John Mitchem pointed me to this interesting article over on WCCO.com. Looks like a local Christian club is taking on the local strip club.

The Minneapolis City Council granted a business license to Divas Gentlemen’s Club Friday, stirring up controversy on one downtown entertainment block. The issue is that the club would be right down the block from the Christian nightclub called Club 3 Degrees on North 5th Street.

In the center of the fight is defining what makes a church a church.

Club 3 Degrees looks and sounds like a nightclub, but the pastors there say their mission is ministry. Pastor Nancy Aleksuk said, “Our whole focus has always been to make Christianity relevant and accessible.”

Not everybody sees it that way, including several members of the Minneapolis City Council.

“Club 3 Degrees is a nightclub,” councilman Ralph Remington said. “Other services may occur within that, but it’s primarily a nightclub.”The Christian club objected to Divas Gentleman’s club opening down the block. A city ordinance forbids sexually-oriented businesses from operating within 500 feet of religious institutions. Some on the council argued the Christian club is really a church with different packaging.

JG