The famous Trinity Church, St. Paul's Chapel, is no stranger to "creative celebrations" during their weekly Eucharist services. A number of years ago they began celebrating a "Clown Eucharist" in which all of the participants dress up as clowns in order to be "fools for Christ's sake." More recently they began what is called a "hip-hop mass" where all worship music is in the R&B style and the participants "break it down" during the service.Now, in an effort to broaden their spectrum of worship styles, the church has planned to begin holding an annual "Chicken Eucharist."
"We're very excited about this new development." Said Rector, Rev. Dr. James Herbert. "Many people who have lived in the city here all of their lives have never seen a live chicken! That's a significant part of creation that's being ignored, and we want to celebrate the goodness of Chickens."
During the mass Herbert plans to have live chickens running free in the church. In addition, all of the participants will wear chicken outfits. Furthermore, there will be no spoken words during the service, rather the participants will "cluck."
"We're a lot like Chickens." Said Herbert. "They desire to run free, but they're behind fences. They so want to break out of their captivity, and they have wings, but they just can't fly. We too have fences that we put up, fences of intolerance and hate, and sometimes we want to fly over them, but our wings aren't strong enough. We need the Master Farmer to come and help us 'fly the coop.'"
In addition to the live chickens and the costumes, the elements of the Eucharist will be altered to grain and water. The service will end with a recessional of all of the participants flapping around the room and clucking as they exit the church.
The church plans to hold the special service later this fall in protest of national chicken restaurant chains who allegedly mistreat chickens.
"We're standing up for these chickens." Said Herbert. "We're going to show the world that we're serious about being identified with this beautiful part of life."
6 comments:
[Furthermore, there will be no spoken words during the service, rather the participants will "cluck."]
Thanks for almost making me choke on my lunch...
Well it was because I was laughing.
Hmmm. While there's something poignant in the idea of the archetypal fool who sees truths the cynical world ignores, somehow I fear God's word might have got lost in the clown eucharist. Not having attended, I don't know.
Sorry to get so serious, but now that I think of it, I somehow can't shake the image of a travelling jester in Europe 700 years ago roving the countryside and preaching in riddles in the vernacular language the good news of Jesus Christ. It might have been an effective way to evangelize in the days when the Roman Church reigned supreme.
Sewing,
Never apologize for getting serious. While the main purpose of this blog is to hit the humor nerve, I think it equally important for people to get the "point" of what is being done. Remember Elijah mocked Baal and the prophets of Baal.
You're exactly right, God's Word did get "lost" in the Clown Eucharist because no word was ever spoken! It was all mimed. One can view the video at the church's website.
Furthermore, the verse that they are using as the basis for what they are doing, 1 Cor 4:10, has nothing to do with dressing up and acting like a fool! Paul is actually speaking to the believers in Corinth in a sarcastic tone, exposing their over-realized eschatological position.
Finally, we must follow what Scripture teaches should be the elements of worship. Nowhere do we see dressing up as a buffoon to be part of corporate worship in Scripture.
-Tom
I thought the Clown Mass was another satirical website... :S
Gives new meaning to the phrase, "free range chickens."
Tom In a Box's Chicken Eucharist was featured on ChickenFlicker.com's One a Day where we feature a chicken a day.
Looks like a service I could get behind attending.
http://chickenflicker.com/1aday/
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