The Country Rock Church Offers Prayer at the Pub

May 13, 2008— -- It's 7:00 p.m. on a Sunday, and the show is about to begin at the local pub on the outskirts of Sidney, Ohio.

Disco ball? Check. Mechanical bull? Check. Bottles of beer? Check. Country singer playing Johnny Cash covers? Check.

Christian sermons? Wait a minute — check?

The Pub Lounge is no ordinary bar. Come Sunday nights the place is transformed into the Country Rock Church, the brainchild of the Rev. Chris Heckaman. In between sets of country music, Heckaman — who prefers to be called just Chris — gives a short lesson and preaches a little of the good word.

On a recent night, he preached the message of learning to live with one's mistakes.

"I don't know if you are like me, but sometimes when I look at my life all I see is the scars. All the mistakes," Heckaman told the bar's patrons.

He encourages participation from the crowd and offers prizes, like tickets to a local minor league baseball game, to people who can share the "best war story."

Bibles and Beer

While this may all sound unusual, for Heckaman it's a natural extension of his role as lead pastor at the Sidney First United Methodist Church, where he already has tailored his services to the various needs of his congregation.

Heckaman conducts a 9 a.m. traditional service with church choirs and readings from the Bible. At 10:30 a.m., he loosens it up in a modern service with Christian bands, and screens that project hymn words and inspirational images.

But at 7 p.m., all, well, heaven, breaks loose at the pub. Heckaman believes it is the perfect way to reach Christians who have faith but don't attend church.

"We think that this venue is kind of natural for good people who have no desire or never see themselves walking into a traditional church setting," Heckaman said. "When you look around it's the perfect place to bring people together, to have a band and share a little word."

Mainstream churches have seen their numbers drop over the years, and Heckaman's is no different. Attendance there has fallen 20 percent in the past 30 years. But Heckaman says that holding church in a bar is not just a cheap ploy.

"We are not doing this just to survive or maintain our numbers," Heckaman said. "Whether people come, ultimately, or not, to some extent it's just us being faithful to the Jesus that we know."

'The Kind of Place Jesus Would Hang Out'

But should religion and bars — with alcohol and pool and mechanical bulls — mix?

Heckaman thinks it's a natural fit and tries to convince pub-goers that Jesus was a fun-loving guy.

"This is the kind of place Jesus would hang out," Heckaman told the crowd. "His first miracle was at a local person's home. It was the wedding hall of the day and people were enjoying themselves and having fun. They ran out of wine and he made them more."

The owner of the pub couldn't be more pleased that Heckaman holds his services there. Dwight Meyer, who's owned The Pub Lounge for 23 years, believes the services help improve the pub's image.

"We got a little bit of a tough reputation, we have fights at night," Meyer said. "Having a religious service in here could do absolutely nothing but help our reputation."

And for those who believe that Bibles and beer just don't mix? Meyer thinks they need to get real.

"I think it's time we got a little more irreverent and got a little more real, met people where they are and got real about our faith," Meyer said. "And stopped playing our religious dress-up for Sunday morning games and really take our faith seriously day in and day out."

But some bar patrons aren't sure that taking faith seriously means drinking a brew while listening to the good word. Sydney resident Bonita Nicodemus doesn't think alcohol and Jesus mix. "I'm not so sure that's the place for a church," she said.

But for many, it's a natural extension of their faith. Patron Teresa Ditmer believes "Jesus would be right here reaching as many as he could." And another patron, Tony Garza, thinks that preaching in a bar is the perfect way to help sinners like himself.

"I always like to remember that Jesus didn't come to save the saved. He came to save the sinners. I'm a sinner, everybody is a sinner," Garza said.

While some may feel the Country Rock Church pushes the envelope of church propriety, for Heckaman it simply shows that faith can be all around us, even in a pub.