A Camden vicar wants to turn his church into a ‘live music venue’
He said: ‘Jesus turned water into wine for a reason’
It turns out a Camden-based Vicar wants to be able to serve alcohol in his church.
Father Tom Plant is currently waiting to hear back from Camden Borough Council after he submitted an application at the beginning of this month.
Fr. Tom plans to turn the church, which is right next to Camden Town tube station, into a “live music venue” for bands to play to a crowd of 300 as well as installing a bar, new lighting and a sound system.
Speaking to The Telegraph earlier this month, Fr. Tom said he wanted to use the church as part of a ‘cultural outreach’ to “put the church on the cultural map”.
The licence would allow the Reverend to serve alcohol and play live or recorded music between 7pm and 11pm from Monday to Friday.
His application was to be decided last Tuesday but this was put on hold after police said the church’s religious ornaments could be used as weapons by party-goers.
Police were also concerned that St. Michael’s didn’t have enough CCTV and that people could conceal themselves behind pillars.
Fr. Tom said: “It’s not a place to come and get drunk, but we’re not a church that shies away from alcohol…We believe Jesus turned water into wine for a reason.”
The Reverend is into his Heavy Metal music and is big fan of American rock group, Nine Inch Nails. When he announced his plans originally, he assured worried parishioners that the venue wouldn’t be used for rock concerts because it would “not work acoustically”.
A date for a new hearing has yet to be decided.