Church a la Athens Style

#3. Attend "church" at the Pub

I had heard rumors about a rather offensive church sermon that takes place at the Pub on Sunday nights after my roommate Clare's 21st birthday shuffle. Clare claims that the "pastor" shouted and told the crowd to "shut the f up" multiple times.

At the time, I had no desire to be verbally assaulted by a very burly 250-plus pound man.

But then, Adventures of a Scaredy Cat was born and I somehow found myself making plans to go to the Pub late Sunday night to do just that.

I coerced my next door neighbor Rachel, who is a little bit of a daredevil, to be my partner in crime.

For those who aren't familiar, the Pub is one of the many bars on Court Street in Athens. When Rachel and I walked in, the crowd literally was a sample of Athens. There were the Athens townies, the prepsters, some graduate students and the occasional 21st birthday girl. The "sermon" was scheduled to begin at midnight, but I quickly learned the Pub definitely does things on a relaxed schedule.

Needless to say, the sermon didn't begin until 12:30 and only after someone tipped off the "pastor" that there was someone in the audience who wanted to hear the sermon. The so-called pastor was a big, burly bald man in the audience who presumably was either an employee of the Pub or a regular as a Pub customer. I admittedly was a little scared when the bartender announced that "church" would be starting soon, especially when there were clearly some regulars in the audience who knew the sermon ritual by heart.

The sermon began with a song that sounded like a mix between AC/DC's Hells Bells and organ music. The pastor began by asking people at the bar to confess their weekend sins--which ranged from being a 21-year-old virgin to drinking too much. There were a couple (and by a couple, I mean at least 5) shots for 'JC' and a lot of sexual comments made to girls at the bar. The pastor finished with the scripture reading from a shot and cocktail recipe book. Sunday's sermon included the recipe for the "party starter" drink, which included Cointreau orange liquor, lemon juice, lime juice and a slice of orange as a garnish.

All in all, it was a little bit of a rowdy crowd and clearly sacrilegious. Not recommended for the conservative or scaredy cat crowd, but definitely something to cross off the bucket list!

I needed a little liquid courage once I realized what I had gotten myself into, so a Jack and Coke was exactly what I needed.

This shirt was too epic not to photograph. Admittedly, I was scared he may turn around and smash my camera. The quote on the back was shouted at least 30 times in a 10 minute span.

Until next time,
Mak