Moss in the Sanctuary: Breweries Populate Vacant American Churches | Lifestyles

By KATHRYN POST – Religious Information Service

(RNS) — Bruce Lindsay never expected to own a church. But when his mother died shortly before the pandemic, he wanted to use his inheritance to do something extraordinary.

“My mom, if she was alive today, I think she’d be laughing a lot about what I bought,” Lindsay said. “I found myself surrounded by a church when it was the last place on earth I wanted to go as a kid.”

In August, after purchasing a 900-square-foot Methodist church built in 1876, Lindsay and her business partner, Anna Cronin, opened Dirt Church Brewing Co. in East Haven, Vermont. It is one of at least eight church breweries that have opened in the United States since 2020.

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Today, the United States has about 30 breweries based in formerly vacant churches. Although some church breweries have been pushed back for offering foam in a once-sacred space, this move has precedent. Monks have been brewing beer in monasteries for centuries, offering it to visitors and often drinking it themselves at a time when it was safer to drink beer than water.

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Dirt Church Brewing Co. originally intended to open a brewery inside the church, but Cronin and Lindsay discovered it lacked running water, a septic tank, and heating. Rather than tearing down the building to add needed services, they constructed the Consuming Hall next to it, where the town’s former place of worship once stood. The church, now used as an art gallery and event space, is an integral part of the brewery’s identity.

The name “Earth Church” is both a nod to the 19th century building and the jargon used by the cycling community to which Lindsay and Cronin belong. “It’s kind of our cheeky little nickname for the Sunday morning long ride that was usually done on mountain bikes or gravel bikes,” Cronin said. “Instead of going to ‘church-church,’ we were like, ‘Hey, are you going to dirty church? “”

Today, the brewery hosts a monthly “dirt church” for its patrons via Sunday bike rides, runs or hikes – followed by a few celebratory beers at the bar, of course.

Across the country in San Diego, The Lost Abbey brewery opened a new location in December inside the shell of a Mexican Presbyterian church built in 1906. The brewery has added pews, chandeliers, tapestries and even stained glass to accentuate its slightly irreverent mark. .

“This building has fallen into very bad shape and would probably have been demolished if not for the developers who saved it,” said Tomme Arthur, co-founder of The Lost Abbey. This is the brewery’s first location in a former place of worship.

The Lost Abbey was founded in 2006 to offer beers inspired by Belgian monastic brewing traditions, as well as “non-denominational” beers brewed without any particular style. According to the company’s slogan, it offers beers to “sinners and saints alike” – a motto it embraces wholeheartedly.

The new location, aptly dubbed “The Church”, is divided into two parts, one for sinners and the other for saints. The sections are marked with corresponding decor: a statue of St. Peter presides over the saints’ area, and Mary Magdalene – who is often misidentified as a prostitute – occupies the sinners’ side.

Lost Abbey beers play on similar tropes, with “holy” names like “10 Commandments” or “Gift of the Magi” juxtaposed with names like “Judgment Day” or “Serpent’s Stout.” The next addition will be a beer featuring Baby Moses, a nod to the popular “Mandalorian” character Baby Yoda.

“We’ve always taken our beers more seriously than a lot of other things,” said Arthur, who grew up in a Catholic school. “What’s great is that whenever we need some kind of inspiration, we can open the Bible.”

The Ministry of Brewing, located in what was once St. Michael the Archangel Church in Baltimore, makes a point of avoiding religious themes in its marketing.

“All of our beer names are typical Baltimore references or something about the neighborhood,” said Jon Holley, the brewery’s general manager. “As for religious terms, images, things like that, we already know that being in a church is a sensitive thing for a lot of people, so we’re not trying to touch that at all.”

The church was built in 1857 and housed a German Catholic congregation and later a Spanish speaking congregation before closing due to maintenance costs. In 2018, the Ministry of Brewery began a comprehensive renovation to preserve and restore many of the original features of the building, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

The church reopened to the public as a beer hall in January 2020, featuring a dazzling interior with soaring columns and a fresco-painted barrel ceiling. The brewery also organizes events, fundraisers and even local delegate debates.

Although Holley said he “half-expected” a rejection for residing in a historic church, the brewery received overwhelming support. Most often, he said, customers can be found enjoying the brewery’s best-selling hazy pale beer called “Wispy,” a reference to wispy stained glass.

Like the other two breweries, Dirt Church Brewing Co. in Vermont is intentional about its beer names. Its flagship beer? It’s called “Rejoice”, after Lindsay’s mother, Joyce.

“It’s our most popular beer,” Lindsay said. “Without my mother’s help, none of this would exist today.”

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