LAUGHTER IS STRONG MEDICINE FOR CLERGY

Go ahead, take the risk and find some opportunities for a good belly laugh. You’ll forget for a few minutes all the stress of ministry.

GO LAUGHS—WHY DON’T YOU?  Volume 3 of Healthy Clergy Make Healthy Congregations

This third volume of the Healthy Clergy Make Healthy Congregations series introduces 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 our bodies

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

A Survival Notebook

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

FAKE IT TILL YOU MAKE IT

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.

BE GOOD TO SELF AND NEIGHBOR

Help all spiritual leaders to renew their sense of humor in all aspects of ministry and be refreshed. Love your neighbor enough to share this resource that they can get for free.