Report on Bar Service

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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