A CHURCH of England vicar has caused a stir by having beer mats printed and placed in all the pubs in Wimborne.

Reverend Peter Breckwoldt also prayed over the beer pumps for all the people who serve and drink beer to raise the profile of St John’s Take It As Red mission.

The pastor said: “Jesus himself liked to meet with publicans. If it’s good enough for Jesus, it’s good enough for us.

“We had beer mats placed in all the pubs with the slogan – what if Jesus really meant what he said? This is to make people think and raise the profile of the Take It As Red mission at St John’s Church.” Youth leader Steve Atkins came up with the idea for the mission which aims to focus on the words said by Jesus in the Bible, as these often appear in red.

He said: “We want people to really focus on Jesus’s words and take them as a guide as people can take a lot for granted.

Take It As Red is also a play on words with take it as accepted, so we want to take the words of Jesus at face value.”

St John’s in Wimborne organised a range of fun and dynamic events for the week from September 30 to October 6 including a fashion show and a silent disco.

Former Portsmouth footballer Linvoy Primus joined members of the congregation for the men’s beer tasting event last month.