Beer at Church?

Posted May 28 2011 by Tony Campolo with 65 Comments

Beer At Church

    I found a church in England, not far outside of London, in a very densely urban community, a congregation that took up every seat in the sanctuary. What’s more, they had to have multiple services in order to hold the crowds.

    When I preached there, my driver couldn’t find a parking place. I asked the pastor, “With so many people, what room do you have for parking?” The pastor told me that almost everyone in the church came from walking distance. That amazed me because I wondered how a church could get so many people from such a small area.

    The pastor explained to me that every other Saturday night they make arrangements to rope off a city block. The police cooperate. They bring in a barrel of beer and a barrel of wine. They add to this a good band. He then went on to say that a hundred of his young people come to this block party and start dancing. It doesn’t take long before people come out of their houses and join them. After a night of dancing and having a good-time party, these young church members say to the people they have been partying with, “How about coming to church with me tomorrow? If you are willing, I will stop by and pick you up.” In reality, it happens and the pastor said, “Every week we pick up about 30 or 40 people who come to our church for the first time. Church growth goes on easily from that point.”

    Some may see this as a dangerous outreach method for a church to utilize. Questions like surrounding the image of the church in the public eye or “Won’t people drink to much and get drunk” are sure to arise. But the beauty of this is that people are being met where they are at and told about the life changing relationship they can have with Jesus Christ.I say Praise God!

    —
    Tony Campolo is the Founder and President of EAPE and Professor Emeritus of Sociology at Eastern University. Most recently he co-authored Red Letter Revolution: What If Jesus Really Meant What He Said with Shane Claiborne. Look for Tony in your area and follow him on Facebook and Twitter.

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      About the Author

      Tony Campolo

      Tony CampoloTony Campolo is the Founder and President of EAPE and Professor Emeritus of Sociology at Eastern University. Look for Tony in your area and follow him on Facebook and Twitter.View all posts by Tony Campolo →

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      • http://twitter.com/LauraLeeAuthor Laura Lee

        Going to the church of that cute guy or gal you want to connect with is an old tradition, one would think.  Beer or not.

      • Doug

        Theology Pubs have for a number of years been great places for reflection and relationship and evangelism.

      • MB

        Isn’t this pretty much what Jesus did?  Yay London Church!!!

        • Anonymous

          Jesus also died on the cross the question I have are we dying to self so that others may be saved.

      • http://www.tillhecomes.org Jeremy Myers

        Sounds like a church I want to attend.

      • Anonymous

        Is this a good idea?

      • Lisa

        Love the fact that this church is REAL and non judgement so many things that the north american churches can learn from….

      • Jordan Majeau

        My only concern would be that this is an actual evangelism strategy. Having said that, if this is a natural outflow of the culture of the church, I think it’s a very beautiful thing. A “strategy” is less authentic and I don’t think very honest. A church that enjoys a good drink and a dance I think will connect well in any culture. Jesus understood this and lived it too. 

      • http://twitter.com/prestonyancey Preston Yancey

        Having lived in England for a time to work with a church there, I think this works there culturally. Sometimes we mistake a cultural outreach model for a universal one. I don’t think that in a society that isn’t used to the idea of Sunday lunch in a pub with the family, which is normal in English circles, would handle this the same way. For instance, my acceptance of drinking in a church in England wasn’t the same as I had for churches in the States. Not because of a particular theological stance on drinking itself, but my stance on how drinking should be handled. I’m not sure in the States, at least in the South where I live, this would seem like anything more than a kegger. In the UK, it’s a social gathering. The intent of consumption is different. (I noticed this, in particular, in the way American missionaries, especially youth, seemed to interpret alcohol use as an exciting taboo, versus UK youth who didn’t see it as alluring, being used to it.)

        • Andrew Dungan

          This is not a contextual thing at all. This is someone being bold enough to do something that very few in the institutional church are doing.
          Guaranteed this would work in the Southern States and anywhere in America and people would love it, particularly for those that have had nothing to do with the church. It’s time to find some commonalities and develop relationships, start conversations like Jesus did and quit living according to some false ideal that some Christians continue to talk about, but Jesus never lived.

          • Lisa

            Amen to everything you said!

          • http://www.johnnygo.bravehost.com Homebrewer7

            Very good response.  thanks.  http://www.johnnygo.bravehost.com   As a home brewer of beer, I consume very little but I pass most onto others.

      • Pingback: Beer Church: Yes or No? « West Coast Witness

      • Mark_37923

        Well, one thing is sure. They know how to relate to their culture. I like it for them, a lot!

