Expert: Mrs. Priscilla Lyons - 3/29/2005

Question
Hello Mrs. Lyons,

I hope you are the proper person to direct this question to, but if not, I apologize in advance.  My wife and I will be celebrating our 29th Anniversary this summer, and we have engaged the services of a Southern Baptist quartet as the entertainment.  There is a very informal (outdoor) barbeque meal before the entertainment, and the quartet has been invited.  This is family entertainment, but there will be beer and wine served during and after our meal.  It is by no means a "drinking party", and in our fifth year of celebrating like this there has never been a problem of any kind, alcohol-related or not.  Many of the attendees are elderly (age 80 and above), and the younger guests are families with children and grandchildren.  In fact, my own grandchildren will be there (I'm 52), and I would not put them into a situation where there would be a potential problem.  I apologize for the lenghty explanation, my real question/concern is that I don't want to offend our guests/entertainers!  We are not Baptist, I was raised Catholic, so I am not familiar with the proper procedures where alcohol is used.  Naturally, there will be iced tea, soft drinks, etc. at this barbeque, but will our Southern Baptist quartet be offended if alcohol is present?  Naturally, I could come right out and ask them, and I probably will, but I'm not even sure if just asking the question would be offensive.  If you would like me to elaborate in any way, please feel free to send me an e-mail.

Thank you for your time, and may God Bless you.

Bill


Answer
Dear Bill,
   Thank you for writing.  Your question is very relevant to me since I deal with conservative and liberal Southern Baptists, and some in between.  Also our son is in a quartet that has weathered some storms coming to the decision to perform only songs with Christian words.  Does the group you've engaged perform songs with secular words also?  If not, they would probably prefer to just come sing and not be a part of the barbecue, but that's not a given.
   You won't offend them by mentioning there will be alcohol at the barbeque and giving them a chance to consider their response.  I think they would feel honored that you considered their feelings on the subject.  
   Celebrating 29 years of marriage is a wonderful achievement considering how our self-centered culture has beat up marriage pretty badly.  May you have many more years to continue being a good example for your children and grandchildren.
   Have a great day and a great forever through Jesus!
   Priscilla Lyons