I've never seen any "clown ministry" type stuff before... I was raised roman catholic, they aren't allowed to laugh.

I'm currently a very active member of my Unitarian Universalist congregation and I'm trying to figure out how this would work? Keeping in mind of course that UU's aren't necessarily Christian and don't consider the bible to be Truth, but apocryphal... so what do you do? Do you guys just tell bible stories and stuff?

I don't know if this would work with my church at all, just trying to figure out if it might. Anyone know any clowns that work with a non-christian church? I imagine there's probably a jewish one somewhere, but then, they still use the old testament part of the bible....

It would seem to me that the essence of clowning is its display of the realities which exist in human experience. That sort of a demonstration with a positive sort of message (which may even draw upon certain stories from a Biblical background) would seem to be quite fitting for your sort of community.

clowning ministry can be related in several areas. For my group I work with a youth group and we go where we invited often to other churches, nursing homes, senior centers etc. We plan a show with skits, magic, puppets, most are just fun, clowning skits that work any were, but some will have a message to the skit. ie. "Color Blind" which is from "Clowning Around" is a non-verbal skit in which one set of clowns will not associate with another set but in the end all become friends. Can relate this to race, physical disabilities, fininacal status, etc. Just like Fire safety clowns use their clown to spread fire safety, you could use your to share any message. So give me an example of what you would teach kids in a class and lets see what we come up with.

Ok, so you do skits to teach religious education type stuff then?

Unitarian Universalism is a non-creedal religion (there are no absolute beliefs that must be ascribed to) and can include everything from athiests to pagans to historical christians, etc... What we all have in common is this:

Our 7 Principles
We, the member congregations of the Canadian Unitarian Council, covenant to affirm and promote:


the inherent worth and dignity of every person;
justice, equity, and compassion in human relations;
acceptance of one another and encouragement to spiritual growth in our congregations;
a free and responsible search for truth and meaning;
the right of conscience and the use of the democratic process within our congregations and in society at large;
the goal of world community with peace, liberty, and justice for all;
respect for the interdependent web of all existence of which we are a part.

So probably anything that would teach those principles would probably work out all right. When do you guys do this stuff? Are you part of the Sunday school classes or do you do these things at different times?

this skit I was telling you about could be use for acceptance of each other, equality.

We go the nursing home, not as regularly as I would like, but generally we're invited out several times a year, xxx senior party, ..... vaction bible school, although I'm baptist we've performed at various other churches. Adult daycare, Girls Home. etc. no I do not do anything regularly at my church, We ususally host a Creative Ministry night about once a year.

The only clown ministry stuff I have seen is specifically related to the Bible, but I'm sure that you could alter it to meet your own needs. I've never heard of Unitarian Universalists before? What is it that you do believe in? Do you still believe in God? A different superior being? No superior being at all?

My first personal thought was that the term "ministry" meant to minister to others by sharing God's love with them...which would be difficult to do (for me personally, atleast) without bringing up the Bible. All of the ministry resources and materials that I've seen would make this a challenge for you...Even if you did not mention scriptures, you would still be doing skits, lessons ect that were related to parables from the Bible.

However, when I looked the word "ministry" up on Websters it's definition is actually "the service of a minister" and the definition of "minister" is "One officiating or assisting the officiant in church worship" ...it doesn't necessarily say that a minister has to be Christian or speak of the Bible.

I can tell you from the Clown Ministry books and videos that I have seen here in the US, though, that they are primarily written for "Gospel" clowns. I don't know if there are any ministry books for UU members or not, but one thing that would help is for you to ask some of the leaders in your church's childrens department if you can borrow one of their curriculum books. Take one of the lessons from it and add your own touch of comedy and "clownish" humor...add a few props and you will have made your own skits! It's easier than you would think to write your own skits, once you have a basic idea of what you want the lesson to be.

