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What, in a nutshell, is the purpose of Clown Ministry?

Well, let’s start by examining the purpose of a Clown. A clown has several purposes—the most obvious is entertainment. If a clown’s not funny or entertaining, no one will watch. But there’s more. In a very real sense, a good clown is a fun-house mirror, a warped reflection of a person, a trait, or society.

For instance, you have probably seen, as part of a larger clown skit, a clown sitting down at a piano to play, only to realize that the bench is too far away from the piano - his fingers won’t reach that far, even after stretching. So, the clown does the only logical thing; he moves the piano, not the bench. Why? Because the bench is in the right place—it’s the piano that’s not in the correct spot. You’ve seen that, laughed and that, and moved on with your life. However, if the clown’s done his work well, later on you’ll reflect on that skit, and realize that sometimes you also attempt the difficult adjustment instead of the easy, for no better reason than the clown had—maybe you’re a little too stuck in the that’s the way we’ve always done it mindset. If that happens, the clown has done his job—he’s made you look in his warped mirror, and seen yourself.

Now, let’s examine the purpose of Ministry. At its’ most basic level, Ministry is serving your fellow human beings, and by doing so, serving our Lord Jesus Christ. Some public ministries include teaching teaching, preaching, music ministry. Other ministries, such as working in the nursery or cleaning out the toilets at church, are no less ministry, no less necessary, and no less rewarded by the Lord. Also, we should be serving our brothers & sisters in the way that the Lord has called us to, in accordance to whatever talents & gifts He has given us. This is true for large and small ministries both.

So, let’s combine the two words. Clown Ministry then is serving our brethren (speaking of which, if brothers are brethren, are sisters cisterns? Just curious. Sorry ‘bout that : ) through clowning. This might be in the context of a church service, or sprucing up kid’s church, or at the church picnic. Maybe it’s in outreach. Maybe you will clown at a hospital, or nursing home, taking the love of Christ to people who desperately need to hear it. Maybe in some other way—whichever way the Lord directs you.

So, in summary, that’s clown ministry—humbling ourselves, to lift others up, which is the heart of a clown.

In case anybody reading this thinks that they don’t have what it takes to minister to someone else, let me share the following:

Rescuing Hug

This is a picture from an article called The Rescuing Hug. The article details the first week of life of a set of twins. Apparently, each were in their respective incubators, and one was not expected to live. A hospital nurse fought against the hospital rules and placed the babies in one incubator. When they were placed together, the healthier of the two threw an arm over her sister in an endearing embrace. The smaller baby’s heart rate stabilized and her temperature rose to normal.

Let us not forget to embrace those whom we love.