My wife and I went to our local Greek Orthodox Church’s annual ‘Greek Glendi’ this past weekend.

It’s their yearly shindig and fund-raiser held on the grounds of the Church.

They had something like a flea market with lots of Greek food and goods for sell. The food was great, the culture was interesting, and the music with the traditional Greek dancing was a lot of fun to watch also.

Now, I’m no fan of Eastern Orthodox “Theology” whatsoever (Don’t get me started on their “Iconography” and Church traditions)

But as I was sitting there, staring at the two Budweiser trucks with draft taps on the side, along with the tables full of Greek wines and beer, for sell, I started thinking…

…”Is it okay for a Church to have a community fund raiser like this?” and if so…

…”Is it acceptable to sell wine and beer at that Church fund-raiser?”

I know that it’s fine to MODERATLY drink wine and beer, that’s not the issue. Something just doesn’t seem right to me about this, but I can’t put my finger on it.

So here’s the question:

Are my old SBC ‘Fundy’ ways of seeing things messing with me, or is there something scripturally wrong with all this?

Btw..I had a bottle of Greek beer (Mythos brand-with a little unicorn image on the bottle), it paired fantastically with the Greek Salad.

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Steve Butts - Former SBC-er
Three Forms of Unity - Bradenton CRC - Bradenton, Florida
(A conservative member in a conservative congregation)

"Of two evils, choose neither." — C.H. Spurgeon

No, it is not right for a church to sell Budweiser as beer. That is a lie.

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Rev. Daniel Kok
Pastor of Grace Reformed Church (URCNA)
Leduc, Alberta CANADA
Church Blog

"there is no creature, either in heaven or on earth, who loves us more than Jesus Christ"
Belgic Confession, Article 26

Click to get: Board Rules -- Signature Requirements -- Suggestions?

The Mythos was fantastic though. It's a Greek lager.

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Steve Butts - Former SBC-er
Three Forms of Unity - Bradenton CRC - Bradenton, Florida
(A conservative member in a conservative congregation)

"Of two evils, choose neither." — C.H. Spurgeon

Rev. Kok is right. Selling Budweiser is like selling water. What a ripoff that would be!

__________________
Josh Hicks, Chloë's Daddy
Member of TRBC, Attending CCRPC. My Blog
The Puritan Pub (Team Blog)
Board Rules -- Signature Requirements -- Suggestions?

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John
Member Under Care
Christ Prebyterian Church (OPC)
Salt Lake City, Utah
www.christpres.net

Budweiser beer tastes like water with a little taste added to it, so it is wrong to sell that stuff for profit. Now if you are talking about selling Guiness or a real nice lager, then it is perfectly fine. I think it is deplorable that anyone would drink Bud and try to pass if off as beer.

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Stephen Welch
PCA Teaching Elder
Nova Scotia :cheers:

Exactly. I would not be offended as a believer, but seriously offended as a beer drinker..

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N. Robert; Trinity Reformed Church RCA, Holland MI

Once in a while you can get shown the light, in the strangest of places if you look at it right."

Ale! Ale! I like Ales! (repeat x 4 for effect)

I am in Bud Light, Miller Lite, Budweiser, Coors Light, etc. so on so forth country. It's terrible. Amber Bock is about the only bearable Beer on tap here. There's a new place in town that has New Belgium's Fat Tire, though.

__________________
Josh Hicks, Chloë's Daddy
Member of TRBC, Attending CCRPC. My Blog
The Puritan Pub (Team Blog)
Board Rules -- Signature Requirements -- Suggestions?

__________________
Stephen Welch
PCA Teaching Elder
Nova Scotia :cheers:

I am not familiar with New Belgium, but I would be going to the next town to find a good beer.

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Stephen Welch
PCA Teaching Elder
Nova Scotia :cheers:

I've always been partial to George Killian's Red Ale myself.

