When the Rev Guy Mason was looking for a location to plant a church in Melbourne's Docklands area, he had no idea that a year later, he would be preaching in a brewery.
The Sydney Presbyterian owners of the James Squire Brewhouse and Restaurant were the ones to suggest that the space - which is a restaurant during the week - could be used for church activities on Sundays.
Like Sydney churches such as St Augustine’s Neutral bay and Wild Street Church, who each held weekly events including a talk at the local pub, the Docklands initiative has aroused a significant amount of media interest.
Since its October launch, the church has featured on Sunrise, and Mr Mason writes a regular column for the local paper.
The 100-strong congregation also made headlines in The Age for being "able to enjoy a pint of ale with their daily bread".
While Mr Mason has no qualms about a beer being sipped during a sermon, he says the 10:30am Sunday timeslot means coffee, rather than beer, is the order of the day.
The church plant " part of St James' Old Cathedral West Melbourne in partnership with St Jude's, Carlton " has grown from eight people to over 100, since its launched in October last year.
"In the early stages it was important to build a strong core team of Christian leaders, since our launch we are seeing people who haven't been part of a church for a few years, as well as people who don't have a faith," he says.
"It doesn't reek of old-school religion " it's a comfy space where people can hear about the awesome news of Jesus, and meet others who are looking to encounter God and get on board with His mission in the world."
Church members are connecting with the largely young professional local community through interest groups including a cycling group and a community choir.
"We didn't want to be yet another Christian ghetto hidden away from the world, but instead to be amongst the community with a passion to both know Jesus and make Him known," Mr Mason said.
A word from the congregation
Southern Cross spoke to Athol and Robyn Hill of Docklands' 10:30am congregation and asked why church in a brewery works for them.
Robyn: I did a Google search and ended up at St James' but the congregation was significantly older than us. We met Guy there, and he asked would we like to get involved.
Athol: My experience of church had been that you could literally recite the church service off by heart and it became a little bit monotonous. But here it's more unstructured, often with discussion groups.
Robyn: A lot of our friends who aren't churchgoers are definitely interested in coming along. It's great to be part of a church that's keen to embrace new things while keeping the core Bible message.
