Image Above by Jordan Stilist. Gonzo Photo by Fernando de Sousa. Penguin Image by Mark Lewis.
A little under a month ago I had written an article about humor and spirituality entitled “Religion: Not A Laughing Matter - Or Is It?” At the end of the article, I posed the question of how humor could be incorporated into worship. I honestly couldn’t think of any practical way of accomplishing this myself, so I asked my readers to give me suggestions. I was hoping for more of a response than what I received, but blogging rarely works out exactly the way you planned.
Ah well. The point was to try to spring board off of the creativity of my readers, which I’m able to do from the suggestions of Seth Pickens and Shelby Meyerhoff. My thanks to both of you. Lets start the list with their suggestions…
- Spontaneous Laughter - Imagine a minister stepping up to the pulpit and begin laughing, with seemingly no reason. This minister then tries to encourage her congregation into laughing with her. Kind of hard to imagine, right? Well, not really… remember that laughter is contagious. It may seem fictitious at first, but there seems to be a tipping point at which forced laughter becomes gen
uine. Of course, this isn’t something that should be done every Sunday, but for that one special Sunday your church could be filled with cleansing laughter. This tip was provided by Seth Pickens. - Humorous Illustrations - I don’t know about the rest of you, but the first thing I go for when I read the local paper is the cartoon section. Maybe I just never grew up, but a little laughter always makes the rest of the news paper a little easier to read. Using a humorous cartoon or illustration that is related to the sermon topic is a good means of easing into heavier topics. This suggestion was given by Shelby Meyerhoff.
- Self Deprecating Humor - Sometimes a congregation needs reminding by their minister that she is human as well. Being able to frame your own short comings in humor isn’t always an easy task and, as with all of these suggestions, can be over used. However, a person anecdote in which you place yourself as the butt of the joke can be both illuminating and endearing.
- Children at the Pulpit - Is there no lesson that children cannot teach us? Aside from unintentional humor, which is the hallmark of any good Christmas Pageant, the way in which children see the world around them does not only provide practical wisdom, but can also be pretty darn funny. Can children run an entire service? Not without help. I think it is safe to say that a service written and given by children would be unlike any service you’ve ever seen before.
- New Twist On Old Stories - Don’t be afraid to add a humorous twist to a familiar story - it catches people off guard. However relevant the story is, if the congregation had heard it before, the message of the story will not register. By adding that unexpected twist, not only do you get them to chuckle, but you get their attention as well.
- Pop-Culture References - I’ve come to the realization that pop-culture exists only to keep comedians employed. Why not take a page from their play-book and put it to good use at church? Not only will you seem more topical and interesting as a minister, but using current events or trends as your examples makes your message more relevant to your listeners. And, of course, there is the added bonus of getting paid to make fun of pop-culture.
- Quote Comedians - Most of comedy these days are not made up of joke or
running gags, but rather are stories that end in an absurd moment. Stories can always be used to demonstrate a message in a sermon, so why not use comedic quotes in your service? The work is done for you, all that you need to do is frame the story with a moral or lesson.
I hope you find these suggestions inspirational. I know of a couple I plan on bringing up in my next worship associates meeting. Perhaps we can begin a service with a quote from The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy… hrm.
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February 7th, 2008 at 9:43 am
You certainly can’t go wrong starting a service quoting from Hitchhiker’s!
People tell me I’m funny. While this is often true, I have no idea what I’m doing that makes things so funny. I wish I could tell you how I do this so you could incorporate it into worship services. But I think it might just be that ol’ Irish gene for storytelling.
February 7th, 2008 at 10:08 am
I very much agree with the idea that humor is useful in worship, but I think it’s tricky to stage. It’s most helpful, I think, when it bubbles up spontaneously. That said, I have occasionally built a sermon around humor. One notable one was in a very humanist congregation which hated to hear the word “God”; I found several readings which depicted God in funny ways (not insulting) and themed the sermon around what I felt the funny stories said (our disappointment with God, our relationship with creation, our own shortcomings, etc.). Another one was entitled “America’s Holy Fool”, which featured a lot of Garrison Keillor shots at Unitarians and tying it together by identifying UUs as the honorable holder of the title “Holy Fool”, which speaks truth to power through humor.
February 7th, 2008 at 2:32 pm
One potential pitfall of counting on children to say humorous things in church is that sometimes it can be difficult for the children themselves to understand that they are not being laughed AT by the adults. What seems hilarious to a grown-up may be painfully serious to a kid….
February 8th, 2008 at 11:49 am
I much prefer the idea of children as worship leaders, rather than just parading them forward during “Time for All Ages.” I don’t doubt that some children enjoy Time for All Ages, but in other cases it simply puts children in an uncomfortable spotlight. I went to a conference on intergenerational worship where the advice was given not to bring children forward unless there is something going on that they really can’t see from their pew.
February 9th, 2008 at 11:31 pm
Hello Kelly,
As Ms. Kitty notes in the next comment, it isn’t easy to stage humor. However, if you can manage to get into the right mindset, it can come very naturally… Especially for us Irish Kin.
Hello Ms. Kitty,
You know, I would really like to read your “Holy Fool” sermon sometime… There is a great deal of truth in humor, but I think the important thing is that humor doesn’t take itself too seriously. Once we start taking “Truth” too seriously, it has a tendency to become dogma.
Hello Eclectic Cleric,
I haven’t see you for a while… Nice to have you back! While I appreciate your point, I think that is also a very important lesson for children to learn - laughter does not always mean one thinks less of another. Sometimes people laugh because they see in their child an aspect of themselves, or a truth that they have never considered before.
Hello Shelby,
Concerning children as worship leader - THINK of how much they would learn from that experience. I really think offering the children of a church the chance to collectively write and give a “sermon” (could be in the form of a morality play) once a year or so is much more rewarding to the children and to the congregation.
Namaste To You All.