GUELPH — Some time between last call on Saturday night and two-for-one lap dances Sunday evening, Jack and Sharon Ninaber and their team of volunteers enter the Manor, cover the nudie posters and $4-a-beer signs and turn the bar into a church.

For a few hours on Sunday afternoons, the gentleman's club becomes a holy place, a social place, and a place where people can find safety and trust and food.

They may also find God, Jack Ninaber says, but that's not the main goal.

"I think God can bring hope to their lives but is this really about building trust and friendship," said Ninaber, former pastor of Grace Community Church in Marden, and now a member of Elora Road Christian Fellowship.

It's just another twist in the unconventional history of the Manor, once home to Guelph's beer baron George Sleeman, now a tough stripper bar with a heart of gold.

Because attached to the bar is Sue's Inn, which provides transitional housing for homeless folks struggling with addiction or just out of jail. This is a side-project of Roger Cohen, owner of the Manor, and a passion for Ninaber, who wants to help this population find joy and purpose in their lives again.

"Roger has a saying: you can get busy dying or get busy living. I think God can bring hope to people and enrich their living. But it starts with relationship," he said.

It has taken some coordinating, but Easter Sunday marked the first service in the bar and Ninaber is calling it a great success.

"We had 70 people turn up. That's phenomenal," Ninaber said.

Doors open around 12:30 and there is quite a spread of food, Ninaber said. Then the guest speaker takes to the stage. Last week it was Bobby Clark, who shared his own story of addiction and how finding God has helped in his recovery.