A pub church is a
Christian Church which meets in a
public house
A pub (short for public house) is a kind of drinking establishment which is licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term ''public house'' first appeared in the United Kingdom in late 17th century, and wa ...
or similar establishment. Their purpose is to exist as an authentic Christian community, but in a way which is both provocative and accessible to un-churched people. Thornton recognises that the closure of public houses has diminished community space, and this is an attempt to restore this community asset.
As Archbishop
Rowan Williams
Rowan Douglas Williams, Baron Williams of Oystermouth, (born 14 June 1950) is a Welsh Anglican bishop, theologian and poet. He was the 104th Archbishop of Canterbury, a position he held from December 2002 to December 2012. Previously the Bish ...
has commented:
This can take a number of forms. Sometimes an old public house is purchased, and used as a church building,
[ retaining the welcome and feel of a pub. Others rent a room in an existing pub,][ and church happens with the context of the functioning public house.
]
Examples
In the UK examples can be found in Nottingham - ''Eagle's Nest Church,''[ Eagles Nest Church NottinghamBrighton]
London - ''Church on the Corner'',[http://www.churchonthecorner.org.uk London] an
Christ Church Balham
an
Currently, a community of believers in Fishers, Indiana are meeting at The Pub at Pinheads under the ministry name of
Leavener
" also a group called "Connect Rome" meet at a local bar named McCrobie's in Rome, Georgia.
Critique
This has been said to be an example of what Nicholas M Healy calls "ecclesial bricolage
In the arts, ''bricolage'' ( French for "DIY" or "do-it-yourself projects") is the construction or creation of a work from a diverse range of things that happen to be available, or a work constructed using mixed media.
The term ''bricolage'' ...
." The church inhabits various aspects of its culture, and attempts to use them in its mission, sometimes unaware that each aspect has both positive and negative possibilities. In this case, the advantages of mission activity may not outweigh the difficulty of demonstrating a distinct community investing in clearly different values. This is because of what might be sacrificed in order to be "relevant." Newbigin comments that the church should be both distinct from its culture and comprehensible by it.[Lesslie Newbigin ''Foolishness to the Greeks: the Gospel and Western Culture'' (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1986) 5-6] Pub church treads this fine line.
See also
* Cafe church
* Emerging Church
The emerging church is a Christian Protestant movement of the late 20th and early 21st centuries that crosses a number of theological boundaries: participants are variously described as Protestant, post-Protestant, evangelical, post-evangelical, ...
* List of bars
This is a list of notable bars, public houses and taverns. A bar is a retail business and drinking establishment that serves alcoholic beverages, such as beer, wine, liquor, cocktails, and other beverages such as mineral water and soft drin ...
* List of public house topics
A ''list'' is any set of items in a row. List or lists may also refer to:
People
* List (surname)
Organizations
* List College, an undergraduate division of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America
* SC Germania List, German rugby unio ...
* Missional Christianity
References
External links
The Independent article on pub churches
BBC article on pub churches
Leavener in Fishers, IN
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pub Church
Evangelical ecclesiology
Pubs
Ecclesiology