What Would Jesus Bench? It’s one of those questions as old as the barbell itself, but the answer has remained elusive for years. This past week, however, Brooklyn residents discovered what may be the Holy Grail of athletic enlightenment, when Pratt Institute in Fort Greene hosted a “Fitness in Christ Boot Camp.”

The God-centric Boot Camp was organized by fitness trainer Kita Johnson, who has previously worked with Jake Steinfeld, of “Body by Jake” fame. In conjunction with her twin sister, who is a graduate student at Pratt, Johnson organized a week’s worth of events from April 4–7 that incorporated yoga, Pilates, weight training, and non-structured play, all to the tune of Johnson’s personal mantra, “All things through Christ, who strengthens me.”

“This program is so not about your abs,” said Johnson, a self-described “ADD Christian.” Instead, she said, the focus is on the difficulty of getting through the workout, of lifting a weight, or of running up a hill. “As you’re training, and as you’re lifting that bicep curl … you’re lifting it to experience what that struggle is like.” The strain of exercise, she said, is a metaphor for the adversity in everyday life.

A Christian since she was 16, Johnson found herself dissatisfied with the way most churches presented scripture. “[Christ’s] delivery would be something so much different from what I [was] getting in these churches,” she said. After recovering from a tragic horse-riding accident that threatened both her livelihood and her faith in the Church, Johnson began searching for a new way of connecting with God.

Johnson says the Lord told her, “We need to create a space for you in the cyber world.” That was when the Holy Spirit led her to her computer, and guided her in building a website, which she did in 9 hours, with no prior web design experience. That website was the beginning of “Fitness in Christ.”

Presumably, Christ does not want his followers sitting in pews in dank buildings, growing pale and weak from excessive praying. Instead, Christians should be out in the fresh air, working their glutes with His help and feeling the burn of His heavenly power.

Of course, no one is expected to equal the feats of Christ himself, so water-walking and cross-dragging were left off the list of exercises facing Brooklyintes gathered in Pratt’s studios. Instead, the Boot Camp consisted of many standard exercises, book-ended by scripture and prayer. The sessions generally begin with a scripture reading, such as Isaiah 40:29 (“He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak.”), followed by a short blessing from Johnson. After that, the assembled evangelympians are led on a silent march to reflect further on the scripture and feel Christ’s presence in their muscles. “It’s kind of like a little meditation between you and God for ten minutes,” said Johnson.

At the end of the march, however, the mood quickly shifts from subdued to frenetic, with Johnson exploding into lunges, squats, martial arts, Pilates, and yoga. Another 10-minute walk, and the weary, but faithful, participants are led through push-ups, jumping jacks, more martial arts, dips, pull-ups, and Pilates yoga. Johnson finishes the service with a visualization and closing prayer to remind congregants that all things they have done today were accomplished “through Christ, who strengthens them.” “My approach is getting you to feel spirituality and getting you to express it through your body,” she said. “I just feel incredibly honored that God has allowed me to be his champion cheerleader.”

Johnson, who is based in La Jolla, California, hopes to eventually set up a chapter of Fitness in Christ in New York City.