American Pastor Serves Pints And Prayers at Britain's Most Remote Pub

From Alabama, Shane Sieweke is now the innkeeper at The Crask Inn in the Scottish Highlands, the remotest pub on the British mainland.

Watercolour of The Crask Inn

Twelve miles from the nearest village, with only a single dwelling in between, it stands entirely alone, overlooking the vast, windswept wilderness of the Flow Country, the world’s largest expanse of blanket bog and a globally significant carbon store.

The Crask Inn was originally built as a drovers’ inn in 1815, and remains delightfully basic: a small bar, bar stools covered in tartan, a bookshelf, a stove and long hardwood pews that once lined Inverness Cathedral. The pews were gifted by the Scottish Episcopal Church, which inherited the pub from the previous owners in 2017.

This meant that the church needed to find someone capable of putting the “lord” into landlord, and Sieweke answered the call all the way from Alabama. The pastor has a remarkably heaven-sent CV. “I’m probably the only person in the world with a culinary degree and a master’s degree in Bible exposition, and who’s also been the CEO of a craft brewer,” he told the Daily Telegraph.

The Sieweke family | Scottish Episcopal Church

Naturally, Sieweke landed the job, and the Scottish Episcopal Church posted a family photo and announced: "We are all delighted to welcome Shane and Mack Sieweke and their two young children Sammy and Rosie, not to mention their Tibetan Mastiff Maggie, as the new hosts at The Crask Inn."

Today, Sieweke offers his guests morning and evening prayers, along with a monthly Eucharist. But faith, he stresses, is strictly optional. Everyone is welcome, regardless of belief, and no one is preached at over a pint. “We offer prayers and pints. And if you don’t like either, we have Coca-Cola,” he says.

The Inn provides lunch to passing trade, a fully licensed bar, booked in evening meals, and overnight accommodation.