[Lekooks] Site for online bartender courses

[Rev. Matt Aspin]

Thank you for posing the question Lynne. I suspect many have similar questions. I'll do my best to provide the answers, as I know them, here.

Background:
A long time, frequent visitor John Angus (who is resistant to the idea of organizational membership, but may join LCCUC eventually, and who would certainly be deemed a friend regardless), spent life as an event planner. He has been renting our space as an individual and creating events that are open to the community that have been attended each time by dozens of LCUUC members (the last event attracted almost 40 guests).

John is more a visionary than an Operations Person. Despite the success of these events, there have been some logistical gaps. (ie Planning for enough food, volunteer support, permitting for alcohol, etc)

Current phase:
The Executive team met with John this past week to see if we could continue to support his efforts while working through some of these challenges. We learned early in the conversation that the reason John has been renting our space and incurring significant expense to host these events has been an intention to expand awareness of this community which he values by inviting outsiders into our home with the hope that a few might like what they have found and decide to join our cause.

Once we understood this, we recognized that John's intentions aligned both with our community outreach and adult enrichment objectives. Rather than having him be just an outside renter of our space, we offered to try out partnering with him, to help provide the logistical support that would ensure his events deliver on his visions.

Part of Johns vision is that this event be a night out for folks, and as part of that he believes that having libations available might be an attractive option for some folks in the wider community. Mike and I thoroughly researched the relevant laws (and trust me...they are extensive!), and determined what we would need to do as a church to support John's vision.

Because these events typically involve outside talents that require payment (speakers, musicians, etc), John wants to encourage donations to offset costs. He is committed to donating any profits he earns to the church. ANY time you are collecting money, there can be no alcohol present (even BYOB). To include alcohol, there are strict guidelines about permitting, what can and can't be served, and who can do the serving.
In an effort to support John's vision (which, again, aligns with several of our churches goals), we agreed to help out with some logistical support, including volunteer coordination and permitting.

All of this is a work in process. It began as John making his way on his own, and demonstrating (through creation of these events, and more importantly, the popularity of them), that there is a hunger in our community for events of this type.  Having learned this, the Executive Committee decided to offer support to his efforts since the hoped for outcomes seemed mutually beneficial.

Each thing we do is an experiment. Some things work well, others don't. Along the way, we calibrate our compass through feedback. My sense is that these events, so far, have generated a great deal of positive feedback, but also some concern. My invitation to all, for this and for all aspects of our church community, is to share your thoughts and engage in dialogue. If you have concerns, or ideas, or questions, I would encourage you to seek out John and share them. The worst thing that could happen is you might develop a new friendship! But if that doesn't feel right, you are ALWAYS encouraged to seek out a Board Member, or me, to express your concerns. We may not ALWAYS be able to make the exact decision that you hope for, but...what we can do is listen to ALL of the feedback that comes in about things (both positive and negative) and use that feedback to guide our ultimate decisions.

As I often say...this church is where we have the chance to practice representative democracy, and become the type of informed citizens our nation needs us to be.

Thank you again, Lynne, for posing this question. This is how we find our way forward, together.

Rev Matt



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________________________________
From: Lekooks <lekooks-bounces at lekook.org> on behalf of Lynne Smith via Lekooks <lekooks at lekook.org>
Sent: Friday, June 13, 2025 9:33:30 AM
To: Michael McNett <michael.mcnett at sbcglobal.net>
Cc: Open Mic LCUUC <lekooks at lekook.org>
Subject: Re: [Lekooks] Site for online bartender courses

I’m just wondering…a couple of questions regarding alcohol at church events:
1. Is alcohol really necessary at these events?!
2. What about BYOB?
3. If we don’t sell alcohol and just ask for a donation, my understanding is that we don’t need licenses?
Thanks for the clarification, Lynne

On Jun 11, 2025, at 12:00 PM, Michael McNett via Lekooks <lekooks at lekook.org> wrote:


For those interested, I forgot to include a link to the WI govt. site that contains multiple online courses to choose from.  Here it is:

DOR Alcohol Seller/Server<https://www.revenue.wi.gov/Pages/Training/alcSellerServer.aspx>

DOR Alcohol Seller/Server<https://www.revenue.wi.gov/Pages/Training/alcSellerServer.aspx>

Thanks again!
Mike


Nehru to Gandhi, on his deathbed: "Mahatma, in your lifetime, you have turned the world utterly upside down. How must that feel??"

Gandhi: "Yes, I turned the world upside down. I stood on my head."

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