An Alabama Church Will Start Holding Services Inside Buffalo Wild Wings

An Alabama church is planning to start holding weekly services inside a Buffalo Wild Wings restaurant.

Rev. Wesley Savage, a youth pastor for Riverchase United Methodist Church in Birmingham, is hoping the service will appeal to people who don't regular attend church.

The 45-minute service will begin before Buffalo Wild Wings opens for business, and end just as the restaurant starts serving lunch, Eater reports via The Birmingham News.

"We're going to encourage people to stay for lunch, stay for sports," Savage told The Birmingham News. "This is part of the partnership. We'll help them with their business because they're helping us."

Savage isn't alone in thinking that fast food could draw in more church-goers.

A church branding agency launched a crowdfunding campaign last month called the "McMass Project" that is seeking $1 million to build a McDonald's franchise inside of an existing church in the New Jersey or Philadelphia area, NBC reports.

"It's time for churches to engage with entrepreneurship," the campaign's funding page states. "The McMass Project is helping churches keep pace in the modern world."

The campaign has raised only $511 toward its goal.

Some retailers are engaging in similar tactics to drive traffic to their stores and to lengthen shoppers' browsing time.

Urban Outfitters and Club Monaco, for example, house cafes and book stores in their flagship locations.