Holy Humor Sunday

Holy Humor Sunday is traditionally the Sunday after Easter. It was started by the Greeks in the early centuries of Christianity. Many people think that laughter was almost sacrilegious within the church–that is Not True.  The scriptures tell us that “for everything there is a season… a time to weep and a time to laugh.” (Eccl. 3: 1, 4) Holy Humor Sunday celebrates  the resurrection of Christ – the supreme joke God played on Satan by raising Jesus from the dead.

We have been celebrating Holy Humor Sunday for a few years now. My daughter Sarah aka Ruby the Clown, has been working with me for many years. I have recruited some members of the congregation and transformed them into clowns. Even our minister joined in. My wife, Maryann does a wonderful job of making the props.

Here is the crew:
back row: Cathleen Carrel aka Chuggy, Bob Patterson (that's me) aka Rusty, Jerry Therrien aka Rainy Day, Tom Pilkington aka Bert.
front row: Rev Kathi Phillips aka Taffy, Sarah Patterson aka Ruby, Karen Armstrong aka Penelope
We did a few funny skits along with the usual hymns & prayers.

This is from the "Home on the Range" skit.

Sorry, if you weren't there you missed it. But, believe me, it was funny!!

For the sermon time we did Daniel in the Lion's Den. The king has a dream. Here the 3 mystics try to interpret the dream.

When they fail, Daniel is called upon. He prays to God and is able to tell the king what the dream means. The king is please with Daniel and appoints him "Grand Supreme Mystic of all Babylon and really nice guy" (Sorry, no picture available) This makes the other mystics angry. So they trick the king into tossing Daniel into the den of lions. Of course, God keeps Daniel safe.
Here is the cast with the "lions"

That's Daniel with his supreme hat, back row on the left.

We injected many bad jokes into the service. Many of the congregation came dressed in funny clothes. Lots of people say that they look forward to Holy Humor Sunday.
It's a lot of work but very rewarding in the end.