From Bar to Altar

If you drive around on Sunday morning in Southern California, chances are ever school you pass will have a church in it. There are hundreds of these churches of various size meeting in a variety of locations. High real estate prices make it almost prohibitive for a new church to buy a building of their own.

It's not just schools where you'll find little churches. In Pennsylvania, one former church has been turned into a bar, and on Sunday it transforms back to a church:

Between Saturday night and Sunday evening, the former St. Elizabeth Church in the Strip District transforms like a theater set between acts -- from The Altar Bar nightclub to the Steel City Church. It's the mission of a 31-year-old pastor who offers a new take on what the Christian life, and nightlife, can be.

The Steel City Church held its first service Sunday for about 250 people. Earlier in the day, the pastor, Damian Williams, and his wife, Anne Williams, carried sofas and chairs from the wings and configured them around an empty dance floor for the 6 p.m. service. It was a cross between coffee house and talk show, with a rolling video presentation and food.

As offbeat as the setting is, the message is grounded in Christian orthodoxy, said Mr. Williams, who resists the title reverend.

"I think of myself as a 'pastor-preneur,' " he said.

I'm glad that someone is getting something out of these little churches, but they sure don't appeal to me.