Beer and Bible

Christmas Beer & Bibles
Held at the Old Horn in Spennithorne on Thursday 8th December – led by Candy Rogers, George Tunstall & Howard Thomas, capably assisted by Barry on his accordion. Chat at the bar, get your drink & move through to the small function room, with informal tables & chairs for about 20 folk- most chairs filled up as welcoming chatter filled the room during the next half hour. Old friends greeting one another & new friends made as accordion Christmas music filled the room. Informal was the watchword- friends leading friends in humorous reflections aimed to help women buy suitable Christmas presents for the men in their life (cordless drills or anything with ratchet or socket in its name), though we never heard what the reciprocal list would include! George read from the Yorkshire dialect Bible- introducing a few new terms into the traditional nativity story. Barry played 'O Holy Night' on the accordion before everyone joined in some carol singing, after which a couple of sheep had something of a reflective conversation about the recent experience of their shepherds- reaching the conclusion that the newborn had been spoiled & mollycoddled through the comfort of a manger. Howard offered some health & safety advice as a number of carols began to be sung- Jingle Bells was the first to receive the wrath of his tongue, along the lines of it was too much to ask of one horse to speed through private fields disturbing the peace! The talented trio brought this section to a close with a solid reflective reading of 'Love came down at Christmas' sandwiched between John 3:16. A few carols later, buffet platters arrived and the room was soon filled with friendly chatter as plates were filled, and then people- sharing in true fellowship preparing for Christmas together. Could Beer & Bibles reach communities currently excluded by church tradition? Well, it certainly builds bridges and relationships in a social environment where the Word of God is discovered and delivered in new and innovative ways- if you want to experience it for yourself, watch out for the date of the next Beer & Bibles event on the website calendar or ask for more details from a member of staff