diff --git a/docs/sanic/deploying.md b/docs/sanic/deploying.md
index 0c526efe..d5f3ad06 100644
--- a/docs/sanic/deploying.md
+++ b/docs/sanic/deploying.md
@@ -7,15 +7,6 @@ keyword arguments:
 - `host` *(default `"127.0.0.1"`)*: Address to host the server on.
 - `port` *(default `8000`)*: Port to host the server on.
 - `debug` *(default `False`)*: Enables debug output (slows server).
-- `before_start` *(default `None`)*: Function or list of functions to be executed
-                           before the server starts accepting connections.
-- `after_start` *(default `None`)*: Function or list of functions to be executed
-                    after the server starts accepting connections.
-- `before_stop` *(default `None`)*: Function or list of functions to be
-                    executed when a stop signal is received before it is
-                    respected.
-- `after_stop` *(default `None`)*: Function or list of functions to be executed
-                    when all requests are complete.
 - `ssl` *(default `None`)*: `SSLContext` for SSL encryption of worker(s).
 - `sock` *(default `None`)*: Socket for the server to accept connections from.
 - `workers` *(default `1`)*: Number of worker processes to spawn.
diff --git a/examples/limit_concurrency.py b/examples/limit_concurrency.py
index 16307462..8d38a813 100644
--- a/examples/limit_concurrency.py
+++ b/examples/limit_concurrency.py
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@ app = Sanic(__name__)
 
 sem = None
 
+@app.listener('before_server_start')
 def init(sanic, loop):
     global sem
     CONCURRENCY_PER_WORKER = 4
@@ -33,4 +34,4 @@ async def test(request):
         return json(response)
 
 
-app.run(host="0.0.0.0", port=8000, workers=2, before_start=init)
+app.run(host="0.0.0.0", port=8000, workers=2)
diff --git a/examples/sanic_aiopg_example.py b/examples/sanic_aiopg_example.py
index fb1ea100..16bde35f 100644
--- a/examples/sanic_aiopg_example.py
+++ b/examples/sanic_aiopg_example.py
@@ -26,6 +26,7 @@ async def get_pool():
 
 app = Sanic(name=__name__)
 
+@app.listener('before_server_start')
 async def prepare_db(app, loop):
     """
     Let's create some table and add some data
@@ -61,5 +62,4 @@ async def handle(request):
 if __name__ == '__main__':
     app.run(host='0.0.0.0',
             port=8000,
-            debug=True,
-            before_start=prepare_db)
+            debug=True)
diff --git a/examples/sanic_aiopg_sqlalchemy_example.py b/examples/sanic_aiopg_sqlalchemy_example.py
index 802d4fbe..34bda28a 100644
--- a/examples/sanic_aiopg_sqlalchemy_example.py
+++ b/examples/sanic_aiopg_sqlalchemy_example.py
@@ -32,7 +32,7 @@ polls = sa.Table('sanic_polls', metadata,
 
 app = Sanic(name=__name__)
 
-
+@app.listener('before_server_start')
 async def prepare_db(app, loop):
     """ Let's add some data
 
@@ -58,9 +58,10 @@ async def handle(request):
         async with engine.acquire() as conn:
             result = []
             async for row in conn.execute(polls.select()):
-                result.append({"question": row.question, "pub_date": row.pub_date})
+                result.append({"question": row.question,
+                               "pub_date": row.pub_date})
             return json({"polls": result})
 
 
 if __name__ == '__main__':
-    app.run(host='0.0.0.0', port=8000, before_start=prepare_db)
+    app.run(host='0.0.0.0', port=8000)
diff --git a/examples/sanic_asyncpg_example.py b/examples/sanic_asyncpg_example.py
index 9bb7d9c1..633fc50a 100644
--- a/examples/sanic_asyncpg_example.py
+++ b/examples/sanic_asyncpg_example.py
@@ -27,6 +27,7 @@ def jsonify(records):
 
 app = Sanic(__name__)
 
