Church in bar? Houses of worship thinking outside steeple to reach new members…
Experience the sights and sounds of Christian worship around the Midlands from megachurches to small country chapels to gatherings at the local bar.
http://archive.today/2018.08.09-151907/https://www.thestate.com/news/local/article215389120.html
New Brookland Tavern is as different on Saturday nights and Sunday mornings as, well, night and day. Once a month, the gritty West Columbia venue known for its metal and punk bands transforms from a Saturday night house of rock to a Sunday morning house of worship. With ears still ringing from late-night jams, late-morning brunch-goers pass by the open bar door while, inside, a few dozen people ranging from kids to senior citizens sip coffee and play pool before gathering in front of the band stage for worship singing, prayer and preaching. When people hear about having church in a bar, “Everybody just goes, ‘What?’” said Jody Ratcliffe, pastor of the 2-year-old Church at West Vista. “And then they think and go, ‘Wait a minute, that’s really cool. … Our model meets the needs of folks who have ever been hurt in the past and they just don’t want to go to church ever again.”
At a time when traditional Protestant churches are losing thousands of members each year and dozens of them are closing their doors across South Carolina, some churches like West Vista are meeting in unconventional places and taking new tacks to continue their age-old mission: to reach people with the Christian gospel.