Parishioners were given four bottles of beer instead of Advent candles

Advent is a traditional time of intense prayer and reflection about the approaching Christmas of Christ. In the pre-Christmas period, the Gilead Baptist Church from Chicago decided to please its parishioners and their loved ones with an unusual gift. When believers, according to the established tradition, came to the temple for an Advent wreath with four candles, instead of it, each received a bag decorated with a green ribbon with the church logo and four bottles of beer inside - three pink and one purple. A candle (albeit one single one) was also present in each of the gift bags.

Currently, due to the increase in the number of cases of coronavirus in Illinois, services at the Gilead Church of Chicago are being held online. To cheer up parishioners who are deprived of the opportunity to communicate with fellow believers face to face, and, possibly, to acquire new members of the community from among the youth, the pastors of the church decided to give everyone who came to the temple on the eve of Advent an unusual gift. According to Vince Amlin, beer is a great way to celebrate the coming of the Nativity of the Lord Jesus Christ, as well as the fact that the end of the world has not yet come. “Many of those who are 20-30 years old today have never gone to church, but have been to a brewery,” the pastor said.