[Magdalen] National TEC policy on Alcohol in the Church

[Molly Wolf]

No, making church an alcohol-free zone is because non-alcoholics don't need to drink, active alcoholics don't need enabling, and recovering alcoholics need a space where their disease is recognized, accepted, and accommodated, because for the, "self-control" has already proved unworkable.  If my parish serves wine at almost all social events and I'm supposed to absent myself, then what does that say about community and inclusiveness?

This situation is exactly what Paul nails in 1 Cor. with the meat-eating question.

Would you scoff at a church that went out of its way to accommodate wheelchair access because a couple of members couldn't manage stairs? Or should they stay away too?

Molly

The man who carries a cat by the tail learns something he can learn in no other way. -- Mark Twain

> On Feb 5, 2015, at 10:01 AM, Jim Guthrie <jguthrie at pipeline.com> wrote:
> 
> From: Grace Cangialosi
> 
>> I don't see anything wrong with making churches and their events alcohol-free
>> zones. And no, I'm not saying we need to use grape juice...
> 
> Ah yes, alcohol-free zones because some folk are incapable of self control. Or,
> if it's an illness, do what all people of good will would do, and stay away.
> 
> I realize that many seem to confuse getting drunk with something or someone to blame other than one's own weaknesses and lack of self-control. So much of the deterioration we see around us stems from this -- often with all manner of litigation, starting with people responsible for auto accidents suing the victim. It happens all the time. Everything that  goes wrong is someone else's fault so the everyone else pays the price.
> 
> Many addicts already **do** stay away, because they know that snorting cocaine
> or shooting up in a public place like a church hall is not going to be welcomed
> by the non-addicts. And of course, sex addicts tend not to indulge in church,
> either.
> 
> As for those who do drink alcohol, the church hall is a far better public place
> to do it than, say, a saloon, as the peer group finds one getting drunk at such
> affairs much to outré and people recognize that, I think.
> 
> Cheers,
> Jim Guthrie