Several people asked me to blog about how the practice service in the bar went tonight. Here's a brief report: It was very cool and very weird.
We had about 32 Forefront people there. We told our people not to invite their friends yet, and did no advertising. We were hoping no one but our core group would be there. Unfortunately (I guess?) about 16 non-Forefront people were there. Some were staff from the bar there to check us out. Others were just there to get drunk. Everyone seemed to be paying attention to the service.
There was definitely an odd vibe. When our band played, our people didn't know whether to sing or what. People from the bar definitely had curious looks on their faces.
But it was also very cool. Some of the people just there to drink were totally focused on the service. Two guys asked someone from our staff, "So, this is a church?" Yeah. "Is this a church service?" Yeah. "But ... well ... does it count?" Actually we don't count. "But does it like count for going to church?" Sure. "But will you get in trouble?" In trouble? "Yeah, in trouble." No, you won't get in trouble.
Before the service the owner told me, "So many people are excited about this!" Cool. "Yeah, three guys were in here drinking this morning and I told them about it and they're coming back tonight." But tonight is a practice service! "Yeah, I told them that, but they're coming back anyway. They said if they could drink a beer and hear a sermon, they wouldn't miss it." The cook, who was standing next to the owner, then said, "F**kin' A!" (Sorry, I'm just reporting the facts.)
After the service I asked the owner if the service was okay. He said, "Yeah. I loved it! You had me cracking up. I was embarrassed to laugh!" I assured him it was okay to laugh.
What else? ... Our Creative Arts guy, Jason, had the stage looking sweet with two big plasma TV's ... Our band was awesome... I started my message by saying, "We want to thank the White Horse Pub for having us. It's funny; Forefront will probably take a lot of crap for being a church willing to meet in a bar. And the White Horse will probably take a lot of crap for being a bar willing to have a church meet in it. This could be the beginning of a beautiful relationship."
I guess that's it. If you have questions you can ask in the comments and I'll try to answer.
Later.............
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Tuesday, September 18, 2007
Report on Bar Service
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8 comments:
This is what it's all about Vince. Remarkable!
Have you thought about how you guys might handle a rowdy, loud, or even hostile crowd? It may never happen but then again...
We have talked about that, but I'm not sure what the answer is. Personally I think that would be kind of fun and that I'd be okay dealing with it. The down-side is that we're filming the message in the service to show at one of our Sunday morning locations. So if someone ruined the video by their behavior, that would stink for us, and we'd probably have to film it again...
sweet! We met in an old bar for about 3 months, and we had a few people show up to check us out just because they wanted to see the church that would meet in their old watering hole. I'm seriously going to try to get up to see this sometime if I can.
Hey Vince:
You'll probably get the same crap from religious people that Jesus got from the religious jerks of his day: "Those Forefronters are a bunch of gluttons and drunks." Dude, that bar is EXACTLY where you need to be. The drunk guy comments say it all. Keep being Jesus in that place to those folks. Sweet!
Way cool!
Our fellowship used to meet in an old run down movie theatre that had been turned into a bar/pizza joint.
On Sundays we had to move empty beer kegs out of the way so that we could bring in the PA equipment.
The place was way way old. It had carpet on the walls with about 25 years worth of cigarette smoke embedded in it. The carpet on the floor was generally a bit squishy from spilled beer. Along with the smell of smoke and beer there was also a tinge of mildew. It was great!!!
Unfortunately the theatre burned down during hurricane George (about 8 years ago). We have since been in three different locations. Currently we are in an old grocery store.
The church is not a building. The church is the PEOPLE!
Jesus was a friend of sinners and tax collectors. He was accused of being a glutton and a wine bibber. He hung out with the people the religious crowd wouldn't have touched with a ten foot pole. He broke the religious traditions and as a result the religious crowd hated Him.
I think if the religious crowd gets iritated at you or accuses you of being a friend of sinners...or is worried that you are going to get dirty because of where you are hanging out...then perhaps you are on the right track!
God bless you as you serve and worship him!
James Flanders
awesome bro...i love it. there's a place in town and i've thought about the same thing for a year. i do have some specific questions.
1. do you have to be 18 and up to get in? 21? how does that work?
2. what's the service look like?
3. do you rent the place or part of the place?
Related to question number one of Michael from Oak Leaf's questions:
What, if anything, are you going to have available for families with children who (might) want to come?
A friend and I have kicked around this idea for a while, and will watch with interest to see what happens. Please, Keep us updated!
going off your previous blog about being honest, not sure if this is the right or wrong thing to say, but i am saying it anyway. I think church in a bar is awesome, i think church in a bar that isn't open is great if you need a place to hold church and the bar is available, but as far as comparing it to how Jesus hung out with the tax collectors, i think that having church in a closed bar is more to make the people already going there feel like they are pushing the religous envelope when really they are just renting available space. having said that i don't go to a church in a bar, but i think it rocks, i guess i could use the i have kids and no nursery excuse for not going to a church in a bar, that said i am also a huge fan of the small group, i wonder if the small church senario works the same way, imagine a small church, by small i mean under 100, cuz really how many people fit in a bar, imagine instead of karoke night or happy hour, church service nite in every local bar, i better be careful or we might have to start having church in a strip club, hey, you said i choose insanity, that is insane, also a bad idea since vince doesn't work the pole that well, although i have seen an interesting picture of him from a missions trip in front of dao thong club that might say otherwise, lol
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