Beer and Bible study go well together (letter)

I will assume that the author of a letter about Vacation Beer & Bible School is the person who called, very upset, but would not leave a name or contact number with our church secretary. Which, of course, is a favorite pastime, it would seem, for people calling us at St. Paul's United Church of Christ.

We did have a program called Adult VBBS, Vacation Beer & Bible School, earlier this month. It was well attended, we had a lot of fun, we had serious discussion and learning about the Bible; we sampled several craft and small-run beers and ciders, including local products – and we will do it again.

And when I say "serious" Bible study, I mean that we dug deep into the text on the level that is rarely performed in churches: we discussed narrative, redaction and formal interpretative methods. I will suggest that while the beer was great, the Bible study and discussions were some of the best I have had in a church setting.

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To respond directly, first, alcohol has been part of church worship since the beginning of Christianity, at least four days before the first Easter. Christians today celebrate that evening, Maundy Thursday, with a ritual that typically uses wine.

Second, since it's the 500th anniversary of the Protestant Reformation, I'll appeal to Luther. Martin Luther brewed his own beer. When chastised about this, he responded by asking whether his critics would ban men from having relations from women because some men are abusive? And should we ban the sun because some pagans worship it?

I find it puzzling to consider that a small church's Bible study in Dallastown is a clear sign of the collapse of society to the point that declaring it a portent of the apocalypse.

We did, however, celebrate communion on the final night of VBBS. And we used both local wine and old school Welch's grape juice.

I would invite this individual to chill out, let's have a beer (or water) and talk it over like neighbors, calmly and without the need to panic or grandstand. Beer's on me – if the world doesn't end by our date.

Cheers.

The Rev. Dr. Christopher D. Rodkey

St. Paul's United Church of Christ

Dallastown

Also of interest: Beer photo gallery