+@app.listener('before_server_start')
 async def create_db(app, loop):
     """
     Create some table and add some data
@@ -55,4 +56,4 @@ async def handler(request):
 
 
 if __name__ == '__main__':
-    app.run(host='0.0.0.0', port=8000, before_start=create_db)
+    app.run(host='0.0.0.0', port=8000)
diff --git a/examples/sanic_peewee.py b/examples/sanic_peewee.py
index f3981b36..8db8ddff 100644
--- a/examples/sanic_peewee.py
+++ b/examples/sanic_peewee.py
@@ -14,14 +14,6 @@ from peewee_async import Manager, PostgresqlDatabase
 
  # we instantiate a custom loop so we can pass it to our db manager
 
-def setup(app, loop):
-    database = PostgresqlDatabase(database='test',
-                                  host='127.0.0.1',
-                                  user='postgres',
-                                  password='mysecretpassword')
-
-    objects = Manager(database, loop=loop)
-
 ## from peewee_async docs:
 # Also there’s no need to connect and re-connect before executing async queries
 # with manager! It’s all automatic. But you can run Manager.connect() or
@@ -48,6 +40,15 @@ objects.database.allow_sync = False # this will raise AssertionError on ANY sync
 
 app = Sanic('peewee_example')
 
+@app.listener('before_server_start')
+def setup(app, loop):
+    database = PostgresqlDatabase(database='test',
+                                  host='127.0.0.1',
+                                  user='postgres',
+                                  password='mysecretpassword')
+
+    objects = Manager(database, loop=loop)
+
 @app.route('/post/<key>/<value>')
 async def post(request, key, value):
     """
@@ -75,4 +76,4 @@ async def get(request):
 
 
 if __name__ == "__main__":
-    app.run(host='0.0.0.0', port=8000, before_start=setup)
+    app.run(host='0.0.0.0', port=8000)
diff --git a/examples/try_everything.py b/examples/try_everything.py
index f386fb03..e94ffc6e 100644
--- a/examples/try_everything.py
+++ b/examples/try_everything.py
@@ -64,12 +64,14 @@ def query_string(request):
 # Run Server
 # ----------------------------------------------- #
 
+@app.listener('after_server_start')
 def after_start(app, loop):
     log.info("OH OH OH OH OHHHHHHHH")
 
 
+@app.listener('before_server_stop')
 def before_stop(app, loop):
     log.info("TRIED EVERYTHING")
 
 
-app.run(host="0.0.0.0", port=8000, debug=True, after_start=after_start, before_stop=before_stop)
+app.run(host="0.0.0.0", port=8000, debug=True)
diff --git a/sanic/blueprints.py b/sanic/blueprints.py
index 0c14f4bc..64a37da0 100644
--- a/sanic/blueprints.py
+++ b/sanic/blueprints.py
@@ -65,6 +65,11 @@ class Blueprint:
             app.static(uri, future.file_or_directory,
                        *future.args, **future.kwargs)
 
+        # Event listeners
+        for event, listeners in self.listeners.items():
+            for listener in listeners:
+                app.listener(event)(listener)
+
     def route(self, uri, methods=frozenset({'GET'}), host=None):
         """
         Creates a blueprint route from a decorated function.
diff --git a/sanic/sanic.py b/sanic/sanic.py
index 079049ca..337c486a 100644
--- a/sanic/sanic.py
+++ b/sanic/sanic.py
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@ import logging
 import re
 import warnings
 from asyncio import get_event_loop
-from collections import deque
+from collections import deque, defaultdict
 from functools import partial
 from inspect import isawaitable, stack, getmodulename
 from traceback import format_exc
@@ -10,8 +10,8 @@ from urllib.parse import urlencode, urlunparse
 
 from .config import Config
 from .constants import HTTP_METHODS
-from .handlers import ErrorHandler
 from .exceptions import ServerError, URLBuildError
+from .handlers import ErrorHandler
 from .log import log
 from .response import HTTPResponse
 from .router import Router
@@ -21,6 +21,7 @@ from .views import CompositionView
 
 
 class Sanic:
+
     def __init__(self, name=None, router=None,
                  error_handler=None):
         # Only set up a default log handler if the
@@ -46,6 +47,7 @@ class Sanic:
         self.debug = None
         self.sock = None
         self.processes = None
+        self.listeners = defaultdict(list)
 
