Resurrection Voices
Beer & Hymns
Beer & Hymns officially began at the Greenbelt Festival (a festival of arts, faith and justice held annually in the United Kingdom) in 2006. One evening over a beer, after running out of Beatles songs, a group of three musicians started singing classic hymns and discovered that people of all ages, creeds, colors and beliefs enjoyed the singing of the great old Wesley tunes and the majestic words that went with them. From this first event, Beer & Hymns began popping up all over the UK and spread quickly to the US, as well.
Our own Martin Luther was not only a theologian and reformer, but also a musician and a composer. A large part of Luther’s reformation of the church was bringing a singing role to the community. A strong advocate of music for all to sing in worship and be taught in schools, Luther found value in teaching the faith through religious texts he put to music. Often, he used folk tunes that were familiar to the common people so that they might learn these songs quickly and memorize them.
Luther was also known to enjoy a good beer now and then. In an age when water was not always safe to drink, beer was drunk by everyone and accepted as nutritionally safe and sometimes even medicinal. (Luther’s wife, Katie, was known for her ability to brew a very fine beer!) It was at the time of the Reformation when beer began to be brewed with hops — and not only with herbs. The pubs were places where scholars and townspeople gathered to discuss and debate theology, philosophy and life in general. We can only imagine that there was undoubtedly some robust singing in between some very intense conversations of the day!
Matt Stein and I attended the 2015 Worship Jubilee in Atlanta, Georgia, where we experienced our first Beer & Hymns event. We were so excited to bring this idea home to our community and are grateful to Steve Berger, owner of Beer Snobs Ale and Eats, for supporting it right from the beginning. Beer Snobs is a great venue and Steve has been very gracious in hosting us for several events in the past few years. Thank you, Steve!
We hope you will join us for our next Beer & Hymns – Oct. 21 – 4:00 pm at Beer Snobs Ale and Eats, 122 Cottonwood Ave, in downtown Hartland. Bring your family, bring your friends. Enjoy a beer or root beer and a bite to eat while we raise our voices in song together!
Susan Daniels, Deacon of Music
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