Beer drinking has long been frowned upon by churches, as preachers say it pushes people into uncouth and “sinful” conduct.
The tide seems to be changing now.
A group of drinkers from Bindura has decided to form their own church, which embraces alcohol lovers and preaches the Gospel to them.
As reported by Spiked, the church is called Ziva Mwari Congregation Church (ZMCC) and now has 80 congregants in less than a month of its launch.
The all-embracing denomination is non-segregating and opens its arms to imbibers, sorcerers, and prostitutes.
It permits congregants to bring their alcohol to worship centres but not binge during the service, and church members can only consume their bottles after the service.
The founder of Ziva Mwari Congregation Church, Richard Twabi, said they are liberal in dressing and behaviour. He added that their primary focus is on praising God.
We do not have strict rules in our church and even hookers are also welcome because we all know that there is God who needs to be praised. Our service is one hour and nobody is allowed to drink during the service.
Twabi said the church does not yet have a clear leadership structure since it is just starting. Due to this, ZMCC invites leaders from known churches to preach the gospel to congregants every Sunday.
Upon its launch, the church received premises to use in the interim by the Bindura Nickel Corporation (BNC) management. Ironically, the building was formerly a beer hall, Twabi revealed.
We would also want to thank BNC Management for rallying behind us as they gave us and authorized the church to use company premises for the church gatherings and as such we have vowed to help the community through charity work. It was formerly a beer hall but now it is a church.
Despite being unusual, ZMCC is not an isolated case. In South Africa, Gabola church believes its congregation connects with God through consuming large amounts of alcohol during services.