Go, eat your bread with enjoyment and drink your wine with a merry heart, for God has long ago approved what you do (Ecclesiastes 9:7).

Wine is a mocker, strong drink a brawler, and whoever is led astray by it is not wise (Proverbs 20:1).

There’s a joke in my faith tradition: Two Brethren walk into a bar . . . . And that’s it! That’s the whole joke, because it’s so laughable that Brethren would go to a bar.

The truth is that Anabaptist attitudes and practices regarding alcohol are as diverse now – and historically – as the scriptures are. Biblical instructions to avoid alcohol are for specific people with specific callings, such as Aaron and his descendants or Nazarites. Jesus not only drinks wine, he’s accused of being a drunkard and turns water into wine for a wedding feast!

The Church of the Brethren formally teaches abstinence even while recognizing that scripture continually celebrates alcohol as part of God’s creation and blessings. (See Alcohol 1976 Church of the Brethren Statement.) Paul’s instructions not to use our freedom to influence siblings in faith to stumble are cited by the Brethren preparing this paper as they advocate total abstinence.

Our concern for the ongoing and potential harm of alcohol even leads the Church of the Brethren to use grape juice for communion, while Jesus used wine. Having wine available for the rare medicinal or ritual use could be a temptation or danger. I recall the fictional and relatable scene from Anne of Green Gables with Marilla’s currant wine. 

I enjoy the complex realities in Mennonite history and teaching. The Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online’s page on Alcohol shows that abstinence instructions have coexisted with breweries in various communities of Mennonites. Ethnic and regional culture has influenced practice as much as church teachings have.

When we establish rules for our faith communities, my pragmatism asks, “Are we becoming more faithful and connected through this rule?” So in this party season of New Year’s cheers, I wonder: How do our alcohol rules and practices bring us together – or not?

Our congregation will have an alcohol-free game night and general hangout on New Year’s Eve, hoping everyone in our orbit knows there’s a place they will be welcome and can be festive without concern for underage drinking, drinking and driving, or other pitfalls of any event that puts alcohol at the center.

I served a United Church of Christ congregation years ago that shared communion every week at three stations throughout the sanctuary. Unlike most congregations in our conference, we only used juice for communion. This was consciously established so that anyone in recovery would not need to worry (“Am I in the juice line?”), but would be supported in their recovery at every communion station.

These examples of prohibition support healthy individuals and communities. But the other side of the prohibition coin is secrecy, and I expect that most Brethren who struggle with alcohol dependency do not feel comfortable telling their pastor or church friends about it. Do Catholics with alcohol-use disorder feel comfortable telling a priest about their problems, simply because wine is part of church functions? I would be naive to believe that. But I expect that a church culture that includes some use of alcohol has more ability to discuss alcohol.

If you raised a glass on New Year’s Eve, what beverage helped you celebrate and helped you connect with your loved ones?

When we lived in Mexico, we learned unsettling information about vanilla extract, which is often labeled with false information and can include dangerous elements like coumarin. Since then we buy vanilla beans and soak them in bourbon. We pour a splash into desserts and replace beans when their flavor and aroma fade, and replace the bourbon when we run out. When baking with this form of vanilla extract, most of the alcohol evaporates, and if you started with one teaspoon in a batch of cookies, the alcohol content was negligible, even in the dough.

When you add a splash to frosting or a hot cocoa, you taste the bourbon along with the vanilla and could end up tipsy. So use this vanilla extract as it best serves you and your community!

Homemade Vanilla

Ingredients

1 small bottle of Bulleit bourbon (any bourbon with at least 40% alcohol content that is not flavored works, and so does vodka if you want a simpler flavor)

2-6 vanilla pods, cut down the center to open (a seam ripper or scissors work well)

Instructions

1. Open the bourbon and pour out a splash to make room.

2. Put the pods in the bourbon bottle and close it.

Within two months the bourbon will acquire the taste of vanilla, and the longer you wait, the stronger the vanilla flavor. So you can use a smaller splash in recipes as time goes by, unless you also want the bourbon to shine! Add a small splash, taste, and add more as desired. By taste, I mean taste the batter of what you’re making – neither homemade nor store-bought vanilla extract taste much like vanilla, as the alcohol flavor is overpowering.

The official ratio for vanilla extract is a little less than 1 oz. vanilla beans to 8 oz. alcohol. Time makes up for using less vanilla.

Mexican vanilla beans have more complex flavor than beans from Madagascar or Tahiti. I’m a fan of Grades B or C maple syrup (more complex flavor than grade A), so I reach for Mexican vanilla. But they’re all delicious.

Reuse your original pods in a new bottle of bourbon at least once. The pods may have more to offer – just give them a sniff, and if they still smell like vanilla you can keep using them. If you usually buy real (not imitation) vanilla extract, this process will save you money. And it makes great gifts!

If you don’t want to have alcohol in your home or in your baking, you can also put dry vanilla pods into a jar of sugar, and the vanilla flavor will show up in your baking.

Who has woe? Who has sorrow?
    Who has strife? Who has complaining?
Who has wounds without cause?
    Who has redness of eyes?
Those who linger late over wine,
    those who keep trying mixed wines.
Do not look at wine when it is red,
    when it sparkles in the cup
    and goes down smoothly.
At the last it bites like a serpent
    and stings like an adder.
Your eyes will see strange things,
    and your mind utter perverse things.
You will be like one who lies down in the midst of the sea,
    like one who lies on the top of a mast.
“They struck me,” you will say, “but I was not hurt;
    they beat me, but I did not feel it.
When shall I awake?
    I will seek another drink.” (Proverbs 23:29-35)