Greater Purpose Community Church Will Serve Beer

Patrons of the Greater Purpose Community Church will enjoy meals and coffee too

The Greater Purpose Community Church will open its own brewery, unimaginatively named Greater Purpose Brewing Company.[/tweetit] The church has already inked an agreement with John Livingston, the owner of the building. The commercial structure previously housed a Logos bookstore.

Greater Purpose Community Church Will Serve Beer[/tweetthis]

Christopher VanHall, the pastor of the church, has no moral or spiritual problems in having a place of worship and a brewery under the same roof. He pointed out that Jesus Christ himself was a sociable drinker and used to imbibe alcohol. Only in recent times, the pastor said, did American churches forbid alcohol drinking inside the environment of a church. He said that monks have brewed beer from time immemorial, with the most famous monks being the Trappists. The latter started to brew from the 17th century.

The Greater Purpose Community church was not always like this. It had held services in a proper worship building in Santa Cruz, but the decision was taken to sell it, as the pastor said, a church represents a movement and a community. Bricks and mortars are simply part of the picture and not essential. The church searched for a new location and eventually found one complete with multiple beer taps.

A typical church day scene will be parishioners comfortably drinking a mug of beer or a glass of wine listening to a progressive explanation of theology and engaging in constructive conversation. All will be in line with Pastor VanHall's plans. He explained that since the churchgoers loved to drink beer and brew the drink, it would make perfect sense to open a brewery in the premises. Hence the conversion of Logos Bookstore into a brewery doubling up as a church services venue on Sundays prior to opening the place for the public.

Beer and #Soulfood. What better combination to accompany your Sunday morning #church sermon? Read about #SantaCruz 's own Greater Purpose Community Church 's plan to open a new #restaurant and #brewery in my… https://t.co/nL7YLALsOD

— Mat Weir (@TalesOfTheWeird) July 20, 2018

Other than beer and wine, the Greater Purpose Community Church area will serve soul food and mead. There will be a coffee corner where people can recuperate and chat. The church clearly does not fit the bill of a standard church. Its congregation had taken part in church parades and regularly holds meetings named “Faith on Tap” which are open to people belonging to all religions. The attendees drink craft beer and discuss how to volunteer their time or raise money for various local issues. Pastor VanHall succinctly puts it through: if something is to be done for the community, then everyone must do it together.

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