      • Luke Hodges

        not sure about this being from a rougth estate from manchester Uk i see so much damage done with drink&drugs  i have suffer with my seft and find i reach more poeple being tea total now , knowing the probhems that drink dose in our country ,so i am a bit worry with this

      • thinkingman

        The bible doesn’t have any direct prohibition for drinking beer that I can see.  However, it has a lot to say on the subject of getting drunk, and none of it is good.  My question is this, are all those young Christians who are dancing and partying the night away staying sober in the process?  Does their dancing glorify the Lord?  Are they keeping themselves sexually pure as they…..evangelize?  If so……go for it!

        • Jason Ehrlich

          It has “a lot to say on getting drunk”? Not sure about that. It has a few things to say about getting drunk, but on multiple occasions it says it is a good thing to drink wine. Heck, it was Jesus’s first miracle. The church, especially in America, is way too fixated on the subject of drinking.

      • thinkingman

        The bible doesn’t have any direct prohibition for drinking beer that I can see.  However, it has a lot to say on the subject of getting drunk, and none of it is good.  My question is this, are all those young Christians who are dancing and partying the night away staying sober in the process?  Does their dancing glorify the Lord?  Are they keeping themselves sexually pure as they…..evangelize?  If so……go for it!

      • Pastor Wes A

        Praise God? For what? Is this all about bringing people to Church? Or to Christ? What is the message we are trying to relate here? Where is the good news? I’m an alcoholic and you bring to me church the next day after my wild party and hangover from yesterday to tell me that that what we (as a church) did yesterday was wrong and Christ can set me free from my addiction?  What a joke. Tony with all due respect I totally disagree with your view. My beloved brother, please re-consider your writings. You are sending the wrong message here

      • Pastor Wes A

        Praise God? For what? Is this all about bringing people to Church? Or to Christ? What is the message we are trying to relate here? Where is the good news? I’m an alcoholic and you bring to me church the next day after my wild party and hangover from yesterday to tell me that that what we (as a church) did yesterday was wrong and Christ can set me free from my addiction?  What a joke. Tony with all due respect I totally disagree with your view. My beloved brother, please re-consider your writings. You are sending the wrong message here

      • http://ihopetomorrowisbetter.blogspot.com/ Molly Bandit

        My church has events and social outings to bars and pubs in our town occasionally and doesn’t see it as an either/or (either God or beer) situation.  I think a lot of times, people use alcohol as a convenient scapegoat for the unchristian behavior they had full intention of doing anyway, which has led to it being demonized by some churches (no pun intended). It’s a lot easier to blame booze than it is to take ownership of our own sinful nature.  Please note that I’m talking about the average joes who act like jerks and then excuse it with their drinking, not people with addiction or people that are self-medicating disabilities and mental illness; that’s a whole different story, one that the church has been woefully ignoring (which is another problem I have with making alcohol a boogie man – it shames people out of getting help for underlying medical issues)

        Although I’m a little confused at how Pastor Wes arrived at the conclusion that the article was advocating some kind of bait-and-switch “gotcha” evangelism, he does raise a good point.  If you aim to make your congregation accessible to the entire community, how do you balance a social outing with alcohol and being sensitive to people recovering from addiction?  Or to families with young children that might not feel comfortable having their kids around alcohol? I’m not saying that any one answer is good or bad, it’s just something to take into consideration.

        * in the efforts of full disclosure, let me say that I’m a certified beer snob, and my first thought at seeing the titles of this article was “yes, please!”

      • Pingback: Weekly Round Up: The Beer at Church edition | The Church Sofa

      • jfly

        My concern would be the AA folks who meet at my church…would it be fair to them…  Perhaps the music, food and dancing would be enough?

        • Hubrisless

          My church has an “Over-eaters Anonymous” is it wrong to serve food around them? 

          • Abjer2911

            While this seems like a good point- as an over eater married to a recovering alcoholic, I have to weigh int. I will often use the argument that if we are worried about the church promoting sin, we ought to maybe cut back on the potlucks, as gluttony is a sin, and few people eat moderately at those functions. I am thankful that these events are rare at my own church. There is a difference between feeding the hungry,and outright gluttony.
            It must be recognized,however, that these are two different types of addictions- In overeating, the addiction is psychological,and recovery requires MODERATION- in alcoholism, addiction is psychological AND it is physical. Recovery requires ABSTINENCE. Alcohol is poison to those in recovery- and ONE drink can cause a deadly relapse. Recovering alcoholics deserve for church to remain a safe place as far as their addiction is concerned. There are not enough safe places out there- if you can’t go to church to have alcohol free fellowship,where can you go?

