By Terri Jo Ryan

Tribune-Herald staff writer

The congregation was dancing in the aisles and chuckling in the pews at the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Waco one recent Sunday. The theme of worship that week? “Prayer as play; play as prayer.”

The Rev. Nathan Stone, pastor there since 2001, explained that there is a time and place for the solemn contemplation of what is just, right and holy.

“Just not today,” he told a congregation swaying to “God’s Boogie-Woogie,” performed by jazz pianist Beth Ullman. “Today, you need to let your inner child out to play.”

Yukking it up in the sanctuary hasn’t always met with the approval of religious authorities. For most of Christian history, in fact, levity wasn’t just discouraged — it was condemned outright by leaders who warned that laughter led to hell.

But many modern preachers find that hilarity can be healthy, if not holy. The use of humor in the pulpit can be a tricky tactic, however, local preachers admitted.

The Rev. Joel Gregory, professor of preaching at Baylor University’s Truett Seminary since 2005, said he has several rules he imparts to his students:

* The humor must be on-topic, not just for show.

“There’s always a temptation for the preacher to seek laughter because it’s so gratifying to hear it from the congregation,” he said. “But you must learn to hold back.”

Gregory noted that when Charles Spurgeon, the 19th-century British Baptist clergyman known to this day as the “Prince of Preachers,” was criticized for cracking jokes at his church of almost 40 years, Spurgeon responded, “If he only knew how many of them I keep back!”

* The best kind of humor is self-deprecating.

“By telling a story in which you are a stumbling, bumbling human being, you build a relationship with the congregation,” Gregory said.

For example, he tells the story of how, more than 20 years ago, he encountered his first coconut in the husk.

“I had only seen one in the grocery store before, but never in the husk,” he recalled. So, he tells his students, he tried to open it with a hammer, a saw and even a drill. Finally, he tried to crush it with the family car — but that turned the coconut into a missile that crashed through his front window.

“A story like that turns you into a real human being,” he said. “The people in the pews want the clergy to be different, but others want to be able to identify with them.”

* Humor needs to be the seasoning of the sermon, not the main course. Too much jocularity can derail a sermon.

* Humor should not come at the expense of another — especially in these highly partisan times, Gregory added.

The Rev. Raymond Bailey, pastor of Seventh & James Baptist Church, agrees. “Humor at church should never mock any group. Sexist and racist jokes, and jokes at the expense of disabled persons, should be avoided. Ministers must beware of ‘picking’ on their families or members of the congregation who might be offended.”

* Making too light of biblical characters and Bible situations is “out of bounds.”

Gregory said the Scripture needs to be respected.

But the Rev. Joe Carbajal, senior pastor of Mighty Wind Worship Center, said, “I am not making light of the Gospel when I use humor, only relaxing the congregation so they can stay tuned in to the message.” 

* When in doubt, leave it out.

“Humor is an excellent tool in preaching, as in other forms of communication, but as a means to an end, not as an end in itself,” Bailey said. “Preachers are not entertainers but should use all legitimate means to reach people with the truth of the Good News.”

The Rev. Ronnie Holmes, pastor of Church of the Open Door in Bellmead, said he thinks humor in the pulpit can be a powerful teaching tool “if it helps to illustrate a truth.”

“People often more easily remember a lesson that is expressed in this manner,” he said. “If people are nodding off — which is not my goal — during a sermon, something that causes them to laugh can often help regain their attention — and wake them up.”

Stone, the minister at the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship, said that finding joy in life and celebration in worship “is a key pathway to the heart of God. I believe that one of the places God lives is in the sound of laughter.”

Carbajal noted that churches have been unfairly saddled as grim gatherings.

“All one has to do is pick up the Bible to see the many humorous examples of how God interacts with his creation on a daily basis. God sends a stutterer (Moses) to be the spokesman for his people in telling Pharaoh to let his people go? If we can be real, I believe we see both humor and Godly wisdom in scripture.” 

He said he employs the technique frequently. “Sometimes a laugh will make God’s word more real to people than preaching fire and brimstone,” Carbajal said.

“In these hard economic times, people are dealing with some heavy stuff in their daily life. Church is supposed to be a place of refuge, so humor sometimes has its place behind the pulpit,” he added.

“Life, as we know, is funny at times. Why should the church not be able to use those humorous moments in our life to make us feel at home?”

tjryan@wacotrib.com

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