Sheffield church bans yoga classes after vicar claims they 'don't meet Christian values'

Wadsley Church Hall has axed its regular yoga classes after six years after the Rev Dan Brown and his wife Sarah decided the sessions were an offence to Christianity and not physical enough, said the Daily Mail.

The newspaper reports that Mrs Brown joined the class to investigate after her husband became alarmed by references to what he termed ‘Hindu practices’ on teacher Sarah Wilson’s website.

After being briefed by his wife, Mr Brown emailed Miss Wilson to pull the plug on her class.

He wrote: “We find the style of yoga used doesn’t go along with our Christian values or constitution of the Church of England. There are lot of active Christians in the church who attend other yoga groups which are just about the physical exercise without the spiritual dynamic.”

“The church is a Christian venue and cannot be used for other religious practices in the same way you would not hold communion in a mosque.”

The 20-strong class has been forced to leave Wadsley Church Hall in Sheffield and move to a smaller community centre.

Miss Wilson, who also works as a nurse, said she was ‘stunned and outraged’ by Mrs Brown’s behaviour at her class and rejected the vicar’s criticism of unchristian spiritual practices.

She said: ‘We use joss sticks because the church hall often smells of old dinners or bleach. I may do a bit of chanting sometimes but that’s it.

‘The vicar does not think yoga and Christianity are compatible. To me, spiritual practice is about looking after yourself and being connected to nature.”

Mr Brown added: ‘Yoga exercise was fine but we did not want Buddhist or Hindu practices in the church because it is a Christian building.’

Mrs Brown, an RE teacher, rejected complaints about her behaviour during the try-out session, insisting she was bullied ‘by a room of 20 women’.

She said: “I love yoga but this was not exercise. If people want to meditate it is fine, but it is not what we Christians would do.”