From the minister

"Don't let worry kill you off - let the Church help."

"Next Thursday there will be tryouts for the choir. They need all the help they can get."

"The Rector will preach his farewell message, after which the choir will sing Break Forth Into Joy."

"Scouts are saving aluminium cans, bottles and other items to be recycled. Proceeds will be used to cripple children."

"Low self-esteem support group will meet Thursday at 7pm. Please use the back door."

"Weight Watchers will meet at 7om at the First Presbyterian Church. Please use the large double door at the side entrance."

"The Associate Minister unveiled the church's new tithing campaign slogan last Sunday: I Upped My Pledge - Up Yours."

It's good to have a laugh! It's good to hear laughter in the church building and among our people. The head of the Catholic Church, Pope Benedict XVI, might not have the same smile and charisma as John Paul II, but he did have this to say about laughter in his book, Images of Hope; Meditations on Major Feasts:

"In the Baroque period the liturgy used to include the ‘risus paschalis', the Easter laughter. The Easter sermon had to contain a story that made people laugh, so that the church sounded with joyful laughter … Is there not something very beautiful and appropriate about laughter becoming a liturgical symbol?"

I agree, we have so much to rejoice in; so much to be hope filled and happy about, our Lord is risen and we are his!

I remember hearing a sermon and the minister asked this question (in a droll voice): "Did our Lord ever laugh?" He suspected not, and his reason was that nowhere in the Bible does it have the pithy text "Jesus laughed". But read on - this Jesus is the man who was invited to weddings and was made welcome in the house of sinners. A boring man who could not crack a smile, would not last long in these places, but Jesus did and they loved him and listened to his stories.

Laughter is infectious; it encourages friendship and is good for our health. Church is not going to be a comedy show, but I do hope that it can be a place where we can worship and sometimes have a right good laugh together!

Yours in Christ's service
Jamie Milliken