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Area church to hold worship services in bar
http://www.daytondailynews.com/searc...rchbarweb.html

By Khalid Moss

Staff Writer

Monday, April 14, 2008

The Pub Lounge near the I-75 exit in Sidney is your typical neighborhood restaurant/bar.

It has a dance floor, riding bull, big screen TV, pool tables, pizza, beer and a pleasant, everybody-knows-your-name vibe.
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Which — according to the Rev. Chris Heckaman — makes it the ideal spot for a new church.

Heckaman is senior pastor of Sidney First United Methodist Church, 230 N. Popular St. While his church-in-a-bar ministry may seem like an irreverent idea, it gives new meaning to the phrase "filled with the spirit."

"The idea behind the new Country Rock Church in the Pub Lounge is to reach people where they are," Heckaman said. "We've got a generation of folks who have grown up outside the church where pews, stained glass windows, robes and pulpits don't mean a thing.

"Jesus never formed a church. He never built a building. We're not trying to win people over to church culture. We want to minister to them where they are."

Country Rock Church will hold its first worship service in the Pub Lounge, 1555 W. Michigan St., on Sunday, April 20. Worship and music by the Don Fischer Band begin at 7 p.m.

Heckaman's looking for a mixture of food, fun and faith.

"Churches are beginning to grow as they speak the language of our culture," Heckaman said. "Why not a church in a bar? Why not anywhere else for that matter?"

Contact this reporter at (937) 225-2167 or kmoss@DaytonDailyNews.com.

The question was asked, "Why not a church in a bar?"



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