The last thing Drue Warner thought he’d ever do was launch a church — let alone a church based out of a brewery — but that’s exactly what he did. Good News Church opened in the spring of 2021 at Monkey Wrench Brewing in Suwanee. Warner is the lead pastor.
Warner grew up in South Florida. His father was a Presbyterian pastor and Warner attended private Christian school for years. Around the time Warner was preparing to leave for college, internal strife struck the family’s church, causing his father to resign and for many relationships to go up in smoke.
“When I left for college, I went with anger and hatred toward God and church. I was done with it, running as far as I could go,” said Warner, 53.
He moved to Atlanta after graduating college and entered the world of sales.
“I didn’t care about what I was doing,” said Warner. “I was out late partying in clubs and bars, up early working, burning the candle at both ends. That’s about the time I ended up running into God. He started to stir me with the awareness that I had no purpose. I asked myself, ‘Will I do this the rest of my life, then die and that be it?’ That created angst and fear. I had trouble sleeping and would take walks at 4 a.m., talking out loud to God.”
Warner began reading his Bible and the book of Romans caught his attention, specifically Romans 5:8.
“It says while we were sinners Christ died for us,” said Warner. “It hit me that God doesn’t love us because we’re good, he loves us unconditionally just as we are. That transformed my life.”
Ideas about ministry began to percolate in Warner’s head. Ministry isn’t what he really wanted to do, but he felt he was being led and was open to the unknown.
As fate would have it, doors began to open. He managed a mom-and-pop Christian bookstore in Roswell, went on to work for the Christian education branch of the Presbyterian Church in America, then joined the community outreach staff at Perimeter Church in Johns Creek.
Warner and Laura, his bride of 20 years, moved to a big neighborhood in Sugar Hill in 2003. They declared it ground zero for their personal ministry.