        • Abjer2911

          As a wife of a recovering alcoholic,I appreciate this perspective. We have felt that there should be “safe”places where the temptation to drink is not in your face. While drinking does not happen at our actual church, it has occurred at home groups we have attended, and we have not been back. I am not opposed to drinking- it is a personal choice. HOWEVER, for these guys that struggle (especially early in recovery) I believe church should be a safe place.
          To me this seems to be and “in this world not of this world”issue. Go into bars and minister- Go into jails and minister- go OUT and be a light. Do what you can to protect the sheep that are already yours.

      • Mary chahardaghi

        I wish our church would do that.  there is not even a decent pub nearby.  Where is this church? so I can attend.  I live just outside London

      • Janet

        I was born and raised in the US in a home where alcohol was looked upon as evil and damaging, but I do understand that in some countries it is considered more of a social or cultural way of life than a vice.  The only thing I know is that missionaries have to adapt to, and not necessarily change, the particular culture where they live and work in order to win the people to Christ.  Jesus’ methods (and he was considered “radical” for his time) were not those of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, and he ate with those they called “sinners” and “unclean.”  Jesus was fully aware of social and cultural issues, but he condemned the religious leaders for their self-righteous attitudes and the burdens they put on the Jewish people more than he talked about cultural traditions and beliefs.  He was more concerned with the individual than he was with what the religious leaders thought of him.  I can’t see a beer party being accepted as a method of evangelism in this country, but as someone once said, “The methods may change, but the message doesn’t.”  As long as the message of the gospel isn’t compromised, I think Jesus would want us to reach people in whatever way we can.  Let’s allow the people of England to decide what works best for them, and if it’s something that God isn’t pleased with, then I’m sure he’ll make that known. 

        I’ve never been to England, but I love the English people and all those in the U.K., as much of my genetic make-up has its roots there.  I consider them my English “cousins” as well as brothers and sisters in Christ, whether they drink beer or not.                         

      • Wwjd_wakeboard

        I think the majority of people reading this and posting about this need to consider, WHAT IS CHURCH?
        Last time i read my bible it wasn’t a place that I brought people too. It wasn’t something that could become too full.
        As a follower of Christ, I am His Church (or at least a part of it). 
        It makes no sense to me how you can have a party, with other followers of Christ, then invite the people you have just spent time with, to come along to yourself (aka “church).
        Perhaps what they are being invited to is a religious institution that meets in a building.

      • Anonymous

        Stick to only one barrel- of each- and after a few weeks drunkedness simply won’t be a problem at all.

        But actually, something like this is how Christianity got started- the Catholic Mass was one of the *few* places in the Roman Republic where you could get bread and wine for free.  Upon the welfare system of the Roman Catholic Mass, the religion was built.

      • Colin Bain

        Wasn’t the instruction about making disciples, not filling a church? It feels a little like bait and switch to me. To those who think the UK folks don’t have a huge problem with drink because it is cultural; it’s a real and recognised problem, especially binge drinking among the young. I speak as a one who is from the UK and spent 26 years in North America and has ministered in both. At the end of the day, the fruit will be there, or not.

      • Nancy Dittert

        Living a holy life is obviously not on your agenda. You are using the WORLD  to win the world! How real is that? How much truth is in that?  ….  Mat 7:13  Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat:
        Mat 7:14  Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.
        Mat 7:15  Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.
        Mat 7:16  Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles?
        Mat 7:17  Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit.
        Mat 7:18  A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit.
        Mat 7:19  Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire.
        Mat 7:20  Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them.
        Mat 7:21  Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.
        Mat 7:22  Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?
        Mat 7:23  And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.

        • Doug

          Nancy, although I appreciateyour concerns you are using the scriptures completely out of context.

          Mat 7:14  Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.

          Jesus was talking about himself as the way to life

          Mat 7:15  Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.
          Can we really call someone serving beer a false prophet.

          The rest of your scriptures don’t really apply either.

          • Rivpat77

            Hi Doug The Bible also tells us to stay away from all appearence of evil.  Beer has become and evil influence in this world today. We are supposed to not let our good be evil spoken of if we go into bars etc. then we are doing just that

            • Macroman

              Rivpat77  It seems to me that Christ was accused of partying with sinners.  Wesleys although not prone to partying used the common drinking song tunes for hymns so the audience would know the tunes.  
              Remember His first miracle was the transforming of water into a lot of wine (approximately 3 barrels).  Somehow I doubt that the wedding party needed 2640 glasses of wine for casual sipping, they had already drunk all the wine.  Also according to the party manager it was the best wine he had tasted.  To a greater or lesser extent He rolled out the barrel and performed the first public witness of His power in one move.

