Today on my lunch break, this newspaper article from Luzene County, PA newspaper Citizen’s Voice jumped out at me: From Bibles to Beer. Perhaps it was so intriguing because it seemed to be an abstract of my life, but also because I…and everybody needs an uplifting story these days.  As Mike and I tirelessly plunge through jobs that aren’t necessarily fitted to our build, we assume a lot of our readers can relate.

The article (that I implore you to read!) details the account of two homebrewers working to migrate their passion from a hobby to a vocation.  The two homebrewers–Chris Miller and Mark Lehman–actually started a business brewing beer five gallons at a time in their garage, upped the output to 120 gallons, and are now looking to relocate their brewery from their garage to a commercial location.  The location of their choice??? A former Church Sunday school building.
Blasphemy!

Ehhh, not really, but you know that’s what folks are saying.  In fact, the duo are meeting resistance…apparently more so from the community in general than from the current owners (St. Joseph’s Catholic Church) of the property; though clearly there is some hesitancy from some parishoners as the article states.  I chuckled o myself as I read through the comments below the article on Citizen’s Voice website.  For your pleasure, I’ve furnished one such comment and it’s tactful reply.

PA Girl stated:

I think this is disgusting. Granted, the people involved in the business are probably nice people and the business is a legitimate one. I don’t think this is the proper use of the church…the school okay, but probably once the variance is okayed, it won’t be long until something is done with the church that would be considered less than ideal. This should not be approved until all the facts are on the table, and that means that the diocese of Scranton should let their feelings be known. The school is one thing….but the church, people, protect the church and the souls that came through there either at the beginning or end of their lives, as well as the time in between.

To which eqmantr responded:

PA GIRL, Im sorry I do not agree with you, i am a catholic and i would much rather see a building being used instead of it rotting away like MANY other churches around our area.
This is a mom and pop business possibly looking to create jobs which are greatly needed in this area…
good luck guys hope it works out and if more people had your ambition, this city would be a much better place

Hotel5 stated:

Religion is a scourge on the Earth. These guys just want to brew beer, supporting and rebuilding the community they grew up in. It’s pathetic that their dreams are being held up because a now vacant building was once used as a church. I suppose you’d rather it be a rat infested drug den, than a thriving business.

For shame.

I’d love to converse with both PAgirl and Hotel5 the history of the Church and brewing. I doubt either one of them are aware that many of the brewing processes we use today were developed by monks within Church walls by those who adhere to one take on “the scourge of the earth.”  But such individuals ho use such incendiary language are too blinded by tunnel vision to engage in such a peaceful and logical discussion.

Regardless, Beer and religion always prove to be an interesting topic, and I hope and pray that Chris Miller and Mark Lehman get their brewery.  Should they stumble across this post and are in need of a good rebuttal for the local parishoners, I believe this picture of the pope enjoying a brew may come in handy.