Churches should make people laugh more often

Monday, November 29th, 2021

Standup comics hunt for laughter, not applause. A laugh is involuntary; clapping is not.

The element of surprise – to which a laugh is a reaction – takes us beyond our sets of ideologies and expectations.—And this is a vital part of what churches are called to do. The lack of it partially explains why they so often fail.

Maybe churches should learn a lesson from the comics. Read more (scroll down)

Additional reading

News category: Odd Spot.

Tags: Comic, Evangelisation, Laughter

The inheritance of Anzac Day

Each year the eve of Anzac Day is given over to the International Day of Multiculturalism and Diplomacy for Peace. This year the conjunction is particularly apposite at a time when the air is full of wars and rumours of Read more

Experts at Rome meet – delve into historical abuses of power

The nature of power and how the abuse of power has been dealt with in the past and present were the focus of an international conference in Rome attended by about a dozen scholars earlier this month. Experts in history, Read more

Gathered around the altar

“Without liturgical reform, there is no reform of the Church,” Pope Francis said emphatically last February during an address to the plenary assembly of the Dicastery for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments. His remarks came around the Read more

CathNews New Zealand