              • Henry Hanse

                How do you come to the conclusion that “good”  wine had high alcohol content? 
                Wine of the day was known as “good” when there was a lower alcohol content as stated by Horace, Pliny and Plutarch.
                Also, why would Jesus create something made to cause biting “like a snake” and poison “like a viper” according to Proverbs 23:32?  That is illogical and inconsistent to his nature.
                Also, Isaiah 65:8 says 
                “This is what the LORD says: ‘As when juice is still found in a cluster of grapes and men say, “Don’t destroy it, there is yet some good in it.” so will I do in behalf of my servants; I will not destroy them all’”
                It would be biblically improper to say that God would create a product which He condemned!

              • Macroman

                The alcohol content of natural wine is dictated by the original sugar content of the grapes and the age or extent of fermentation.  Natural fermentation will take the wine to about 6%-15%.  At the end of fermentation the yeast essentially kills itself.
                The yeast naturally grows on the skin of the gapes so you have to pasteurize the grape juice to remove the yeast.  Over time any grape juice will turn to wine or vinegar.Christ stated that after one has tasted old wine they did not desire the new.  I think it is safe to assume he created aged wine.Even at 6 % alcohol I think the volume of the wine indicates that Jesus was supplying in abundance.

            • Chad

              The stigma with alcohol is perpetuated mainly by Christians in America. I am always amazed how American Christians twist the Lord’s holy word to meet whatever their personal opinions are on the matter.

      • Medicalevangelist

        “But there is no suggestion in Scripture that Jesus purposely assumed the look and lifestyle of a publican in order to gain acceptance in a godless subculture.”
        http://www.gty.org/Blog/B110809#.TkhIIa65Rgo

      • John Gould

        I am a home brewer that loves a good brew. I give away most. I also brew with only herbs. I am also a potter and this sometimes goes well while working my wheel. I also consume a little wine. I keep it all at home. As  a Christian, I have no problem with this and moderation is the rule. The health benefits of beer  is even better than wine. At 75 of age now, I am not concerned what the church says. Most are not preaching the Gospel anyway. I have sat down and read the word of God with  a beer. Great reading and I get relax and this sometimes shuts my head off to other thoughts/concerns.  http://www.johnnygo.bravehost.com

      • April Emery

        We must be very careful in our tactic to “introduce others to Christ.” Yes, it’s great to find a connection point and common ground when reaching out, but the avenue chosen must be wisely and carefully considered. Just like the gentleman mentioned being an alcholic … a church that claims these beer gatherings as an official church function, endorsed by that church and not just a gathering of individuals from the church … that can spell big trouble for those overcoming addictions. Romans 14 is pretty clear … we have to keep our brothers and sisters amongst us in consideration and not do things that can cause others to stumble and actually be deterred from Christ. All things are permissible but all things are not beneficial.

      • Exdubya

        If beer is evil, then so is food. Yeah, some people become alcoholics. Also, some people become obese. Jesus got called a drunk, and for those that want to say he just made grape juice in Cana, I would caution that the guy called his brew the good stuff right after saying the good stuff is drank first and the cheap wine given after folks are drunk. Bible says that it isn’t what goes in the mouth that’s harmful but what comes from the heart. So stop making ignorant statements blasting this author or this church because they aren’t doing what you think is right. The bible says don’t be drunk; that doesn’t translate as don’t drink any more than don’t be a glutton means don’t eat.

      • Montysayers

        Hi just read the article on beer at church, I say more power to that pastor, I once heard of a preacher who lead a lady to the Lord , the lady loved dancing and did not want to commit for that reason, anyway the minister told her she didn’t have to give up dancing she just had to accept Jesus which she did, later the same minister and lady had a conversation and she called him a sly old fox, she said he knew that she would give up dancing once she got saved, now I don’t know if dancing is out of line with the word of God as I see a lot of it in the bible, but hey, once people get to know God they don’t need beer or any other drug to get them on a high, I used to use drugs but found that follow Jesus is the high of all high’s and I’m getting higher, higher as time goes by. Be blessed and have a happy day.

        • Anonymous

          I have never been on any drugs legal or illegal but in the last several years,  at 75, I learned the personal health benefits of a moderate consumption of beer and wine. I brew very little and give away most to other health minded folk, Christian and not. There are people that should not consume any of this, for sure. God is the real peace and joy. Brew will never take that place. I will brew up a 5 gal. batch of a brown ale this week end. I don’t know any drunks in the brewing community.  My website  www.johnnygo.bravehost.com emal   homebrewer7@gmail.com

      • thedwards

        However you look at it Jesus’ first miracle was making water into wine at a party (because they ran out). some argue that this was so called unalcoholic but there is nothing to support that claim. in what way would this be opposed to the actions of Jesus?  In reality it seems exactly like what he would’ve done and actually did.