So the opinions I'm hearing in this DEEP theological discourse is:

Community-wide Church Fund-raiser - No problem

Selling REAL beer and wine at said fund-raiser - No Problem

__________________
Steve Butts - Former SBC-er
Three Forms of Unity - Bradenton CRC - Bradenton, Florida
(A conservative member in a conservative congregation)

"Of two evils, choose neither." — C.H. Spurgeon

No theological problem at all. May cause a cultural problem if you are in North America. However that does not mean we should not do it. As Islam advances in our culture it will be more important for us to openly promote the biblical view of wine, spirits & beer AS A CHURCH, not only as individuals. IMO.

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Kevin Rogers
Sovereign Community Church, PCA
Moncton NB

Steve, the Greek Orthodox churches know how to put on good events. The food is always fantastic and the events are always fun, especially for the family. I have no objection to a church having an event like this, especially if there is alcohol. I do not think that churches should use these events as fundraisers to raise money for the church. The Scriptures teach that the church and its ministry should be supported by the tithes and offerings of God's people. If a church wants to charge for an event like this to defray the cost of the food and drink that is fine, but not to raise money for its ministry and work. Certainly all forms of gambling and games of chance at church events should be avoided because this is a violation of the eighth commandment.

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Stephen Welch
PCA Teaching Elder
Nova Scotia :cheers:

I failed to mention that part. They had a raffle also. $100 per ticket to win a Lexus or other cash prizes. They only had 1900 tickets for sell. We ran the numbers and figured they cleared $100,000 just from the raffle.

But now I'm wondering...is a raffle stealing?

Commandment VIII: “You shall not steal. Ex 20:15 (ESV)

__________________
Steve Butts - Former SBC-er
Three Forms of Unity - Bradenton CRC - Bradenton, Florida
(A conservative member in a conservative congregation)

"Of two evils, choose neither." — C.H. Spurgeon

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Tom Albrecht
Member, Covenant URCNA, New Holland, PA.

"I'm not a famous man. I'm just a simple country doctor with horse sense."

Yep!

__________________
DAVIDIVS DOCTVS VTRIVSQVE LINGVAE
Husband of Emilia
Member: First Reformed Presbyterian Church of Durham (RPCNA) - Durham, NC
Currently in the process of transferring membership to an as-yet-undecided church in Chapel Hill
Student: University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, German Literature and Classics

The dynamic of alcohol being sold at this festival is secondary. We had members of our church suggest fund raisers as a way of meeting our budget. I am not in favor of Christ's church soliciting money from the world. We can't stop an unbeliever from putting a check into the offering plate but I am completely against soliciting from those who may be enemies of our Lord. I've heard the argument of, "Well Israel plundered the Egyptians before the Exodus.". The only problem with that is a little thing called context.

I have heard that from others before and I have the same 'feeling' but is there any scriptural basis for this? Especially when you are providing goods / services for the money and not just passing the plate for a 'donation'?

Doesn't this fall into the same vein as a car wash for a youth fund-raiser? I know I have my thoughts on it, but where does Scripture side on this?

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Steve Butts - Former SBC-er
Three Forms of Unity - Bradenton CRC - Bradenton, Florida
(A conservative member in a conservative congregation)

"Of two evils, choose neither." — C.H. Spurgeon

You should be appaled by Bud being sold for profit. Budweiser is an abuse of our ability to make beer.

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Joshua Philbeck
Boyce Memorial Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church
Shelby, NC

http://philbeck.blogspot.com
http://www.xanga.com/joshuaphilbeck

Budweiser is a horrible thing to do to water.

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Bill Brown
Elder
Grace Baptist Church
Anne Arundel County, Maryland

Click to get: Board Rules -- Signature Requirements -- Suggestions?

I think a case could be made that God's covenant people were the only ones required to make sacrifices and bring offerings. Neither were expected from the Gentiles. Paul appealed, commended and chastised churches for their giving, not unbelievers. Phil 4:18, 1 Cor. 16:3, 2 Cor. 9:5 come to mind.

__________________
Bill Brown
Elder
Grace Baptist Church
Anne Arundel County, Maryland

Click to get: Board Rules -- Signature Requirements -- Suggestions?