We interview the editor-in-chief of VICE about their documentary on the ‘Drunken Glory’
The ‘Drunken Glory’, rooted in American evangelism, is the act of completely losing it on the word of God, becoming incapacitated through sheer joy of prayer and appearing, well, drunk. The ‘glory’ has been around for a while, coming out of nowhere and possessing worshippers at religious events, such as the Florida Outpouring and the Toronto Blessing of the 90s. But lately, YouTube preachers have been taking it in a new direction. And in VICE’s new documentary, they go to meet one of them: Brandon Barthrop is getting high on Jesus, by sniffing frankincense and smoking invisible spliffs. As an ex-meth addict, life for Brandon wasn’t always so great, though. So VICE spent time with Brandon’s ex-mentor as well, John Crowder – evangelical superstar and preacher of the ‘glory’ – to understand Brandon’s success and the rise of the ‘Drunken Glory’. We caught up with editor-in-chief at VICE UK, Alex Miller, to find out more – can God really get you high for free?
Brandon and his Red Letter Ministries (RLM) aren’t your average evangelicals – how did you find out about them?
I was introduced to their website by one of our writers, whose rasion d’être is basically finding obscure bullshit on the internet. Initially, I couldn’t work out what was going on – the website was so painfully confusing that I called Brandon up for a chat instead. The plan was to write an article on the guy, but the deeper I got into it, the more I realized the ‘Drunken Glory’ movement deserved its own film. Besides, we all wanted to know if these guys really were stoned, purely on the sweet love of Jesus.
And were they?
Yeah, it was something to behold. When we first met them at Brandon’s house, we came away from it saying, “Right, these guys are definitely all on meth – there’s no way they’re not massively fucked right now.” But the more time we spent with them, it was clear they weren’t. They just glide through life on the eternal, ethereal buzz, which they reckon comes from Christ. And they weren’t your stereotypical recovering addicts – they were charming, letting us into their houses and lives – it was a real pleasure.
Good vibes all around then. What was the deal with snorting frankincense though – did it add to their holy stupor?
Who knows? It certainly didn’t add to mine. I gave it a go but it was horrible, really horrible. Nobody’s meant to snort liquids – it just becomes a pretty oily, nauseating experience. You don’t have to worry about it catching on over here, it’s a pretty shit way to get high. This is what makes Brandon and his RLM different from John Crowder though. Crowder’s following are much straighter, pretty normal English people – classic evangelicals really, whereas the RLM live by these far-out 10 commandments that are just a bit too intense for most.
Could you see yourself going for John’s version of the Drunken Glory more than Brandon’s then?
Nah, not really. I mean it was interesting because he was such a hit with his followers – a real superstar – and he was engaging them so well with his religion. But I’m a cynical guy, so I get a little embarrassed by the whole “I’m the cool preacher, yo, get down with the word of Christ!” I prefer the stern Catholic priest-type, with his traditions and constant warnings of hell. His method was definitely more what you would associate with classical American evangelism.
Was it weird to be at John’s gig, in a pub, surrounded by people off their heads on nothing more than the Drunken Glory?
Of course. Seeing people lose their shit on the word of the Lord like that – even the bar staff were taken aback. They were going into fits of delirium, purely from being at his event. Maybe I’m just used to dealing with the quietly religious. But if this kind of thing’s your bag, I’ve been reliably informed that the pub is something of a hotspot for born-again Christians.
I noticed Crowder and Brandon have a bit of history – did you try to reunite them?
That would’ve been a nice idea, albeit a logistical headache – they were separated by the Atlantic at the time. I can see that it’s a shame that the two are no longer friends, but I definitely got the impression that Crowder wanted to distance himself from Brandon and his rag-tag rabble. Crowder’s a nice guy, just different: his style is more international, less renegade and very successful.
Was Brandon still well received at that massive evangelical gathering towards the end of the film?
Well it’s an entire church of Christians at Christmas – you’re not going to come across a cheerier bunch than that. So yeah, everyone was great. Brandon tried to play it all sarcastic, being like: “Oh yeah this is gonna be cool, yo, I’m really excited about this”. But actually, I think he really was touched. I caught him a couple of times during the service – you could swear that he was welling up. He hadn’t been to that kind of church in a long time, even though religion is such a large part of his life. There was no way it wasn’t a big deal for him.
So what does the future hold for Brandon and the RLM?
Last time I checked, things were still going strong. Although it might seem a strange-to-us type of evangelism, it’s actually rampant – it’s all over the place. Brandon is just a funny, small example of the DIY approach that many Christian sects are taking these days. He’s Minneapolis’s very own hipster John the Baptist, guiding his flock from YouTube-upon-high. I could never see him doing anything else – I mean, who’s going to hire the guy? He’s too pissed on Christ. If anything, I’d like to see their web-store pick up again. They used to do some sick merchandise. I was hoping he’d sort me out with a nice t-shirt, but he never did.
You can watch the full documentary here.
All images: VICE.
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