Posted on 05/27/2005 7:23:13 AM PDT by sionnsar
Then take a gander over at Trinity Episcopal Church in New York.
They are claiming that they are doing the first ever Clown Eucharist.
However my describing it doesn’t do it justice. If you are able to stomach it, and actually make it to the fractioning rite, just be very afraid.
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They have an audio only link, but for a service that is going to be done in Mime and Sign… well you get the picture. Audio of a service that is going to be done in almost silence… you will hear a lot of noisemakers.
For those of you who simply don’t want to click on it (and I do understand your reasons) here are some pictures from the service to make your day.
The height of the silliness comes at the fractioning rite, and the Eucharist. Thank God that the Episcopal orders are invalid. That along with the fact that there were no spoken words means that even if the orders had somehow been valid (some Anglicans have been re-ordained by the Old Catholic Church that split off from Rome after Vatican I) there was no concentration.
So here you go.. I hope you haven’t eaten yet.
At which time the guy in back with the horns hits the symbols three times
At which point the natives start becoming restless
No doubt they will go out to their coffee shops, and book clubs the next day and talk about how much of a spiritual event it was.
One question.
Was this a meeting of the Grand Order of the Clowns or a real church service? (I hate clowns, always have.)
There's an English church in London that has had a Clown Service (the Grimaldi Memorial service) for years, but they have two strong justifications: (1) the parish is the winter quarters church for the English circuses and clowns; (2) the parish is the successor church to the deconsecrated church where Joseph Grimaldi, the father of English clowns, is buried.
But despite all the clowns attending in full costume, they do NOT mess with the consecration. And the clowns' performances are reserved for the parish hall after the service.
Me too! It wasn't until several years ago that someone's comment made sense. The makeup is a mask - it hides the true person. For similar reasons, some people wear heavy makeup to masquerade their true identity.
Soulmate! I have always found clowns to be a combination of creepy and irritating. Mostly creepy, though.
New York City pastor schedules 'Clown Eucharist' at church
The Layman Online Friday, May 20, 2005
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An Episcopal church in New York City will celebrate a "Clown Eucharist" at its 11:15 a.m. Sunday service. The rector of Trinity Church-St. Paul's Chapel Trinity Church, the Rev. Dr. James Herbert Cooper, has encouraged the parish family to come to church "in clown dress, big hats, floppy shoes or some sort of foolish garb. Those watching on the Internet might even be foolish enough to put on some white face or a big grease-paint smile as we worship God and learn about the structure of the Eucharist by being the circus which came to town and to church on that day."
In a letter posted on the church's Web site, Cooper said that the church would celebrate Trinity Sunday with the Clown Eucharist, "'doing church' as if we were a circus come to town. We will celebrate the Eucharist and learn about the basic traditional outline for Eucharistic worship by experiencing it and participating in it from a new perspective."
While he admitted that it might "be a surprise to see clowns inside Trinity Church," he asked church members to think about "how we perceive the world in light of our relationship with Jesus could rightly be called foolish. Jesus looked at things in a new and strange way – a foolish way. But, as St. Paul said, the foolishness of God is wiser than the wisdom of the world. Paul declared himself a fool for Christ's sake."
According to Cooper, "clowns represent the underdog, the lowly, the remnant people. Their foolishness is a call to unpretentiousness. They take incredible risks – balancing on tight ropes, eating fire, keeping silent, being poked by others or getting soaked in water. Clowns are parables in themselves, spending great amounts of energy uncovering small things, then showing forth the hidden treasure of life (like the kingdom of God) and, surprisingly to us, giving their most cherished possessions to others. … Clowns look at the world, like parables, inside out and upside down: the last shall be first, the smallest seed is the greatest tree, and those who work all day get paid the same as those who worked an hour. To the world, this is foolishness.
"Yet foolishness – the foolishness of God – is wiser than man. It brings light, laughter, joy, renewal, salvation, and life. Whose fool are you?"
The Web site did note "that only the 11:15 service at Trinity will be a Clown Eucharist. In addition to the regular services (8 a.m. St. Paul's Chapel, 9 a.m. Trinity Church), a traditional service will be held at St. Paul's Chapel at 11:15 a.m."
I find clowns very creepy too. Most young children I know are also frightened by clowns. If there were any children in the congregation during this clown "mass" I wonder how they reacted. It doesn't seem very pastoral to have the priest dress up in a costume that may very well disturb and frighten many parishoners.
I swear I thought I had seen it all. I will not show this to my 25 year old sister--she freaks at the sight of clowns.
it is like a train wreck...I couldn't look away, it made me sick and my jaw is still on the floor.
The not so subtle message is "Christ is a clown"
Hardly to be considered reverent.
But the Grimaldi service is (1) a long-standing tradition; (2) reverent . . . at least compared to this travesty.
I tend to cut the English a lot of slack for old and established eccentric customs. Eccentricity is an English virtue that in too many instances has fallen by the wayside, these days.
Re: "Didn't say it was."
Didn't mean to imply anything. Just offering my Two cents for general consideration. Alas we have these jokers in the American RCC. It is to weep over.
Eccentric or not I still don't wish to stand too close. At least not without proper grounding //hint hint//
LOL!
Then everybody will be happy . . . except for the CINO types who just want to make trouble. They won't be able to make trouble in ECUSA, because "anything goes."
This was intended to be real, sad to say.
Good grief. These people must have a deep hatred of God.
It's only one small event in the greater trainwreck that is ECUSA these days, I regret to say.
ON the other side of the country, in Grace Cathedral in San Francisco, they have apparently installed a new age labyrinth. They're really touchy about the picture now so I won't include it, but take a look here.
And, God is not likely to be sanguine while these people make jokes about,
His dying for our sins.
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