Wisconsin Life

The neighborhood pub. One of Wisconsin's favorite places to get together for friends and fellowship. On Dickinson Road in De Pere, the Chicago Street Pub and Grill is a hopping, happy hour spot.

chattering

There's a saying that Wisconsin has more bars than grocery stores, but this may be the only one that shares their building

hymnal music

with a church. They call him Jesus The only thing on tap at New Hope United Methodist Church is hymn practice.

hymnal singing

Pastor Rebecca Rutter is a Wisconsin native. She's served at a number of churches around the country, but none quite like this. The district superintendent called me to let me know about this appointment and he said, "Oh and by the way, New Hope is sharing a building with a bar." So I thought, "Well, this is a fun thing."

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One building, two very different tenants. The pub and church share the building and the parking lot, but otherwise have separate entrances and maintain mostly opposite schedules. Pub manager Austin DeCleene says his customers often find it humorous. Yeah, you would never think that those two things would be right alongside each other. Usually they're kind of on opposite sides of the spectrum. Whereas here, we do well together. Especially considering the history of the Methodist church. Founder John Wesley was a staunch opponent of drinking. And so he really emphasized abstinence from alcohol.

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And the Methodist movement in the U.S. was similar in that they were part of the prohibition movement. Today the Methodist church preaches moderation, so New Hope isn't pushing prohibition. So while church goers have a spot to spend Sunday afternoon praising the Packers, bar patrons are always welcome to walk over and give church a shot.

hymnal singing

Instead of worrying about their differences, these two unlikely neighbors have learned to celebrate their similarities. We do well together. We definitely complement each other in a lot of ways. We're both places that are welcoming to all people. We're both places where people feel connection and a sense of family, and while they feed people and quench thirst in a very physical sense, we do that spiritually and so in a way, there's a lot of overlap. And that's a sermon that should raise everyone s spirits. It does seem to fit together pretty well, doesn't it? With church and a bar right by each other, you can't get any more Wisconsin than that. That's for sure.