I must say, even though in a not too recent post, I grumbled a bit about some of the details of church life, church doesn't half give you the opportunity to have a lot of fun...
Over Christmas I got to dress up as a Christmas tree decoration who later turned out to be a lost part of the nativity scene and then on Christmas Day I was a rather cantankerous King Herod in a game show called 'Guess the REEEAAL King....'
Anyway...I grew up a fan of many make-believe puppets - Bagpus, Sesame Street, Fraggle Rock, Roland Rat, The Muppets etc.
Each friday, I bring to life a 1 ft high church mouse called Nick for our church's under 5s and I absolutely love it.
For some reason there are few people in my church who want to share conversation with our ministry puppets. They would rather watch them than interact with them.
When we were at our 'All age planning meeting', last month, I felt a little guilty with my eager - 'pick me, pick me' - (I didn't quite say it like that, but you get the idea) thinking surely lots of other people must want to chat with Sam and Lucy - our church puppets in the Sunday Service for epiphany ... but no ...there was only me.
So, I know, you might think I'm a little mad... but I can't wait 'til Sunday, I get to fulfil one of my career ambitions which have always fluctuated between teaching, ministry and kids TV work with puppets - Iknow... a bit odd...but I can't help it.
My favourite clip of my favourite film Madame Doubtfire is the bit where s/he interacts with the puppets and the dinosaurs in her own show - totally fab.
I will be thinking about Mrs Doubtfire (just a little), however crazy that sounds, when I talk with Sam and Lucy about the epiphany on Sunday. Perhaps this will be the start of a beautiful friendship.
5 comments:
"I got to dress up as a Christmas tree decoration ... I was a rather cantankerous King Herod"
So where are the pictures then?
Me I hate dressing up and pretending to be someone else. I hate it when people think it is essential for the minister to dress up as someone else. Ugh! So embarrassing.
Now I am quite willing to be embarrassed for my Lord but so far nobody has shown me any positive outcomes whatsoever coming from this for him so I am unconvinced that it is actually for him.
I am quite happy to act the fool, but please let me do it as myself, I have had years of practice at that.
And just when I thought dressing up was compulsory - I guess it is for Anglicans - cassocks etc.
The dressing up thing for me - they say don't they, the cynical people - that some people have 'mug' written across their forehead ...
,,,across mine I've got the words 'volunteer' - it's what led to me dressing up as the woman with a wooden leg, false teeth and an eye patch for some kind of weird poem when I was five for a school play
...and I'm still doing it now, just under 30 years later.
Dave - you should try it - it's fun. We're all into it in the church where I am, as you can judge from the website - William, the vicar has a pirate's hat on http://www.stnicholasallestree.org.uk/who.html. It's a place that doesn't take itself too seriously. Gospel message - serious stuff but the people in the church no so serious.
Do you use dramas to bring out the themes of what you're saying when you preach?
"you should try it - it's fun"
Nope. Been there, done that, got the t-shirt and no it is not fun it is excruciating!
There is this odd thing that extroverts are all lumped together as people who like dressing up (and I have only realised that I am a shy extrovert in the last 10 years).
Yep we use drama whenever anyone else is willing to do it (yes I will force myself to take part when needed, but it is never pleasurable).
'shy extrovert', interesting. I'd never thought that you could put those two words together before - but the more I think about it the more I realise that you probably can. I'm probably an extrovert but in selective circumstances. My shy moments are at the end of services - the small talk time. I always find it weird that altogether we've just been reflecting on something as profoundly mysterious as the trinity and then we're to muse on the weather we're having etc over coffee- I can't always adapt. I also find it quite difficult sometimes to just strike up conversation with the older people in the congregation. I don't want to appear rude or nosy, asking too many questions about their lives etc.
It's all a learning curve.
Oh and I remember a time in my training when the "methodists" on the course organised the worship for a weekend and used drama in an evening act of worship. The reactions from the rest of the course were mixed to say the least. Some were convinced we had sold out to the devil (we didn't think the drama was the most obvious sign of that).
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