Pastor Paul White, founder of the Salvation Saloon, shares a laugh with his congregation during his ministry's service at Steve's Cape Cod bar in Ozona, Fla.

OZONA, Fla. — The pastor wears a sleeveless black T-shirt, blue jeans and a backward baseball cap. The collection is taken in a motorcycle helmet. And the first thing you see as you walk in the door of this makeshift church isn't a cross or a stained-glass window, it's a bar.

Steve's Cape Cod, a seafood restaurant and bar known for all-you-can-eat snow crab on Monday and ladies-drink-free night on Wednesday, is reborn each Sunday morning as the Salvation Saloon. Worshippers who go by names like Curly Joe and Wild Bill file in by the dozen — many holding plastic foam cups of coffee, some biting at doughnuts — for a service they say is unlike any other.

"This is not your parents' church," Paul White, who created the service and serves as the pastor, tells those gathered. "This is going to bless your socks off."

White started Salvation Saloon three years ago in this Tampa Bay area town as an attempt to being a unique, low-key spiritual experience to others who shared his love for motorcycles. The occasional service has grown into a weekly gathering, the congregation has grown to roughly 100 each Sunday and attendees now represent more diverse demographics than bikers alone. Organizers have even taken their ministry on the road, offering a service in another Florida bar every couple months.

"I feel very drawn to this ministry," said Bill Spellman, a 61-year-old advertising salesman from Dunedin. "It is so powerful to be able to come here and hear people talk about the miracles in their lives."

Christians have long sought to bring their faith to places outside the traditional church, from the rapid growth of skateboarding ministries to smaller-scale outreach to circus and carnival workers. While particularly evident among evangelicals, such efforts are seen across Christianity. Roman Catholics, for instance, have organized spiritual discussions called "Theology on Tap" in bars across the country.

Salvation Saloon is non-denominational. Randall Balmer, a professor of American religious history at Columbia University, said it is one of countless endeavors seeking to attract congregants who otherwise might not be reached.

It is, admittedly, a motley bunch of black leather vests and Harley-Davidson T-shirts, of tattooed arms and patches that say "In Memory of Jesus."

The service includes, at its start, a performance by the "Posse Band" which gathers on a small stage with swordfish mounted on a paneled wall at the back. They sing "Boulevard of Broken Dreams" by Green Day as a projection screen features cartoon characters Ren and Stimpy with the message "Welcome Saloonatics."

White says they try to keep discussion of Bible stories or Jesus' works simple and relevant. There are no church songs; communion is served once a month.

"We don't have any spiritual superstars here," White says. "We believe that serving God shouldn't be a spectator sport."