Panel: MODERN TRANSFORMATIONS OF PRAYER



258.3 - ENDURANCE AND ENCOUNTER: REIMAGINING PRAYER IN THE ENDURANCE SPORTS LANDSCAPE

AUTHORS:
Mart G. (Roehampton University ~ London ~ United Kingdom)
Text:
This paper explores how outdoor endurance sports, particularly ultrarunning, serve as contemporary spaces of spiritual encounter, reframing traditional understandings of prayer through embodied endurance. Revisiting John V. Taylor's theology of the Holy Spirit as the Go-Between, this study examines how moments of physical and mental extremity in endurance sports create conditions for transcendence, reflection, and connection with the divine. Modernity has reshaped religious practices, dispersing them into new and unexpected contexts. While traditional forms of prayer often emphasise stillness and verbal articulation, endurance sports, marked by suffering, solitude, perseverance, and deep engagement with nature, invite a re-examination of prayer as an embodied, non-verbal practice. This paper explores how athletes engaged in long-distance mountain running, and adrenaline sports such as surfing and rock climbing describe their experiences using language often associated with prayer: focus, presence, petition, surrender, and communion. Drawing on ethnographic reflections and interdisciplinary scholarship, this research invites the reader to take an adventurous pause, investigating whether endurance sports can be understood as a form of embodied prayer, one that emerges organically within the rhythms of movement, suffering, and heightened awareness of self, others, and the environment. This discussion is particularly relevant to pioneer ministry and contemporary theology, as it invites reflection on how prayer evolves outside traditional religious spaces. As institutional religious participation declines across Europe, the rise of outdoor endurance sports provides an alternative framework for understanding spiritual practice, intensifying fresh approaches to Christian mission. This paper contributes to discussions concerning spirituality, embodiment, and the reconfiguration of prayer in modernity, engaging theological, sociological, and ethnographic perspectives.