Lakeview

I went to seminary with this funny guy.  He stayed with the UCC because of his great sense of humor.  But remember, just like me – he is not a real doctor nor did we ever play one on TV…

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The Rev. Dr. F. Christopher Anderson, pastor of Heidelberg United Church of Christ in York, has published a joke book for young, confirmation-age Christians, ‘The Young Person’s Catechism Joke Book.’ (Daily Record/Sunday News – John Zeedick) Did you hear the one about Noah?

He was a good listener: As the last animal boarded the ark, he said, “Now, I herd
everything.”

The Rev. Dr. F. Christopher Anderson fell in love with one-liners at a young age.

The above is taken from his newest collection, “The Young Person’s Catechism Joke Book,” which he self-published this spring.

It’s the third in Anderson’s “God is Still Laughing” series and the first written for young people at or around the age of confirmation, or their public profession of faith (generally 12 and older).

The book assumes a basic knowledge of the Bible, with the jokes grouped by their indirect references to the Apostles’ Creed, the Ten Commandments and the Lord’s Prayer.

How do we know that Moses’ parents did well?

Even though they were slaves in Egypt, they still made a prophet.

If a young person doesn’t understand a joke, Anderson said, they can look up the background using the Bible verse referenced.

“It makes them think of these things in a different way or through a different lens,” he said.

“Merely by reading this joke book, you will have paused and meditated about almost every phrase and word in the Apostle’s Creed, Ten Commandments and the Lord’s Prayer.”

When he’s not composing jokes, Anderson, 57, pastors Heidelberg United Church of Christ in York, where humor often finds its way into sermons and his casual conversations.

Anderson handed out copies of an earlier volume, “The Revised Heidelberg Catechism Joke Book,” to a class of confirmands.

“I had a very sharp group,” he said. “They got a lot out of it, but I know a lot of it went over their heads.”

That’s not necessarily a bad thing, Anderson said, if it sticks with them and they remember a concept or punch line at a later time.

THE BOOK

Title: “God is Still Laughing III: The Young Person’s Catechism Joke Book”

Author: The Rev. Dr. F. Christopher Anderson

Pages: 57

Price: $8 (plus shipping)

Contact: fcba@comcast.net or 846-9146