        • Anonymous

          Remember, they drank all that was there. They were already very tipsey. Some may have been past that.

        • Sdbartlett50

          ” Wine is a mocker and strong drink is raging and he that is deceived thereby is not wise….”

      • Jpeg

        Great Idea, I think  I might have a better one for my area. It seems as though meth is taking over in my town. Maybe to get more people to church we should have a party with the towns meth addicts and we all just get high. Then invite them to church. Horrible idea Tony. I believe its time for me to stop following you.

        • Brad

          Yeah, because beer and meth are the same thing.  Great overreaction.

        • Macroman

          As I young man I had a work mate arrive from Manchester to study and work in CA.  His existence revolved around school and pubbing.  There were two other Christians in the work are whose response was critical of the life style.  My family had a slightly different attitude to alcohol.  I decided to just treat him as a friend and when invited I went to the pub with him, alway limiting my consumption and talking about Christ.
          I at one point I prayed that he would be shown that there was more to life than pubbing and He gave him an allergy to alcohol for a time.
          With a lot of prayer, by myself and other Christian friends, he was drawn to Christ, made a commitment, married a nice Christian girl and lives for God today.  We are all given opportunities everyday, we can be like the Pharisee and walk down other other side of the road or how we can seek God’s will do what is required.  

        • dennis

          Tony didn’t ask you to follow “Tony” — Follow Jesus

        • dennis

          Tony didn’t ask you to follow “Tony” — Follow Jesus

        • Kel

           That’s a brilliant Straw Man, or would be if the need to use a straw man demonstrated a hint of brilliance. First off, if you have a meth epidemic, you ceratinly wouldn’t want to feed that. The parallel you are trying to paint is that this town is full of alcoholics whose harmful habit is being fed by this church. Further, one does not do meth for any purpose other than getting high, so you also seem to imply that people would ony drink beer to get slobbering drunk.

          I would challenge you to think about how this would or would not demonstrate your sense of compassion and willingness to judge harshly.

      • Envoy4him

        The relevant question is, is that church saving the community or just extracting people from the community to fill in the church? American churches are obsessed with church attendance, which has little to do with disciple-making.

      • christianinchina

        I think it’s important to understand British culture here. For us Brits, pubs are the centre of every town and every social event. Introducing this event is fantastic, it means that people can come into a Church environment comfortably and enjoy it. The majority of people in London head to a bar or pub on a Friday/Saturday night, that’s a fact. It’s great to know that some of these people every week are going to find themselves in that situation where they can be reached by the Church. Full support and prayer to this!

      • http://twitter.com/HamiltonMJ1983 Matthew Hamilton

        This is an amazing idea for a couple of reasons:

        (1) The church members spend time with “outsiders” on neutral ground.
        (2) The church members show that they care for the outsiders by inviting and offering to drive (its no fun driving with a nasty hangover).
        (3) This obviously works to get people to a place where they can learn about Jesus. As a Methodist, I would call this “prevenient ministry.” This is opening up a door and allowing the people to walk through it to be prepared for a decision to follow Christ in the future.

        I know that many people believe that alcohol is evil. Sadly, that is a very narrow mindset. If you or a family member or friend have had difficulty with alcohol in the past, I am very sorry. But to push extra requirements upon people in order to become a Christian (such as a no-alcohol stance) is spoken against specifically in the scriptures. If you choose not to drink, I respect that. But don’t try to weight down others with extra rules, for that is what the Pharisees did.

        • http://twitter.com/HamiltonMJ1983 Matthew Hamilton

          Added a little more to my response here: http://hamiltonmj1983.wordpress.com/2012/01/28/beer-at-church/

        • Anonymous

          Great comment

      • Pingback: Beer at Church! « Thoughts in the Dark

      • RJ

        i would like to get in touch with this specific church and learn how exactly they put this together! anyone know who I can talk to?
        email: whiterabbitblackmonkey@gmail.com

      • tanyam

        I like Brennan Manning on this. “I know there is a cadre of young Christian leaders these days who find talking theology over beer to be something exhilarating and edgy, as if combining the two hadn’t occurred to anyone before. I believe those young men have historical amnesia.”
        I worry about my friends who are trying desperately to find a way to be social with other people in a way that doesn’t involve drinking. Not because they are against drinking, per se, but because they realized it had become a problem in their lives.

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