Churches Use Mixed Martial Arts to Recruit

A growing number of evangelical churches have embraced mixed martial arts as a recruitment tool to convert young men, the New York Times reports.

The increasingly popular sport - which combines kickboxing, wrestling and other fighting styles - has drawn millions of TV viewers. One such telecast was the top pay-per-view event in 2009, the newspaper reports.

The outreach effort is part of a broader goal of pumping more testosterone into churches that some pastors fear have "become too feminized, promoting kindness and compassion at the expense of strength and responsibility," the newspaper reports.

According to the Times, the predominantly white churches recruit young men through TV viewing parties and lecture series that draw parallels between the sport and Christ.

"Compassion and love - we agree with all that stuff, too," Seattle pastor Brandon Beals told the newspaper. "But what led me to find Christ was that Jesus was a fighter."

A few ministries actually host or participate in live events.