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POP-UP PUB on Saturday 14th December – report and photos courtesy of Andrew Morris: Despite competing with the lure of the Strictly final the Pop-Up Pub was a great success making £575 in profit. The hall was turned into a mini winter wonderland festooned with Christmas lights, mini trees and soft lit with candles. Fr Adam’s mum had baked a mountain of homemade sausage rolls. Crisps and nuts were crammed into jars ready for sale and rustic boards were laden with cheeses and chutney. The company was equally scrumptious and the beer and wine plentiful.
Like the Pop-up Beer Festival these events are helping St Mary’s to push the boundaries and explore something new. Amongst the known faces we had a few new people pop in, people who don’t normally come to church but have started to attend our events. One lady said to me, “I live alone and find pubs too intimidating to walk into. I feel comfortable here.”
Interestingly the events have sparked further interest. We have had enquiries about using the hall for bigger anniversary parties, creative suggestions for a 2020 New Year’s supper plus a healthy appetite to run similar nights. This is great news and all in spirit of our mission work to put St. Mary’s at the heart of our Parish showing East Grinstead that we have a modern role to play in the lives of our parishioners.
Like the Pop-up Beer Festival these events are helping St Mary’s to push the boundaries and explore something new. Amongst the known faces we had a few new people pop in, people who don’t normally come to church but have started to attend our events. One lady said to me, “I live alone and find pubs too intimidating to walk into. I feel comfortable here.”
Interestingly the events have sparked further interest. We have had enquiries about using the hall for bigger anniversary parties, creative suggestions for a 2020 New Year’s supper plus a healthy appetite to run similar nights. This is great news and all in spirit of our mission work to put St. Mary’s at the heart of our Parish showing East Grinstead that we have a modern role to play in the lives of our parishioners.
Report of the beer festival from our
E-Newsletter
It was a bold and ambitious plan. It was the beginning of August and I had just received a call from Father Adam asking if I would help organize a beer festival taking place in no less than 6 weeks.
11TH hour planning is my thing but really, 6 weeks, could we actually pull this off? Fortunately the words alone, beer and festival were enough to get me excited and I dutifully announced ‘count me in’.
There is nothing like a sense of pressure in my mind to help get a job done. The project took legs straight away and we all set about doing our bit to make it happen. Whilst Tim secured the brewery deal, Christina went about working on look and feel, tickets and advertising and Adam took to the streets in search of some grand prizes (and me? well I went off on holiday for 3 weeks).
By the beginning of September the Beer Festival was taking shape but we were facing one BIG problem, we had hardly sold any tickets. It took a few bottles of Sauvignon Blanc to raise our motivation levels believing it was all going to be alright on the night. I kept quoting the old Kevin Costner movie, Field of Dreams believing if St. Mary’s ‘built it they would come’. Father Adam took to prayer.
And they came, all 135 of them. The sun shone down with its bright orange setting glow and our little car park came alive with the sound of people having fun. The volunteer team from County Care set about serving beer under the expert tutorage of Emma, Rob and Tim. Our cordless cash machine silently rang out with the sound of money wirelessly heading towards supporting our church.
As the sun dipped over the horizon and dusk landed a scene will stay in my head for a long time. It was the silhouette of Father Adam towering on the podium, gavel in hand, every bit the auctioneer as he energetically auctioned off an impressive set of prizes.
We raised 4000. Not bad heh? I’m still buzzing at what we achieved. A beer festival is not everyone’s gig but it did something special for our church and maybe just put us in the minds of those who previously may of held a different view of what we are all about.
We should all feel proud not just of this but for all the contributions that make up the whole. Here’s to whatever we do next, knowing that when we put our mind to it we can DO IT!
11TH hour planning is my thing but really, 6 weeks, could we actually pull this off? Fortunately the words alone, beer and festival were enough to get me excited and I dutifully announced ‘count me in’.
There is nothing like a sense of pressure in my mind to help get a job done. The project took legs straight away and we all set about doing our bit to make it happen. Whilst Tim secured the brewery deal, Christina went about working on look and feel, tickets and advertising and Adam took to the streets in search of some grand prizes (and me? well I went off on holiday for 3 weeks).
By the beginning of September the Beer Festival was taking shape but we were facing one BIG problem, we had hardly sold any tickets. It took a few bottles of Sauvignon Blanc to raise our motivation levels believing it was all going to be alright on the night. I kept quoting the old Kevin Costner movie, Field of Dreams believing if St. Mary’s ‘built it they would come’. Father Adam took to prayer.
And they came, all 135 of them. The sun shone down with its bright orange setting glow and our little car park came alive with the sound of people having fun. The volunteer team from County Care set about serving beer under the expert tutorage of Emma, Rob and Tim. Our cordless cash machine silently rang out with the sound of money wirelessly heading towards supporting our church.
As the sun dipped over the horizon and dusk landed a scene will stay in my head for a long time. It was the silhouette of Father Adam towering on the podium, gavel in hand, every bit the auctioneer as he energetically auctioned off an impressive set of prizes.
We raised 4000. Not bad heh? I’m still buzzing at what we achieved. A beer festival is not everyone’s gig but it did something special for our church and maybe just put us in the minds of those who previously may of held a different view of what we are all about.
We should all feel proud not just of this but for all the contributions that make up the whole. Here’s to whatever we do next, knowing that when we put our mind to it we can DO IT!