God Laughs--Why Don't You?: Making Use of Humor in the Practice of Ministry: Volume 2 (Healthy Clergy Make Healthy Congregations) - Softcover

McCutchan, Stephen

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1500944459 ISBN 13: 9781500944452

Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, 2014

Synopsis

GO LAUGHS—WHY DON’T YOU?

introducing the art of humor as a healing antidote to the toxic aspects of ministry.

Ministry is not easy. In addition to administrating a complex voluntary society and weekly seeking to challenge and inspire them, clergy

• Drink in the pain and stresses of their church and the society
• Absorb the pain of those who come for support and
• Absorb the criticism of the disappointed

The cost to their bodies and emotions is cumulative unless they find a healing response. God Laughs—Why Don’t You? introduces the art of humor as a healing antidote to the toxic aspects of ministry. Believing that God has a sense of humor, the author shows how to employ humor:

• In sermons and worship
• In counseling
• In times of conflict
• In self-care

The book also provides a pastor’s survival notebook to:

• Defeat clergy killers
• Combat clergy burnout

Written to support colleagues who have responded to God’s call.

• A guide introducing laughter into various ministerial responsibilities
• A resource to restore energy to a pastor exhausted by the demands of ministry
• A refreshing laugh when you think about the craziness of ministry
• A perfect gift for a clergy you care about

Motivational humorist Judy Carter, who is interviewed in the book, suggests the perfect antidote to stress in life is the ability to find laughter. Scientific research indicates that laughter, even when nothing is funny, offers healing properties. It is just more fun if you can find the funny in what you are experiencing.

About this title

About the Author

A Pastor Who Can Laugh

Stephen McCutchan is an ordained Presbyterian minister. In thirty-eight years serving the church as a pastor, he discovered the role humor can play in offering ministry to an often fractured society. He also recognized the healing power of humor in combating the toxic stress and loneliness of being a pastor. Now, in retirement, he offers his gifts as a writer, humorist, and advocate for the care of clergy. He is author of fourteen books and two CDs in support of various aspects of ministry by clergy. These include two books on the ways to draw on Scripture (Matthew and the Psalms), three devotional books based on the Revised Common Lectionary, a mystery novel, A Star and a Tear, that explores the symbiotic relationship between sexuality and spirituality. One CD, A Deep Well for the Pastor combines the music of david bailey with meditations around the challenges of ministry. The second CD, Laughter From the Well, again makes use of david bailey’s music, augmented by music by Brian McFarland mixed with comedy skits about pastoral life. A new series, Healthy Clergy Make Healthy Congregations. [HCMHC] currently offers three volumes. Volume 1, A Company of Pastors, provides a twenty-session structure for a fresh approach for a pastors’ support group. The author draws upon fictional stories about different aspects of ministry to engage clergy in exploring their experiences in ministry. Volume 2, God Laughs—Why Don’t You?, focuses on the use of humor both in the practice of ministry and in the sustaining ones physical, emotional, and spiritual health as clergy. The third volume in the HCMHC series is An Interim’s Gift To a Congregation. This book offers a plan on ways an interim can educate a congregation about the stresses in clergy life and how the congregation can offer support in addressing these stresses in their pastor’s ministry. All of his published works are available on his Web site www.smccutchan.com as well as his weekly blog on various practical ways that clergy, congregations, and denominations can practice healthy ministry.

Edition details

• Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform
• Publication date: 2014
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1500944459
• ISBN 13: 9781500944452
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 212