A local minister has come up with a plan to convert an underused church gym into a microbrewery and says the space would give people a place to connect and converse about creating social change.

The congregation at Hillhurst United Church has been talking about what to do with the attached gym for the past eight years and so far none of the ideas have panned out.

The gym was built in 1955 and is being underused so Minister John Pentland decided to float an idea to church members to repurpose the space and open a microbrewery.

Pentland says the idea came to him while he was riding his bike through the snow and he pitched it to the congregation on April Fool’s Day in his Easter Sunday sermon.

He says the concept has been well received by parishioners and people outside of the congregation.

“Let’s play with the idea. We’re going to investigate it because we’ll see what the will of the congregation is, number one, it’s their church, and two, the will of the community. We’re not out to be competitors with Kensington, we’re out to be a partner in all that goes on in this great neighbourhood.”

He says the space would give the church the opportunity to connect with the wider community and have meaningful conversations about creating positive change.

“The church and the coffee shop are really the connection this day in our culture because what’s happening at coffee shops should be happening at church and we need to have a bridge. So here’s a bridge to microbreweries, which I think are great in this city, there’s something like, 25, they’re neighbourhood, they’re not bars, they’re not about drinking or watching a TV, it’s about actually engaging with conversation with one another so the idea of conversation and question is how this all emerged on April Fool’s,” he said.

Pentland has even come up with a few names for the brewery and some of the brews on tap.

“Maybe it’s going to be called Revelations or maybe it’s going to be called The Confession Box who knows,” said Pentland. “And maybe the brewery has different titles like, The Pastor’s Pilsner or Bethlehem’s Best or maybe a light beer like, Holy Water, who knows.”

A decision has not been made on the future of the gym but Pentland says some members of his congregation have already stepped forward and offered to help.