MEDIA, Pa. (KYW Newsradio) — A ministry called Theology on Tap offers beer, conversation on complex topics, and God to help young Catholic adults navigate faith in their daily lives.
Once a month, usually on the third Thursday, young professional Catholics in their 20s and 30s meet at Sligo’s Irish Pub in Media for the event. It’s among many parishes that hold the program.
Participants grab a pint and hear from expert speakers, like a doctor who is an ordained deacon talking about the relationship between faith and medicine, or a nun from a religious order called the Sisters of Life discussing pro-life causes. Those two speakers gave the latest two presentations, held before next week's 2022 general midterm election.
Each discussion includes a question-and-answer period, followed by a time to socialize and talk about whatever may be on their minds.
“We are typically not partisan with our politics. It is not our job to tell people, for example, how to vote. That said, for every presidential election, we do have a political expert come in to try and help Catholics make sense of voting,” said Chiara Cardone, coordinator of young adult ministry for the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary Parish in Media.
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Melanie Dudley, 30 of Wilmington, is against abortion.
“I think it hurts women, and I think that is something that we can emphasize as a church that our desire is to protect not only the children and the unborn, but the women and provide services and compassion for them in a way that is going to heal their body and their soul,” Dudley said.
“I think a lot of people don’t talk about the psychological effects that happens to women after abortion.”
“Since we already know that these people have these burning questions and they are not coming to church to get the answers, let’s go where they are,” said Cardone, who has been organizing Theology on Tap for seven years.
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“It’s kind of ‘no holds barred.’ If a topic is important to people, if it’s impacting their lives, we are going to bring the light of faith to that topic, period. It doesn’t matter what it is. It doesn’t matter if it’s polite or not.”
Cardone said Theology on Tap, held four blocks from the church, simply allows attendees to connect to others on similar personal journeys.
“A lot of people come to Theology on Tap when they have no other place to go and they are in a difficult time,” Cardone said. “This is how they find their way back to community, and often this is how they find their way back to God. So it really does play a very important role in some people’s lives, and for other people, it’s a social space.”
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