The Rev. Charles Polifka kept his word — and then some.

Polifka, pastor of St. John the Evangelist Catholic Church, 1234 Ky., made a deal with his parishioners in early March.

He planned to lose 15 pounds during the 40 days of Lent, and he challenged parishioners to pledge any amount of money for each pound he would be able to drop before Easter.

The funds raised would go toward paying a $62,500 bill to fix the church’s leaky roof.

The pledge drive, and Polifka’s challenge to the parish, ended April 19, the day before Easter.

The results are in. By Holy Saturday, Polifka — who initially tipped the scales at 214 — officially weighed in at 187 pounds. That’s a drop of 27 pounds.

In the process, hundreds of parishioners pledged their dollars to encourage Polifka’s weight-loss effort and help pay for a new roof, too.

The results of the pledge drive are equally impressive.

“We have got $28,169.67 of donations so far. And then we still have $9,284 in pledges that are outstanding,” said Susan Campbell, church administrator.

That’s enough to take a healthy bite out of the roofing bill.

And, in the balance, the parish got itself a healthier — and substantially slimmer — pastor.

Polifka, a Capuchin Franciscan friar, exceeded his own expectations for the amount of weight he’d planned to lose during Lent.

But he’s still going.

“On Holy Saturday, I was down to 187. Now I’m down to 185,” he said earlier this week.

Polifka, 57, credits his weight loss not so much to a diet as to better nutrition and more exercise.

“I’m eating healthier and wiser. I’m not going to graze. I ate oatmeal for breakfast today, and I just had a salad for lunch. If I get hungry, I eat an apple,” he said. “I didn’t really go on a diet. I just cut down on what I was eating. Actually, it’s just a matter of discipline.”

Polifka has been taking morning walks for years, and now he’s added an occasional evening jaunt, too. And he enjoys riding his bike.

Another good aspect of the unusual pledge drive is that many parishioners decided to join Polifka in slimming down.

“I think a lot of people took the challenge themselves — ‘If he can do it, we can do it.’ They used it as an example,” the pastor said.

For his part, Polifka is looking noticeably trimmer these days. He has to occasionally hitch up his pants to keep them from riding too low.

“I definitely feel lighter,” he said, tugging at his belt.

All of which raises the question: How will Polifka top his effort this past Lent?

“We had finance council last night, and we tried to think of what we’re going to do for the next thing we need to raise funds for,” Campbell said. “We decided we’re going to have to fatten him up again.”