c. Religion News Service

(UNDATED) In 1988, the founder of the Fellowship of Merry Christians began urging churches to tell jokes and inject humor into their services on the Sunday after Easter.

Cal Samra dubbed that day “Holy Humor Sunday.”

The idea is to boost attendance, which tends to dip dramatically a week after the biggest Sunday of the church calendar, by reinforcing the joy of the Easter season.

Samra, who is based in Portage, Mich., said he wants to spread the message that “Jesus’ Resurrection was the greatest practical joke God ever played.” Samra said the idea goes back to the early church fathers, including St. Augustine and St. Gregory of Nyssa, who contended God played a joke on the devil by raising Jesus from the dead.

On his Web site (http://www.joyfulnoiseletter.com), Samra provides tips on how to bring levity to normally serious worship events. He also publishes a church newsletter with jokes and cartoons called “The Joyful Noiseletter.”

An unsuspecting visitor to a church celebrating Holy Humor Sunday might be disoriented. The choir could be wearing bathrobes. The sermon might be interspersed with jokes and skits. The choirs may belt out mirthful tunes like “Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah” from the 1946 Walt Disney classic “Song of the South.”

There is no exact count of churches that observe Holy Humor Sunday. Samra’s Web site lists 36 churches but the actual number is probably several times that. Most of the listed churches are Protestant, but Samra said at least one unlisted Catholic church participates.

Samra encourages clergy to tailor the celebration to the needs of their unique congregations.

The Rev. Karl R. Kraft, senior pastor at United Methodist Church of Mantua _ in Mantua, N.J. _ became something of a legend a few years ago when he and his assistant pastor dressed up as the Blues Brothers.

“Holy Humor is really unique in the church because on the one hand we have people who don’t buy into it and worship somewhere else on that Sunday, and on the other hand we have people who only come on Holy Humor Sunday,” said Kraft.

Each year Kraft and his team try to keep the congregation guessing what they will come up with next. The church’s Web site says a “special duo” will be leading the two morning services this Sunday (April 23). While their names are not revealed, the site provides a hint by saying the duo has hopes of “pumping you up!”

MO/PH RNS END

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http://www.joyfulnoiseletter.com is CQ

With mainbar, RNS-HOLY-HUMOR