In my interview with Rev. Anne Cameron of Lake Highlands Presbyterian Church, some of the discussion centered on taking God outside of church walls in unconventional ways. She told me about neighborhood resident Brent Barry, a Presbyterian minister in between assignments who heads up a monthly study called Faith on Tap at Bailey’s First & 10 in Lakewood.
When I talked to Barry this week, he told me he received an e-mail from a friend recently. In the midst of the message, the friend said of Barry’s latest ministry: “I would think you would want to be above reproach.”
Barry sighs. “It was one of those days,” he says, explaining that he couldn’t help retorting: “As soon as Jesus gets out of the bar, I’ll leave, too.”
“Jesus is in the midst of our liturgy in our traditional worship services, but Jesus also goes into the bars,” Barry says. “We believe that faith is in all areas of life. There’s no part of life that Jesus can’t touch.”
Faith on Tap started as a Sunday school class at Northridge Presbyterian Church when Barry was a minister there. It was a study of U2 music in the context of faith, and as the discussion continued, Barry began to believe that the topic would appeal to people who don’t attend church.
Faith on Tap attracts everyone from people who don’t know what they believe to people who regularly attend Northridge and other churches. Barry, 43, says he originally did it for people in his generation, “but what I found is we’re all too busy.” Most of the attendees are either younger or older, and most of them live in either Lakewood or Lake Highlands because the organizers — Barry, Shane Whisler, Tom Byrne and John Kenny — live in those two neighborhoods.
The gatherings weave together music, history, Bible study and some sort of liturgy. After studying U2, Faith on Tap expanded to other music — Coldplay, Johnny Cash, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Indigo Girls, Bruce Springsteen. Barry has found that changing the setting has changed the conversation. “People, when they go to church, are trying to be their best selves,” he says. In the bar, “questions are much more human and honest, and struggles are much more with the stuff of life instead of high theological questions.”
If you’re interested in seeing what Faith on Tap is all about, mark your calendar for the next session on Nov. 17 — a study of Coldplay from the perspective of Psalm 30 — or plan to attend Lake Highlands Presbyterian the first three Sundays in December, when Barry and Whisler will be leading a Faith on Tap series at 9:45 a.m. before the worship service.
Brent is responsible for my love of U2! His classes are always interesting and thought provoking.
Posted by: lsc | October 31, 2008 at 12:24 PM