Holy Humor Sunday

He is risen!

photo by Tina Phillips

Worship this coming Sunday will be a celebration of holy humor. Can you imagine Jesus' delight in the world of smiles and smells after three days of sensory deprivation?  This Sunday we'll share simple heart lifting joy in living.  Please bring a favorite knock-knock joke for the passing of the peace and a whoopie pie in your choice of flavors for a fun fellowship potluck of flavors!  

Those who live in grace are freed from the necessity of taking themselves, their circumstances, their morality and opinions, their piety and beliefs, too seriously. They are free to laugh and play as children of God. As important as repentance is, we are not saved by our much weeping, any more than we are saved by acts of penitence. And the expression of salvation freely given and received is not weeping but laughter, or at least a weeping become laughter. Laughter and lightheartedness, at their fullest and freest, are the gift of divine grace.  -Conrad Hyers, And God Created Laughter

Pretzel baking activity

Here's a home lesson for lent, designed for all ages!


Gather family and friends for pretzel baking.  Your house will smell wonderful and you'll have a soul feast!


Why pretzels?

In the 5^th century, in the region between  France and Italy, a monk was playing with dough left over from the daily baking. While he was playing he came up with a unique twist that looked like arms crossed in prayer. This baked "pretiola" was given to children as a reward for their reverence.

  The treat spread to other monasteries over the Alps into Austria and Germany where it came to be known as the "pretzel". Pretzels became more popular with time and even became a symbol in marriage (broken like a wishbone at the ceremony),  They became associated with lent, since they contain no oil or fat, ingredients that ran low in northern pantries toward the end of winter and came to be associated with lenten fasting. 

     In 1652, The first evidence of pretzels in America are in the record of a court case. It seems a baker named Carl Carmer and his wife were charged with selling Pretzels to the Indians. The problem wasn't that the Indians were eating pretzels (which they loved), but that the pretzels were made from the good flour from milling while the bread sold to the good people of Beverwyck, New York was made from the left-overs. As recorded in the town's history "The heathen (sic) were eating flour while the Christians were eating bran."

 In the 1850s, a baker in Lititz, PA gave a drifter a free meal. In return for his kindness the tramp gave the baker a recipe for pretzels that eventually became the recipe of the baker's apprentice - Julius Sturgis. This style of Pretzel became known as the Pennsylvania Dutch Hard Pretzel. (http://www.hammondpretzels.com/histpret.htm)

Making Pretzels   Wash your hands and clean your kneading surface!

            1 package yeast, 4 cups flour, 1 ½ cups warm water, 1 tablspoon sugar, 1 egg, 1 tablespoon salt

Mix the yeast, water, and sugar. Stir in the flour. Knead the dough on a table until it is smooth. Roll the dough out into a “snake”. Shape into a pretzel/praying hands. Brush with beaten egg. Sprinkle with salt.  place on grease baking sheets. Bake at 425 degrees Fahrenheit until browned.

Pretzel Prayer to share:
     Dear God, 
Please bless us as we share these pretzels.  
Wrap your love around us 
and hold us tight 
as we learn to pray and to share.   AMEN