"A Gay Man and An Evangelical Walk Into a Bar," a church in St. Louis rented a nightclub to open up a civil conversation between conservative Christians and Gays.

The Journey church in St. Louis, Missouri, is an interdenominational evangelical church. The theologically conservative and culturally liberal church organized an event for homosexual people and Christians who disagree to discuss their differences peacefully.

They named the occasion "A Gay Man and An Evangelical Walk Into a Bar." The event featured lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) philosopher and Dr. John Corvino and author of Earthen Vessels: Why Our Bodies Matter to Our Faith, and graduate student in Christian ethics at Oxford University, Matthew Lee Anderson.

The two aspired for the event to serve as an incentive for others around the country. Their objective was to elevate the discussion and promote civil and thoughtful dialogue.

Corvino and Anderson, did not shy away from speaking about the hardest topics while calmly sipping tea said CBN.com.

"So much of the marriage debate that we see on the public stage involves the soundbite, the zingers, the how-do-I-slam-this-guy and get everyone to cheer and yell and clap. And we want to do something different," Corvino explained.

Anderson spoke about equality.

"Concepts like fairness and equality are massively disputed here. The LGBT movement has done a very good job of branding itself and claiming equality, and I think there's just a fundamental disagreement over what the conditions of equality are," he explained.

Corvino talked about the value of marriage for gays.

"Relationships are good for people and marriage is good for relationships," he said. "It's a way of recognizing people as the family unit they recognize themselves to be."

Anderson addressed harassment of gays and intolerance for Christians.

"It may be the case in many rural and suburban areas (that) LGBT people experience repression and that's unfortunate," Anderson said.

"However, if you get into an elite context-in the academy, in Hollywood, in New York and some of these places, there are genuine social costs that people with conservative positions on human sexuality pay," he continued.

By the end of the evening, no one had changed to the other side but those CBN News spoke with said they were grateful and felt better educated.

"It's natural to disagree with each other," Joshua Ray said. "That's just human nature. But to be able to be poignant but at the same time not offensive and to be open about that dialogue I thought was awesome."

"I'm always interested in hearing the other side of the issue and so that's what I'm hoping to hear," Scott Wright, a supporter of homosexuality, said.

Author and speaker Eric Metaxas said believers must explore different ways to kindheartedly articulate their positions.

"If your heart does not break for someone struggling with same-sex attraction, you have no business talking to them or even about them," he told CBN News. "We're called to love people so if people don't see that love, how are they not going to tune us out?"

Will others emulate this amiable discussion and continue these events? Both Dr. John Corvino and Matthew Lee Anderson hope so.