience here and we can relate it to spiritual health as a whole and that’s what’s so unique.”
Williams said sometimes people stop to see him as they walk by the chapel or he will just offer kind words as patrons enter or exit the facility.
Whatever the case may be, Lefurge-McLeod agrees that God has been moving in new and powerful ways at the “Y.”
“It’s an ideal location and it’s just been a perfect fit for us,” she said. “We needed a location that would be comfortable for a lot of different people; we obviously have many wonderful traditional churches in the area…but we also needed to offer a worship mainly for people who weren’t as comfortable in a traditional church and this offers something different for them.”
While Williams admitted the church is not growing at blazing rate, he said he is seeing people become more committed to what it means to be the body of Christ.
Thiel said it has been a true joy to see the church and YMCA grow in harmony.
She said the gym is still working to reach its own membership goals, but overall usage of the facility has significantly increased the last year and a half. Thiel believes Williams’ participation is a key reason why.
“The most encouraging words I’ve heard are from my CEO who said, ‘I would really like Jeff to have a conversation with our corporate board at some point, to share what’s going on there,’” she said. “And I think that’s important, because I think a lot of operations could benefit from having a Christian Emphasis group and some sort of a connection with a church.”
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