St. Bartholomew's Episcopal Church

Holy Spirits! Aussies turn pub into church

Mon Oct 29, 5:24 AM ET

Jesus Christ may have turned water into wine, but for a group of Australian churchgoers the ideal place to worship on a Sunday is a pub.

Devoid of a church in the docklands entertainment area of Melbourne, a group of Christians have created the "Docklands Church" inside the James Squire Brewhouse.

"Jesus did turn water into wine, he was kind of radical, he was connected with his culture, and yet he had a great message for our world," Docklands Church minister Guy Mason said after his first service on Sunday.

Garrison Keillor writes of a church in Baltimore: "...The singing was O my God just heartbreakingly good. There were less than thirty of us in the pews, fewer than the names on the prayer list, and to hear "Behold, how good and joyful it is; brethren, to dwell together in unity" sung so eloquently as the priests swung to their tasks was to be present in a moment of extravagant grace that does not depend on numbers or any other measure of success for its meaning, just as the Grand Canyon does not depend on busloads of tourists to be magnificent.