Veldhoven has the scoop: Brabant’s first ‘climbing church’ opens there on Friday. The Sint-Willibrordus Church in the Zeelst district is filled with climbing walls. Pastor Frank As still has to get used to it. For the first time he takes a look at ‘his’ converted church. “I think it’s a shame that it is no longer a church. We have moved from mental health to physical health. That hurts.”
In the past people mourned and married in the church. From now on, climbers will look higher here. It makes the pastor a bit melancholic. “Climbing closer to God is done spiritually and not on a climbing wall. It’s not like that if you’re in an apartment. that you are closer to God,” he says with a laugh. “Our dear Lord is in our hearts.”
He thinks back to the past. “Everything was done here,” he says, his voice booming: weddings, baptisms, confirmations and first communion. “The church was expanded at the time because it was too small. There are a lot of people here who have a lot of memories that are very precious and very grateful.”
From now on, the light through the stained glass windows no longer shines on the pastor who addresses the faithful. “The altar used to be there and behind it the organ. I stood here and looked at the people. It is a completely different view now.”
“You are more than a beautiful and fit body.”
Many churches are given a different function. This church was also for rent. It’s a shift for the pastor. “This is the place where people sought God. For their mental health. If people only look for their physical health, a society will decline further, I think. Then there is indifference and intolerance. I can have a beautiful and healthy body, but we are all going to die someday. Then it is of no use to me anymore.”
“You have to be careful not to lose your identity. Who am I? You are more than a beautiful and fit body. Faith gives us our own identity. May you be there.”
“I do have sensitive hands, due to osteoarthritis.”
Meanwhile, Nienke Swart from Boulder Veldhoven is completely happy. After all, it has the first church in Brabant where you can climb. “There is another one in Venlo and that’s the end of it,” she says proudly. “It is a very attractive church.”
The climbing sport you can practice here is bouldering. Without being on a rope, you climb up more than four meters using various handles on the wall. Anyone who falls ends up on a mat. “It is a bouldering hall in a small municipality. In the Netherlands they are normally in big cities, but this is so special. We are already in Eindhoven and that is why we wanted to start here.”
The pastor can live with this repurposing. “I think this is a nice solution. It’s colorful.” He also tries to climb a bit himself. “I do have sensitive hands, due to osteoarthritis.” In vain. He lets go immediately. “I can’t do it. You have to pull all your weight.”
