For one California congregation, church services seem to be looking to appease those who spend their time at church as well as those who prefer to enjoy the weekend relaxing with a beer at their local brewery. The Greater Purpose Community Church in Santa Cruz, California will be converting an old Logos Bookstore location into a Great Purpose Brewing Company and restaurant, which is slated to open in the summer of 2019.
Pastor Chris VanHall left the church’s old home and temporarily moved his churchgoers into a lounge that offers draft beer tap, allowing attendees to drink beer or wine during services.
As renovations are underway, the church will take the form of a brewpub by next year. The brewery and restaurant will be open to people of all faiths/no faith, gender, sexual, and ethnic-racial identities. The restaurant will serve Southern-style comfort food with vegan and vegetarian options Monday through Saturday while on Sunday, there will be a church service before opening up to the public.
VanHall said that 30 to 60 percent of profits would go to many different charities such as Planned Parenthood, the Homeless Garden Project and Save Our Shores.
In a statement to KION News, VanHall said “When you come in as a customer Monday through Saturday you’re not going to be preached at all you’re not getting a church service, there’s not going to be biblical merchandise anywhere, nothing like that. It’s going to be a safe space for people of all faith or no faith, people of all sexual and gender identities, on Sunday’s we will have church in the bar but it’s going to be before we open to the public so it’s not like anyone is going to get duped into coming to church at any point.”
By: Maytinee Kramer
