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Ale to the Lord
Churchgoers should sup a glass of beer, not sip wine, when they share food and drink at services symbolising Jesus Christ's Last Supper.
As a working class carpenter Jesus is far more likely to have enjoyed a pot of real ale rather than a flagon of expensive wine – and Christians should follow suit.
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So says one of Britain's leading experts and authors on pubs, beer and brewing Barrie Pepper, who is also a member of one of the Church of England's governing bodies.
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Mr Pepper, 77, has written 17 books on beer-related subjects, including one devoted to pubs featured in the works of Charles Dickens.
He also serves on the Church of England's Ripon and Leeds Diocesan Synod, which covers 267 Anglican Churches and a large part of Yorkshire. He worships at St Aidan's Church in Leeds.
The Church of England's act of Communion, or Eucharist, is based on Jesus's last supper and symbolises the meal he shared with the disciples. The service involves congregation members eating a small biscuit and sipping wine.
Mr Pepper said: "Some years ago the late Jack Thompson, who also worshipped at St Aidan's, and myself sought to introduce beer at the Eucharist in the Anglican church in place of wine.
"We were in a significant group – the third member was a priest who later joined the Roman church and was brought to heel.
"There is a Church in the United States in which beer is used rather than the traditional wine. The Beer Church argues that as grain was the principle crop in the Middle East in Bible times and grapes were rare, beer was the drink of the common man.
"It contends that Jesus, a carpenter, being of the working classes was used to beer, with wine having no place in his life.
"The argument goes further by saying that beer was very likely served at the last supper and water was turned into beer in the miracle at the wedding feast of Cana.
"It goes further by claiming that a historical and anthropological study has suggested that Noah's ark was actually a barge hauling beer on the Euphrates. It is also pretty certain that beer in the Bible times would qualify as real ale and meet the approval of CAMRA (the Campaign for Real Ale)."
Despite the historic theories there are no signs of the Church switching from wine to beer.
A Church of England spokesman said: "Centuries of Biblical study have consistently interpreted the words used in the original passages relating to the Last Supper and the Wedding in Canaan as wine rather than any other type of drink.
"The Church of England therefore uses wine to follow Jesus's instructions for the meal shared by Christians in His name, and theories on the prevalence of the drink in the Middle East, while intriguing, will not change this tradition."
Mr Pepper replied: "Whatever drink is used I will continue to be a regular communicant in the Church of England."
Mr Pepper, a licensee's son, is Parish Communications Officer at his local church, and is a former Labour Councillor and trades union official in Leeds.
He is a founder member of Leeds branch of CAMRA. In addition to writing on beer and brewing, he is author of two books about St Aidan's church, home of a world-famous installation of mosaics by Royal Acadamecian Frank Brangwyn.
Jack Thompson was a former senior fire officer at Moortown fire station, and co-author with Mr Pepper of Walkers, Writers and Watering
Holes (a gentle wander down Wharfedale). Mr Thompson died two years ago aged 62.
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Friday 25 May 2012
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