Are you a person of faith who also loves beer? This might be your new calling.
For three years running, one of the more interesting events at Philly Beer Week has been the collab talk held upstairs at Fergie’s Pub entitled “A priest, a minister, and a rabbi walk into a bar…”
The priest is Father Kirk Berlenbach of St. Timothy’s Episcopal Church in Roxborough — he leads the parish and also its homebrew club. The rabbi is Eli Freedman, one of three clergymembers at Congregation Rodeph Shalom and the leader of the homebrew club at the North Broad synagogue. (Yes, the two clubs have done cross-denominational brews together; beer just may be the key to world peace.)
The minister in the equation has always been Bryan Berghoef — a pastor by trade, he’s also author of a book called Pub Theology: Beer, Conversation and God. Thing is, Berghoef will be on a pilgrimage to Iona during Beer Week this year (what nerve!), so the other two are looking for someone to join them on stage in his stead to discuss beer and god with them.
Requirements are below, but there are two of note, as Berlenbach and Freedman are very interested in diversifying their group.
“We’re open to considering anyone from the area who meets these criteria,” Berlenbach says. “But we’d particularly like to find someone who is 1) outside of the Judeo-Christian tradition and 2) female.”
The ideal candidate will:
- Be a person of faith
- Have extensive knowledge about their faith and its history
- Be comfortable talking to a crowd and taking questions
- Have a sense of humor
- Live in the Philly Metro area
- Be free on the afternoon of Sunday, June 5
- Love beer (duh)
Is that you or someone you know? Get in touch via Berlenbach’s blog or his Facebook page.
Also, nothing heavy goes down at this annual event, but it does tend to spark very interesting conversation, so whether or not you’re the person for the job, mark down the date (June 5) and make plans to swing through.
