Members of the congregation of the Church of the Good Shepherd, diocese of Calgary, have found an innovative way to raise funds while losing weight.

“The call went out in January of 2008: Who would like to lose weight?” Nineteen people stepped up to the scales and weighed in at a total of 3,600 pounds!” reported The Sower.

The congregation was invited to support fellow parishioners by pledging donations for every pound that the group dropped.

The final weigh-in took place on April 6, with the club collectively losing 263 pounds and raising over $2,500. The money will go towards buying a new commercial fridge for the church and sending representatives to a stewardship conference in 2009.