         # Register alternative method names
         self.go_fast = self.run
@@ -61,6 +63,18 @@ class Sanic:
     # Registration
     # -------------------------------------------------------------------- #
 
+    # Decorator
+    def listener(self, event):
+        """
+        Create a listener from a decorated function.
+
+        :param event: Event to listen to.
+        """
+        def decorator(listener):
+            self.listeners[event].append(listener)
+            return listener
+        return decorator
+
     # Decorator
     def route(self, uri, methods=frozenset({'GET'}), host=None):
         """
@@ -419,6 +433,7 @@ class Sanic:
             after_stop=after_stop, ssl=ssl, sock=sock, workers=workers,
             loop=loop, protocol=protocol, backlog=backlog,
             stop_event=stop_event, register_sys_signals=register_sys_signals)
+
         try:
             if workers == 1:
                 serve(**server_settings)
@@ -473,6 +488,16 @@ class Sanic:
                           "pull/335 has more information.",
                           DeprecationWarning)
 
+        # Deprecate this
+        if any(arg is not None for arg in (after_stop, after_start,
+                                           before_start, before_stop)):
+            if debug:
+                warnings.simplefilter('default')
+            warnings.warn("Passing a before_start, before_stop, after_start or"
+                          "after_stop callback will be deprecated in next "
+                          "major version after 0.4.0",
+                          DeprecationWarning)
+
         self.error_handler.debug = debug
         self.debug = debug
         loop = self.loop
@@ -497,19 +522,18 @@ class Sanic:
         # Register start/stop events
         # -------------------------------------------- #
 
-        for event_name, settings_name, args, reverse in (
-                ("before_server_start", "before_start", before_start, False),
-                ("after_server_start", "after_start", after_start, False),
-                ("before_server_stop", "before_stop", before_stop, True),
-                ("after_server_stop", "after_stop", after_stop, True),
+        for event_name, settings_name, reverse, args in (
+                ("before_server_start", "before_start", False, before_start),
+                ("after_server_start", "after_start", False, after_start),
+                ("before_server_stop", "before_stop", True, before_stop),
+                ("after_server_stop", "after_stop", True, after_stop),
         ):
-            listeners = []
-            for blueprint in self.blueprints.values():
-                listeners += blueprint.listeners[event_name]
+            listeners = self.listeners[event_name].copy()
             if args:
                 if callable(args):
-                    args = [args]
-                listeners += args
+                    listeners.append(args)
+                else:
+                    listeners.extend(args)
             if reverse:
                 listeners.reverse()
             # Prepend sanic to the arguments when listeners are triggered
diff --git a/sanic/utils.py b/sanic/utils.py
index 8e8f8124..272ec8a8 100644
--- a/sanic/utils.py
+++ b/sanic/utils.py
@@ -28,6 +28,7 @@ def sanic_endpoint_test(app, method='get', uri='/', gather_request=True,
                 results[0] = request
         app.request_middleware.appendleft(_collect_request)
 
+    @app.listener('after_server_start')
     async def _collect_response(sanic, loop):
         try:
             response = await local_request(method, uri, *request_args,
@@ -37,8 +38,8 @@ def sanic_endpoint_test(app, method='get', uri='/', gather_request=True,
             exceptions.append(e)
         app.stop()
 
