Where Will Christian
Ministry Go?
By de Andréa
July 17, 2012
Recently I wrote an article titled The
Future of the Christian Church where I talked about the demise of the
Church for several reasons, one being Islam, the ignorance, the deception, and
the enabling of it, another might be the disunity of the Church. A question was asked by one of my readers. Where will the Christian ministry go, or will
it disappear too?
Just because the Church, as we know it,
may all but disappear it certainly doesn’t mean that Christianity will disappear
as well. The faith has been through 2000
years of trials and tribulations and it is still going strong. Why?
Because it’s the truth…
So!
Where will’ it go? Where it’s
already going, some into the homes of people, some underground (it isn’t the
first time) and still others are going into the highways and byways.
Every Monday night, Uncle Charlie's bar in Cheyenne , Wyo. ,
hosts "Bibles and Beer," a discussion that routinely pulls in people
of all faiths — as well as an Atheist and a Muslim or two.
As many as 45 people have shown up,
some toting Bibles. Some might have a
drink; others stick to water. Some talk;
others mostly listen. There are only a
few ground rules: Avoid debate and stick to the text to be discussed that week.
"There really is not a focus on
drinking," insists Rodger
McDaniel, a Presbyterian minister who organized the weekly gathering more than
a year ago. "But at the same time, it is
a much more relaxed atmosphere than in a church basement. If I put this on in my church, I don't think
we would have more than five or six people."
Across the country, faith and religion
is becoming bar talk. The trend combines
the traditional religious charge to go where the people are with the reality
that a lot of them are in bars. Organizers
include those from mainline churches, those building churches and bar owners
and brewers. Some are trying to push the
model nationally, taking an ageless yearning for meaning and purpose to places
where people are looking for… well… meaning and purpose and often go to try to
wash their worries away.
"It is good to bring the Word to
wherever God is, and God is everywhere, and people are everywhere, too," says Joe Beene, owner of the Drunk Monkey Tavern
in the Tulsa
suburb of Glenpool. Last year, Beene
began live streaming Sunday morning services from Tulsa 's
Celebration Church into his bar. "The people who come in here on Sunday
mornings are people who want to hear the Word of God but won't go to
church."
He got his idea, he says, from a San Jose minister who preaches in bars. Beene says six to eight people regularly
listen and accept his free Sunday brunch, and he is talking to other bar owners
to see if they'll stream the broadcast. "I
see a lot of people that come in here (with) issues, and they are trying to
solve those issues or kill the pain with alcohol, which certainly works short
term but not so much long term," Beene says. "I feel they need to hear
what I have been hearing in this church."
While this may be a new direction for
protestants, the mixture of spirit and spirits is not entirely new however. Catholics have sponsored "Theology on
Tap" gatherings in bars for years. "It
is primarily an outreach to young Catholics and those interested in the faith,
but others do attend," says Michael Donohue, director of
communication for the Catholic Diocese of Arlington, Va., which began
"Theology on Tap" meetings aimed at young people in 2001. Semi-regular gatherings attract 150-250
people to Pat “Troy 's Ireland 's
Own” in nearby Alexandria and 100 to the “Blue
& Gray Brewing Co.” in Fredericksburg ,
Va.
Last year in Raleigh , N.C. ,
Cynthia and A.J. Viola began organizing "Beer and a Bible" at Tir Na
Nog Irish Pub. They got the idea from
friends in New Mexico doing something similar. About 15-25 people gather for Bible study on the
second and fourth Tuesdays of the month which coincides with "pint
night." "We have people who were
born with a Bible in their hands and people who want nothing to do with
church," A.J. Viola says. Regular
attendees include a so-called non-practicing Muslim (whatever that is) and a
self-described atheist who comes to support his churchgoing wife.
The Violas are professional wedding
photographers and ministers who have started their own church in Raleigh . She is an ex-bartender, and he professes both
to be "a big fan of the Bible and also a big fan of beer."
In Richmond , Ind. ,
three separate church-related groups gather regularly at the “J&J Brewery”
and “Big Dog Brewhaus”, co-owner Mike
Miller says.
He says people are looking for places to have faith discussions in more
relaxed social settings.
In Cheyenne , McDaniel's group began last year
with Genesis and has just worked its way through Exodus. He says he has been surprised and pleased
that people of all faiths have become regular attendees, and that broad mixture
has broadened discussions.
One regular Uncle Charlie's attendee is
Ed Glaser, a retired telephone company employee and an Atheist. He says he does not come for the beer but to
understand how religion affects politics.
"This group of people, I think,
are looking at trying to have understanding and have common ground," Glaser says.
"I think this group of people is very tolerant of different
perspectives."
Mohamed Salih, a retired junior college
dean and leader in the Southeast Wyoming Islamic Center, attends almost every
week, and he often draws parallels between the Quran and the Bible.
McDaniel says he got questions in the
beginning from people concerned about associating alcohol with the Bible. His answer: "Jesus didn't change wine
into water…
THE BOTTOM LINE: While there
may be a lot of eyebrow raising by the legalists regarding this approach to evangelism,
although it is not totally unlike the ministry of Jesus Himself’ who ministered
to tax-collectors (considered to be thieves not unlike today’s tax-collectors) as
well as prostitutes and all manner of people considered at the time to be the scum
of the earth. And yes at a wedding celebration at Cana
in Galilee Jesus did turn water into wine, His first miracle in John 2:1-11
The Bible does say in Ephesians 5:18 “And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be
filled with the Spirit”;
King James Version (Cambridge Ed.) Is there really’ any place better than
another to be filled with the Holy Spirit of the Lord God Jesus Christ?
I don’t believe so! God will meet us right where we are…
de Andréa
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