Well, no I haven't; but I have long taken great delight in going into bars in clericals. It tends to elicit interest, beginning with, "What kind of minister are you? I want to learn about your church!" In the part of the United States where I grew up, it was only Episcopalians who were likely to do something like that.

Marshall Scott

In my last parish position, I regularly did "Theology Happy Hour," also known as "WWJD: What Would Jesus Drink?" in pubs.

The format, unlike most pub ministries, didn't involve bringing in a special speaker. What I'd do is (checking ahead whenever possible with the pub manager or owner to make sure it was OK) order a bunch of appetizers, set out some pads of paper, pens, and a hat or paper bag, and put up a sign along the lines of "Theology Happy Hour! All Welcome: Bring Your Own Doubts."

I'd advertise the happy hour in the parish bulletin and to the 20s/30s group, but overall I drew far more people who just happened to come to the bar that night and were intrigued than I did church members.

We'd munch appetizers and make general conversation for a while, during which time people could write any question or topic they wanted to discuss on a bit of paper and drop it in the bag or hat. After there were a good number of questions/topics in the hopper, I'd shake it up, draw out a piece of paper, and invite conversation on whatever was written on it, e.g., "OK! The topic is 'original sin.' What do you think about that?" I'd also often invite people to start off just by sharing what their experience was, if any, with the language of the question/topic -- e.g., "Where have you heard the phrase, 'original sin'? Who was using it, and how? What does it mean to you?" -- before getting into more theologically meaty material, which both invites participation from people who may not have thought a lot about the topic before and makes clearer where folks are coming from in a way that I find encourages gentleness as the discussion progresses. When we've talked about a topic for a while and it seems good to move on, I'll draw the next topic/question from the hat.

I absolutely LOVED doing this, and I believe it was very successful -- sometimes I'd get as many as 25 or so unchurched or dischurched people participating in a night's conversation. It confirmed my sense that there are a great many people out there -- particularly GenXers and Millennials -- who are consciously interested in God and community, but don't believe that they'd find much of either in a church.

Interestingly, what I think was the most successful "Theology Happy Hour" was a completely spontaneous one on Christmas Eve. The parish I worked at was 60 miles from my house, so it wasn't possible for me to go home for dinner between the 5:30 family service and showing up early for the late service. I grabbed dinner at the only place I could find open on the holiday: the bar at TGIFriday's. To my surprise, it was PACKED with people, many of whom seemed to have come alone. On a whim, I went back to my car and grabbed the Theology Happy Hour sign and materials, and was immediately swamped with people wanting to participate. It was too busy for me to count the number of those who did, but I'd guess that by the time I headed back to church, at least forty people had chimed in at some point.

Having managed and cooked for a restaurant, I've always been interested in starting a pub that could help to finance a startup congregation meeting there. I've even got the pub's name -- The Crook & Cap, with a logo of a crozier and miter. Ever since I lived in Frederick, Maryland, where the owner of a local tavern was elected mayor and continue to tend bar there during her term, I've thought that many politicians and clergy alike could benefit from tending bar in their area; you really do hear all kinds of things from people who don't currently see much of a reason to set foot in church.