Like I said, I don't know what UU churches teach or preach, so it's hard for me to help you out specifically on UU clowning, but to me part of ministry could also be teaching kids morals, and lessons on life safety, etc. So you could also look at websites for preschool teachers, or just google "kids object lessons" and see what you find. I have started doing object lessons with the kids at my church on the 1st Wed. of each month...I like doing the object lessons because they are short and easy to prepare, but still have a powerful message and the kids love them. This next Wed. I will be doing a change bag routine called "Felix the Fibbing Frog" it does include scripture reference, but you could choose to leave that out and just teach about the dangers of telling a fib. Here is the link to it if you want to try it out, I think that you could adapt it to suit your needs:
http://www.barrymitchell.com/products/freedownloads/FibbingFrogDownload.pdf

There is also another object lesson that I have recently found that is called "Recipe for life" it is supposed to talk about how the Bible is our recipe for life, but again...you could just use it to tell the importance of following our parents rules, or following directions at school, etc. It is really funny because the kids get to help you bake a cake and are allowed to put in mustard, garlic, ketchup, etc. You then talk about how the cake would probably taste better if you had followed the directions! It looks so funny...I can't wait to use it!! Here is the link to it:
The Recipe For Life (http://www.puppetsforjesus.com/recipe_for_life.htm)

You might also try Clown Ministry (http://www.clown-ministry.com)

I don't know if what they have is what your looking for but it won't hurt to read through them and see which ones might work for you.

Good luck...clown ministry can be a challenge at times, and very time consuming...but also VERY fun and rewarding! :)

Ok, so you do skits to teach religious education type stuff then?

Unitarian Universalism is a non-creedal religion (there are no absolute beliefs that must be ascribed to) and can include everything from athiests to pagans to historical christians, etc... What we all have in common is this:

Our 7 Principles
We, the member congregations of the Canadian Unitarian Council, covenant to affirm and promote:


the inherent worth and dignity of every person;
justice, equity, and compassion in human relations;
acceptance of one another and encouragement to spiritual growth in our congregations;
a free and responsible search for truth and meaning;
the right of conscience and the use of the democratic process within our congregations and in society at large;
the goal of world community with peace, liberty, and justice for all;
respect for the interdependent web of all existence of which we are a part.

So probably anything that would teach those principles would probably work out all right. When do you guys do this stuff? Are you part of the Sunday school classes or do you do these things at different times?



LOL...You must have been typing this at the same exact time I was typing my previouus post,LOL...so just ignore the part where I wrote that I wasn't sure what UU churches believed in, when I typed it this hadn't posted yet

That's ok... UUism is actually one of the top ten religions in the US, it's not quite as popular in Canada, but it's basically a church for those of us that don't fit into any other church. As a church group, it's kind of agnostic, but individual members may or may not be agnostic if that makes any sense... we all kind of agree that each of us has different ideas about the divine and support eachother in those beliefs.

I think I can see where this all might fit in... I may have to try and arrange some stuff.... this almost fits in with the idea I had a while back about a bullying presentation with Perry Noia for schools....

I am very disturbed by the contents of this thread! Will people please stop posting comments before real and lasting damage is done.

After reading the seven Unitarian Universalist principles, it turns out I may be religious after all! I know I am not perfect and I know there may be on occaission, the odd transgression. But on the whole, these are the kind of principles I have lived by and try to promote in others. The idea that I am also religious is too scary to think about. If I turn into some kind of crazy religious fanatical nut with all the zeal of a new convert, I will never forgive you, Perry Noia.

uhmm.... If I trully am a Unitarian Universalist, will I still be allowed to go to christmas parties and eat easter eggs?

Hahahaha!

You might like this one... yes, you can celebrate ALL of them ;)

This funny scene about Unitarians from The Colbert Report kind of explains it:
Stephen Colbert: (after talking about his Catholic beliefs) But we're not just celebrating the one true religion tonight, we're celebrating all religions. As I'm sure there are other religions here at the Report. For instance uhh.. bobby what's your religion?

Bobby: I'm a Unitarian*

Stephen: Oh, so you're a Christian too?

Bobby: well, yes, i mean.. no.. i mean I incorporate Christian values as well as aspects of many other religious traditions in my belief in God. And I don't mean to imply that I necesarily think God exists.. or doesnt exist.. or that it even matters to him, or it, or whatever - what I do or do not believe. What's important is that it's my choice, and that's what holds the unitarians together.

Stephen: [long pause] ... so do you celebrate Christmas or Hanukkah?

Bobby: Sure.

Stephen: .... moving on

I have a marked respect for The Unitarian Universalist church, but I have never understood how Unitarian Universalism is different from Religious Humanism? I suppose Secular Humanists are included also, so maybe I'm really having trouble contrasting it with general Humanism?

