HELLO!

On Saturday I was driving to the church and listening to one of my favorite radio programs, CBC Radio’s Under the Influence with Terry O'Reilly. This specific episode had this theme: “With congregations declining, churches are using their signs as marketing tools to attract new members. And they’re using humour to do it. We’ll look at the history of funny church signs, we’ll examine how effective they are, we’ll talk about some of the funniest ones we’ve seen”. It’s 27 minutes long, and I learned a lot about how churches have wrestled with using their signs to draw attention to their ministry and mission. I hope you will give it a listen: https://www.cbc.ca/listen/live-radio/1-70-under-the-influence/clip/16159300-one-sentence-sermons-the-wit-church-signs

Today Dwight sent me this cartoon, once again reinforcing how humour and church, even during funerals, remains a constant ingredient in a church’s understanding of where God is, how God works, and the importance of humility when certainty becomes a temptation. I remember a earnest AST student, the same age as me, who was assigned to a church where I was the minister. She was/is a most gift minister, the congregations she serves deeply value her commitment, pastoral care and attention to justice. When I asked her if there was anything I needed to know about her she told me about her tendency to cry. So when funerals would be held at the church, and would preside and preach, I would typically, in the midst of naming the sadness, the grief and the pain of loss, name some funny moments created by the deceased. The family loved it, it provided a release of sorts, the laughter was like a necessary way of balancing the tears. And, standing at the entry way, as people were leaving, compliments about the way the service made them cry and laugh puzzled the AST student. For her humour just didn’t fit a funeral.

And it’s not just funerals. Some folks just can’t get their heads around laughing and faith being connected. I remember one well known preacher, at a seminar I attended in Bangor, telling we preachers “If God made us to cry and to laugh, why would be deny one or the other?” I have always remembered this. I love how we are currently living in a moment of inclusion and diversity, at least in Canada. As difficult as our time is, if you look back at our forebearers, they would marvel at the ways we have found room for groups historically marginalized. But there are other ways our sense of being part of community are not as healthy as the past. With the advent of the personal computer, we have access to information like never before. That is good. But the confidence, the arrogance, this provides can be problematic. We now feel facts are a matter of opinion. Persons with education, training and experience are dismissed when our own limited search on Google tells us what we want to hear. In this moment, being able to laugh at ourselves, our certainty, is helpful and necessary. When we get very intense, preachy, self-righteous, holier-than-thou, injecting a little self-depreciating humour is often what is required.

Church signs can help remind us of this, especially when drivers are filled with road rage, listening to some host who is “preaching to the converted” on some political issue of the day. Laughing at ourselves can bring the gift of humility and potentially broaden our perspective.

Peace, Kevin