-    app.run(host=HOST, debug=debug, port=PORT,
-            after_start=_collect_response, **server_kwargs)
+    app.run(host=HOST, debug=debug, port=PORT, **server_kwargs)
+    app.listeners['after_server_start'].pop()
 
     if exceptions:
         raise ValueError("Exception during request: {}".format(exceptions))
diff --git a/tests/test_bad_request.py b/tests/test_bad_request.py
index 095f4ab1..bf595085 100644
--- a/tests/test_bad_request.py
+++ b/tests/test_bad_request.py
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@ from sanic import Sanic
 def test_bad_request_response():
     app = Sanic('test_bad_request_response')
     lines = []
+    @app.listener('after_server_start')
     async def _request(sanic, loop):
         connect = asyncio.open_connection('127.0.0.1', 42101)
         reader, writer = await connect
@@ -15,6 +16,6 @@ def test_bad_request_response():
                 break
             lines.append(line)
         app.stop()
-    app.run(host='127.0.0.1', port=42101, debug=False, after_start=_request)
+    app.run(host='127.0.0.1', port=42101, debug=False)
     assert lines[0] == b'HTTP/1.1 400 Bad Request\r\n'
     assert lines[-1] == b'Error: Bad Request'
diff --git a/tests/test_server_events.py b/tests/test_server_events.py
index fce98440..3335489e 100644
--- a/tests/test_server_events.py
+++ b/tests/test_server_events.py
@@ -9,10 +9,10 @@ from sanic import Sanic
 from sanic.utils import HOST, PORT
 
 AVAILABLE_LISTENERS = [
-    'before_start',
-    'after_start',
-    'before_stop',
-    'after_stop'
+    'before_server_start',
+    'after_server_start',
+    'before_server_stop',
+    'after_server_stop'
 ]
 
 
@@ -42,9 +42,10 @@ def test_single_listener(listener_name):
     random_name_app = Sanic(''.join(
         [choice(ascii_letters) for _ in range(choice(range(5, 10)))]))
     output = list()
-    start_stop_app(
-        random_name_app,
-        **{listener_name: create_listener(listener_name, output)})
+    # Register listener
+    random_name_app.listener(listener_name)(
+        create_listener(listener_name, output))
+    start_stop_app(random_name_app)
     assert random_name_app.name + listener_name == output.pop()
 
 
@@ -52,9 +53,9 @@ def test_all_listeners():
     random_name_app = Sanic(''.join(
         [choice(ascii_letters) for _ in range(choice(range(5, 10)))]))
     output = list()
-    start_stop_app(
-        random_name_app,
-        **{listener_name: create_listener(listener_name, output)
-           for listener_name in AVAILABLE_LISTENERS})
+    for listener_name in AVAILABLE_LISTENERS:
+        listener = create_listener(listener_name, output)
+        random_name_app.listener(listener_name)(listener)
+    start_stop_app(random_name_app)
     for listener_name in AVAILABLE_LISTENERS:
         assert random_name_app.name + listener_name == output.pop()
diff --git a/tests/test_signal_handlers.py b/tests/test_signal_handlers.py
index 756df828..3654e57c 100644
--- a/tests/test_signal_handlers.py
+++ b/tests/test_signal_handlers.py
@@ -27,10 +27,11 @@ def test_register_system_signals():
     async def hello_route(request):
         return HTTPResponse()
 
-    app.run(HOST, PORT,
-            before_start=set_loop,
-            after_start=stop,
-            after_stop=after)
+    app.listener('after_server_start')(stop)
+    app.listener('before_server_start')(set_loop)
+    app.listener('after_server_stop')(after)
+
+    app.run(HOST, PORT)
     assert calledq.get() == True
 
 
@@ -42,9 +43,9 @@ def test_dont_register_system_signals():
     async def hello_route(request):
         return HTTPResponse()
 
-    app.run(HOST, PORT,
-            before_start=set_loop,
-            after_start=stop,
-            after_stop=after,
-            register_sys_signals=False)
+    app.listener('after_server_start')(stop)
+    app.listener('before_server_start')(set_loop)
+    app.listener('after_server_stop')(after)
+
+    app.run(HOST, PORT, register_sys_signals=False)
     assert calledq.get() == False