Wow. Not that I hadn’t received fair warning from some of you – but I didn’t really believe it. Less than 6 hours after this posting went live, I received an email from the woman who oversees Theology on Tap nationwide. She said I’m more than welcome to join “Renew Theology on Tap” (via registration process and fees), but I am not to use the name “Theology on Tap” or any derivatives (which she said includes “Theology on the Rocks”). I guess I understand this from a technical/legal standpoint, but wow…they really are all over this. And for a group that will be as small as ours…not making any money off it…just seems a little over the top. When do copyrights start to infringe on the ministry of the greater church…?
This summer we are going to be starting up Theology on Tap, sponsored by Asbury United Methodist Church. I’m still trying to finalize the name, whether we’ll go with the traditional “Theology on Tap” or try something different like “Theology on the Rocks.” Any creative suggestions are welcomed!
It is our hope that it will serve as both a fellowship opportunity for young adults (and others) in our congregation, but we’re also hoping that it will be an outreach and mission of the church, that we’ll be able to take some really important and relevant conversations about life and spirituality outside the walls of the church (where many young adults wouldn’t necessarily choose to be at 8:50am on Sunday mornings) and to places where people hang out.
I am sure that many of you have been a part of similar programs, and I’d love to hear what worked well for you, what didn’t work, what conversations really went well, which ones didn’t seem to go anywhere. Any advice would be very helpful.
Just a heads-up. We had to change our name – apparently Theology on Tap is copyrighted by a church (Roman Catholic?).
well this sounds awesome, I would come out to this for sure.
We went with Spirituality unTapped becasue of the copyright thing.
How about “Druken Theology” or “Pub Theology.”
I’ve never heard of this before, but it sounds really interesting. Can you tell me more?
I think that it is time someone infringed in this silly copyright. Let’s have the less them sue us for all we are worth.
We’ve always used “pub philosophy” or “pub theology”
That’s it. I’m officially starting a “Theology on Tap” to protest the @#$@# STUPIDITY of current copyright ABUSE (and by that I mean abuse BY those who hold ridiculous copyrights — yes, that means YOU theology on tap).
SUE ME, YOU @%$@%@ COPY NAZIS!
Theology on Tap, Theology on Tap, Theology on Tap, Theology on Tap, Theology on Tap, Theology on Tap, Theology on Tap, Theology on Tap.
There, have I said it enough? Ok, wait. Now I need to go write a blog post and print some T-shirts. I’ll link back in a minute.
Sorry to go ballistic on your blog, Adam, but this is too much…
I’m going to copyright the words “Jesus Christ” and “Son of God”.
One way to help in these tough economic days.
The Lutherans at the seminary down the street used to do PBJ nights. Pizza, Beer, and Jesus. I don’t know if they copyrighted it.
Ok — here’s a link to my new Theology On Tap group:
THEOLOGY ON TAP
Maybe we can start a new copyfighting trend…
Bar stool philosophy school
God on Tap
Moe’s Church (homage to the Simpsons)
Careful, John. While the producers of the Simpsons are pretty laid back, their parent network, Fox, are certified copyright nazis. For a great story about how Fox sued the crap out of an educational documentary project (over Simpsons material) read Lawrence Lessig’s book “Free Culture.”
Neal,
I just posted a comment on your blog and was glad to see you toned down the rhetoric there. I for one am very uncomfortable with you calling the Catholic Church copy Nazis. I hope you can rethink that.
fg
hi adam – i don’t think we’ve met yet but I feel like i know you already. We call our gathering Theology Pub (and most just call it t-pub). I have to admit that I shamelessly borrowed the name from Church of the Apostles in Seattle (karen ward) but it works well for us and they apparently don’t mind sharing.
Here’s a use of the phrase “theology on tap” from an Auburn publication in 1900:
http://books.google.com/books?id=1uQZAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA245&dq=%22theology+on+tap%22
Clearly, this was stolen from its rightful owners, denominationally marginal Presbyterians. Cheers!
When do copyrights start to infringe on the ministry of the greater church…?
Well, if this really is a Roman Catholic ministry, in all fairness, Adam, they don’t think that by prohibiting your using the moniker that they are infringing on the ministry of the greater church, because you aren’t in communion with the greater church, i.e., the Roman Catholic Church.
That isn’t to say they’re right. Of course, you’d have to be Roman Catholic to think that. But I’m just saying. . . .
Also, might I suggest as an alternative, “un-theology on cocaine” ?
But then just go to the pub and talk about God anyway? Just think of how TRANSGRESSIVE you’d be if you did that!
you can always call it “Spirituality with Spirits” then the holy one can come too. But you better hurry or you’ll have to pay me 20 bucks
FG, I’m not calling the entire Catholic Church “copy Nazis.” Just the group responsible for trademarking and then aggressively policing this particular name.
For what it’s worth, I know plenty of Presbyterian copy Nazis, too.
But I certainly won’t back down from calling the group in question copy nazis, regardless of what their particular religious affiliation is.
I think a name with “Brew” in it would be reasonable. Some ideas to get the names flowing… (and maybe you could copyright the name you create and encourage others to use it for free – or at very minimal cost).
Brew n Stew? Not quite right.
Cross Brew? Maybe too much of a wooden flavor.
Brew And Review? (acronym = BAR)
Tappa Theologica?