Unitarian Universalists aren't exactly banging on my door so I haven't really had an opportunity to clear this up. After some of the pranks I've pulled on the Mormons and Jehova's Witnesses can't say I blame them really. Actually come to think of it, I haven't had a door-to-door soliciter of any kind in ages. Have my antics somehow landed me on some list that identifies the lunatic fringe for door-to-door soliciters?

That is a very good, pertinant and relavent question, Joe Carr. It was well presented and deserves an answer.

What exactly have you done that identifies you as a lunatic fringe? Is it something anybody can do? Do you need to undergo special trainning? Can we gain special certificates that proclaim our lunacy and if so, who issues them?

If anyone can answer Joe Carr's question and give us an insight on how to detere Mormons and Jehova's Witnesses, please please please post your answeres here.

Humanists are more than welcome at our UU church... as are Athiests, Pagans, people still searching for something, and even Christians.... as long as everyone is willing to let everyone else believe whatever they choose to believe. So I guess the main difference is that I personally do not relate to Humanism, so I still need somewhere to go... and most Humanists don't have a "religious" community to join. It's mainly for the rest of us that have no where else to feel spiritual.

Don't get me wrong... Jesus seems to have been a really nice guy, with a lot of great ideas, I just don't think he was god, or wanted us to think he was god, as his message got pretty messed up in the largest game of telephone ever there was. But, I'm not trying to start an argument about theology here, I just didn't want everyone in the clown ministry section to think I didn't like Jesus. He's cool.

As for the Jahovah's .... my husband works with one actually... I just tell them that I'm the secretary for the executive board of my church, so they can save their breath. I'm also the Lay Chaplain for our church, so it'd be pretty hard to dissuade me from UUism. The reason you don't see any UU's knocking on your door is that we don't "convert" people, we just truly believe that everyone already is a UU if they're a nice person and we welcome them if they wanna come along ;)

If anyone can answer Joe Carr's question and give us an insight on how to detere Mormons and Jehova's Witnesses, please please please post your answeres here.

My pastor told me that he explains to them that he was in the middle of watching a football game and offers them a beer. They're outta there.

Well Barry, I am glad you asked. I am assuming your desire is to become certified in an unconventional way. The men in white coats tend to be a humorless bunch. They will assert that something is wrong with you eventually, but in your case they may have to hit the books for a bit.

However, Barry, my friend, let me stop you right there. Let me tell you what is right with you. I suspect you may already be a Subgenius. If this is the case, then you can become an ordained minister for $30 (US) and will receive a wallet card that will truly identify your unique mental and genetic stock. For more information on the Church of the Subgenius SubSite - Start (http://www.subgenius.com/)

Perhaps anti-religion dosen't please your palette any more than the regular variety. Discordianism may be just what you need. It's more of a heavy dose of philosophy with a smidge of worship. Every copy of the Principa Discordia Amazon.com: Principia Discordia - The Magnum Opiate of Malaclypse the Younger: Malaclypse the Younger: Books (http://www.amazon.com/Principia-Discordia-Magnum-Malaclypse-Younger/dp/1846856043/ref=pd_bbs_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1236025139&sr=8-1)
contains a card that will certify you as a pope of discord.

Otherwise, there is always The Ancient order of the Blithering Idiots http://www.clown-forum.com/clown-forum/6322-shrine-clown-7.html
(Official declarations of lunacy, coming soon!)

The best part is that these groups are not exclusive. You could be an adherent to all of them. Or we could collaborate and forge our own exciting schism within one or more of them. Whatever it takes, I'm here to help you.

In an effort to help Perry: It seems to me that since your church isn't exactly trying to convert anyone that you have it made. You have a liscence to clown how you wish and praise tolerance above all. Which to me, is something the world simply can't have too much of. There was a shooting at a UU church not very long ago down here Knoxville Unitarian Universalist church shooting - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2008_Knoxville_Unitarian_Universalist_church_shoot ing)
and I think that's evidence of the need for the church's mission statements in itself.

Yes, I was aware of the shooting. A horrible act, born out of ignorance. If they had known of his situation, I'm sure the church would have happily helped him with his situation more than he could have known, instead he attacked the church during a children's presentation.

I definitely see where I could go with this... I think I'm going to work out something with regard to bullying, racism and tolerance... maybe later something about the web of life and environmental responsibility. Our church just got a new religious education teacher, so I may check with her on the curriculum she's using to see if I can borrow from it a little.