Proof That He Loves Us

With an affinity for craft beer and sacred music, the members of Cape Fear Beer and Hymns gather at local breweries and bottle shops to celebrate the joy of singing.

Unless you’ve been cryogenically preserved for the past quarter century, you have undoubtedly heard the classic dictum supposedly authored by Founding Father Benjamin Franklin: “Beer is proof that God Loves us and wants us to be happy.”

And even if you haven’t heard it, you’ve definitely seen it emblazoned on T-shirts, plaques or posters.

It’s a wonderful, uplifting message — except for one thing: There is absolutely zero proof that Ben ever penned or even uttered those immortal words.

Not that there’s anything wrong with that. If you know anything at all about the guy that “discovered” electricity, invented all manner of contraptions and managed to help birth a nation, he seems very likely indeed to have made such a comment.

And, unless my early upbringing and long participation in the Methodist Church was misguided, my God does want us to be happy, and beer is just one of the routes to happiness.

Another is music, and the Methodist Church certainly provided ample opportunities for that. I recall being part of three separate choirs in my church, and for me, music was the message.

That’s one reason why my workout mix is a collection of those old hymns. And though I’m not as active in the church as I once was (skip over that part, Father), those hymns were formative for me.

So imagine my surprise when I came across information about a group of folks who, according to their website, “are a collection of pastors, musicians and cicerones … who drink great craft beer and sing hymns.”

A cicerone is to beer what a sommelier is to wine — except no self-respecting cicerone would ever spit out what he’s sampling.

They call themselves Cape Fear Beer and Hymns, and if that’s not a group tailor-made for yours truly, nothing is. So when I learned they were going to be celebrating their 11th anniversary at Good Hops Brewing in Carolina Beach, I made it a point to see and hear what this was all about.

Founded in 2014 by Shawn Blackwelder, the impetus for the founding of the group was pretty simple.

“When a brewery opens up a few blocks from your church, you take it as a sign from God,” Blackwelder explains. “I love craft beer and I love hymns, which are the songs of our culture in the American South, and I wanted to create a non-judgmental atmosphere where people could sing the songs of their hearts.”

At Good Hops, a woman-owned and woman-brewered mainstay of the Carolina Beach beer scene, I chatted up the group’s leader, Pastor Gayle Tabor, to whom Blackwelder turned over the group when he moved.

She advised that then idea originated in England and eventually developed a chapter in Hot Springs, North Carolina but is now based in — perhaps, appropriately — Harmony, North Carolina. The Good Hops group meets regularly in Carolina Beach every third Sunday and once a month at Freya’s Haus in Scott’s Hill.

The Good Pastor doesn’t actually perform musically beyond her full-throated participation in the hymn-sing, but she makes a few short no-pressure appearances between songs in the hour-long show to talk about the group’s value system.

The group’s website tells us: “It’s a space filled with joy, music, and community. Everyone — and we truly mean everyone — is welcome. Whether you’re a longtime hymn singer, someone who misses raising your voice in song, or just curious to join in, you’ll find a place here.

We’re not about membership, rules, or pressure. We’re about the beauty of voices joined together, the warmth of belonging, and the simple joy of singing songs of faith and hope.”

The beer angle notwithstanding, I qualified on at least two counts. I’m a longtime hymn singer who misses raising his voice in song. The group distributes a “hymnal” of sorts before the show so those of us whose memories are not what they once were can follow along. Those of us who have some mileage on the age-ometer know that memory is the second thing to go.

And I’ve forgotten the first.

And not all the songs are church-related either, unless the Church of the Caribbean sings tunes like “Margaritaville,” or the Neil Diamond Salvation Show Church has “Sweet Caroline” as a staple.

But, as they are all fun to sing, the crowd of about 25 was fully into it, seated around a blazing fire pit with libations in hand on a gorgeous mid-November night. That included the missus and her sister. And her husband was full-throated, too, though he last sang when he was in grade 4 accompanied by a kazoo choir.

On this night, Jan, Donna and Jennifer performed on the guitar and ukuleles respectively, while Jason provided percussion. The spirit, both capitalized and otherwise, was clearly in the house.

There is no food at Good Hops, but guests are invited to bring in their own or even have it delivered. So our Jersey Mike’s subs added to the atmosphere. But, eating or not, the singing of hymns and the quaffing of beer made for an exceptional evening out.

And their big Christmas show is slated for December 21. That will feature all of your favorite Christmas carols and maybe a pub crawl through Carolina Beach to bring the Christmas spirit to any lonely Ebenezers who eschew the joys of the season.

I did have to question Pastor Gayle, though on the claim that the group actually consisted of some cicerones, as the title is rather a prestigious one.

“So, Pastor, I notice your group has cicerones. That’s pretty rarefied air. Are there really cicerones in your group?”

“Nah. We just love craft beer.”

That’s proof enough for me — Blessed Assurance, if you will — that God loves us and wants us to be happy.

Sing it, sisters.

To learn more about Cape Fear Beer and Hymns: Beer and Hymns – CFB&H.