Great Taste, More Filling? (Possible problem with this one)
Brew Bros and the Tap Sisters
Brew And Religion Society (BARS)
Brew And Religious Freedom (BARF)
BrewFront
Taste and See
Beers to You (Oops – a country song from 30 years ago)
Foaming and Forming
BrewBytes
Any acronym with “BREW” as the letters
And one more thing, fg — I didn’t “tone down” the rhetoric on my blog. I used the same term there, too. And I’ll use it again wherever and whenever it’s needed.
My bad. Sorry I didn’t see the term Nazi in your post. I do think it was toned down since it wasn’t in all caps and preceded by an edited expletive daring them to sue you. But you are the author so I’ll respect your interpretation of your words.
I’m still grieved by the use of the term though.
1. It would be cool if you could work something into the name about Cana, where Jesus turned the water of ritual into the wine of celebration. Definitely some great theological implications in that.
2. The ministry belongs to God, not to any one church or denomination. (Although I can see where some churches/denominations might confuse the two!)
3. Semi-related, but it always cracks me up that my Bible is copyrighted in 1991. I guess God waited too long, and Bruce Metzger snatched it up from him!
“But I certainly won’t back down from calling the group in question copy nazis, regardless of what their particular religious affiliation is.”
How prophetic.
I like “Tappa Theologica” if you don’t want to worry about the copyright nonsense.
Neal & Adam,
I think you’re both being terribly unfair to the Archdiocese of Chicago. Not only do they legitimately own the trademark, Theology on Tap (TM), they’re in a position where they need to charge folks to use the phrase: Just think, if you paid out $100 million in the past decade in settlements for all the tapping going on in your parishes, I bet you’d be charging folks, too. (link here).
So, as they say, buck up, and take it like a man. It’s just a fee, it’s not too big, and you’ll feel much better after you’ve paid what’s due.
@Andrew Ha! Well said. Of course, the legal fees spent defending all the “tappers” over the past few years also point to the fact that this particular trademark is completely unenforceable, however legitimate it might be. They just don’t have the funds anymore.
@fg – I’ve been thinking about what you’ve said, and you’re right. Nazi is too strong a word, as in our culture it seems to imply a deliberate intent to do evil. I don’t think the trademark owners rise to that level. Their aggressive defense of their trademark is silly, greedy, selfish, and harmful, but I don’t think they did it with deliberate intent to be evil. I retract my description of them as “copy nazis.” Stupidity, on the other hand, may still apply, but we all fall into that category at some point.
Incidentally, our first “Theology on Tap” event was well attended tonight (there were nine of us). I’m hoping it becomes a cherished tradition. Just not so cherished that we feel the need to legally protect it from others…
fermented faith
I’m amused that you are able to do this though your UM church. We attend a local UM church in Chicago that is technically very “dry” although many of its members enjoy homebrewing and good, craft beer.
No disrespect to the Catholic Church, but I think Theology on Tap is a lame name. What a waste of a trademark. You can do better, Adam. When you do, though, I hope you’ll be willing to share the name in case we decide to start one in our UM church.
Whatever you decide to call it, I hope you all drink quality craft brews.
http://vimeo.com/4298464
Better yet, HOMEBREW!
(Sorry. Ted’s got me brainwashed when it comes to beer, and I don’t even drink the stuff unless it tastes like raspberry soda.)
One thought, and this is from someone who thinks a good dark ale is a spiritual event. When I did youth ministry, I never drank in public settings. Alcohol is the number one thing that a high school kid can die as a result of mis-using. I was very careful not to send the kids the wrong message.
I don’t know if you have direct contact with middle school and high school age kids, but if you do, do not fail to recognize the message this could be sending to them, even if they are not the target of the ministry.
Al, one of the best things I think I can do for my four year old son (and will continue to do when he’s a teenager) is to teach him my passion for beer, for brewing beer, and for the study of beer and its history/heritage. I think he’s a lot less likely to use alcohol in an abusive way if it’s something that he’s come to see as a “spiritual event.” And if I’ve taught him anything, he’ll at the very least never get drunk on cheap beer, or understand why his peers would even deign to drink it. (ok, so maybe what I’m really creating is a miniature beer snob).
Anyhow — same with youth groups. I think they respond better to examples of responsible drinking than they do from abstinence or even the assumption that their youth director abstains from alcohol (because he’s too discreet about it). I’d also rather they (by my example) connect “theology” with beer, instead of most of the other things that commercials and media usually connect it with.
Al – I’m going to have to agree with Neal on this…though I’m not a brew-meister and I’ve never brewed my own (though I’d like to sometime…). What kids need today is NOT for adults who play influential roles in their lives to hide the fact that they enjoy a beer/margarita/glass of wine…but as Neal said – to communicate and display a healthy interaction with those substances.
When I was in ministry in a very small, rural town in Idaho, my pastor used to drive out of town to pick up beer…I understand the reasons he felt that it was important for him to do that, but…that is not how I do ministry.
“What about those who struggle with alcoholism…? While we may be ‘free’ to do all things in Christ – it may not be beneficial…” This is what I’ve heard from folks who say it’s not good for ministers to drink publicly. If there is someone in my congregation who struggles with alcoholism in a severe way, I’m probably not going to drink in front of them. And if I did…we’d have a good conversation piece to discuss.
But modeling healthy ways of interacting with alcohol is the way in which I choose to do ministry.
i know this conversation is basically over but in rereading the comments, i came up with a new suggestion for a name.
Fomenting Discourse