Mike Turrigiano / Vineyard Church

The Vineyard Church Toasts Jesus at Trash Bar

When the word “church” is mentioned, a few things come to mind: A pastor, standing at a pew, slowly reading from the Bible while a well-dressed audience silently sits. The normal image conjured up isn’t that of young folks sitting around in plain clothes, discussing Jesus over some brewskis. But that’s how North Brooklyn Vineyard does it.

The North Brooklyn Vineyard began six years ago at Grand Street’s Trash Bar, a dive bar and music venue that hosts underground shows. Every Sunday at 6 p.m., congregants meet to hold their weekly services and hang out. “There’s a huge amount of people that don’t affiliate with any religion, especially a Christian one, but are interested in G-d,” said Pastor Mike Turrigiano, who has been with his group since the beginning. “These people wouldn’t walk through the doors of your traditional church. We have a knack of making friends with them, putting aside all that extra baggage, forming friendships, and helping people connect with G-d.”

Turrigiano, who has been a pastor since the 1970’s, has been with the Vineyard Church for 16 years. The institution has over 1,500 branches worldwide, including the River Church in Manhattan. The pastor said that although they are very Orthodox in their Christian beliefs, North Brooklyn Vineyard welcomes people from all backgrounds.

In addition to the Trash Bar services, Sunday morning sermons are held at 11 a.m. at P.S. 132, and are more family-oriented. To make people feel welcome, the group holds holiday parties that don’t focus entirely on the religious aspects. “We are followers of Jesus, [but] we’re pretty down to Earth,” Turrigiano said.

The church’s dedication to Jesus and His principles are apparent not only in their services, but in their actions. On the third Sunday of each month, church volunteers go to the intersection of Division and Marcy Avenues and supply day laborers with coffee, umbrellas, and food. “Jesus cared for the underdogs of our society,” said Turrigiano. “If we’re supposed to be followers, [we need to show that] the community is important to us and to express love and care to those people.” During the Thanksgiving season, they deliver bags of groceries to the day laborers.

For Turrigiano, it’s been challenging but rewarding to have his church located in North Brooklyn. “We don’t have this big killer organization out there blowing everyone away and we’re not putting on a spectacular show,” he said. “But I know we are making a difference in a lot of people’s lives. We fly under the radar so to speak.”

Ryan Wobbrock, who is part of the church’s advisory team, said he is a follower because he’s found it to be functional for his life. It also helps that many of the congregants are his age, and that services don’t take place in a traditional setting. “The Trash Bar service is special because it’s more my speed. If I’m not at church and I’m out being social, I’ll be at a bar. So I’m pretty comfortable there.”

By holding meetings at Trash Bar, Wobbrock said North Brooklyn Vineyard is simply following the example of their leader and role model. “We didn’t think of this ourselves. We basically do what Jesus did. We go where the people are, and we aren’t interested in authorities or systems. It’s about connecting with the culture and people, wherever they are at, both physically and spiritually.”

Share