{"id":27420,"date":"2014-09-29T11:59:47","date_gmt":"2014-09-29T16:59:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/?p=27420"},"modified":"2026-04-08T10:10:39","modified_gmt":"2026-04-08T15:10:39","slug":"the-legitimate-liturgical-function-of-clowns","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/index.php\/2014\/09\/29\/the-legitimate-liturgical-function-of-clowns\/","title":{"rendered":"The Legitimate Liturgical Function of Clowns"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><em><strong>By Dr Katharine Harmon, September 29, 2014<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<p>\u201cCan you tell me the origins of the \u2018Clown Mass\u2019?\u201d was not the first thing I expected to hear when I walked into my American Catholic history class a few days ago. Somehow, somewhere, one of my students had discovered a (rather frightening) internet video of said \u201cClown Mass.\u201d Perhaps understandably, this student (and soon the whole room) wondered in what possible context the Clown Mass would have been a good idea. Because, let\u2019s be honest: if nothing else, clowns are creepy.<\/p>\n<p>The Clown Mass, or \u201cclown ministry\u2019\u201d as the larger phenomenon would be called, really did exist, and the intent behind this ministry is fascinating. In short, a \u201cClown Mass\u201d involved liturgical ministers and congregation members dressing up&#8230;as clowns. Donning garish colors, light-up antennae, face paint, and red noses provided a means of tangibly and concretely heightening one\u2019s awareness of human absurdity, inviting a refreshing playfulness into the sometimes-too-serious business of worship. Certainly, dressing the part in a ritual context placed the folly of humanity and the glory of God in sharp contrast; for where is the meeting of God and frail humans more intense than in the celebration of the Sacrament of the Eucharist?<\/p>\n<p>Forms of \u201cclown ministry\u201d were practiced as early as the 1960s, but experienced something of a popularity surge in the early 1980s. One such comprehensive \u201cclown ministry\u201d was run by the Sisters of Mount St. Benedict, in Erie, Pennsylvania. Sisters involved in the ministry dressed in clown costumes for retreats, ministry outreach events, and worship services, as a way to spread the Gospel with a touch of humor and a lot less severity than a nun in a traditional habit might project. As one sister, also known as \u201cBubbles,\u201d reported, \u201cThe traditional Christian message seems to get boxed in. What we attempt to do [with this ministry] is break down some of those barriers.\u201d (<a title=\"Beaver County Times 8\/17\/1986\" href=\"http:\/\/news.google.com\/newspapers?nid=2002&amp;dat=19861117&amp;id=iNwqAAAAIBAJ&amp;sjid=WNoFAAAAIBAJ&amp;pg=2245,3619948\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Beaver County Times, 8\/17\/1986<\/a>).<\/p>\n<p>Before we judge \u201cBubbles,\u201d it is important to note that these same religious sisters from Mount St. Benedict, through the 1970s, had been intensely involved (as so many religious sisters had) with protests for peace and justice: anti-war efforts abroad and civil rights organization at home. For sisters whose lives were so consumed with opposing violence and injustice, the joyful, gentle humor of clown ministry provided balance in their vocation. As another sister from St. Benedict\u2019s observed:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>\u201cIt\u2019s real easy&#8230;to go from one [social justice] vigil to the next&#8230;. You can easily get stuck in a position where you\u2019re saying \u2018No\u2019 all the time: \u2018No, we shouldn&#8217;t bomb Libya. No, we shouldn\u2019t fund the Contras. No, we shouldn\u2019t be involved in Central America. No, we shouldn\u2019t be building up this weapon system.\u2019 To see the same group [of sisters] have clowning as part of prayer and worship integrates [their vocation]. It all ties together, but I don\u2019t think people always put those together and I think it\u2019s good for them to see.\u201d (<a title=\"Beaver County Times 8\/17\/1986\" href=\"http:\/\/news.google.com\/newspapers?nid=2002&amp;dat=19861117&amp;id=iNwqAAAAIBAJ&amp;sjid=WNoFAAAAIBAJ&amp;pg=2245,3619948\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Beaver County Times, 8\/17\/1986<\/a>).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Bringing clowns to Christianity put a new face on the Christian message\u2014made it playful, and took St. Paul\u2019s words seriously (or literally): \u201cWe are all fools for Christ\u201d (1 Corinthians 4:10). For these sisters, whose faces were turned constantly to the horrors of human suffering, putting on a mask and a wig allowed them moments of release\u2014while still being faithful servants of God. In a world, much like ours, on the brink of Cold War, the counterpoint of the ridiculous in Christian witness and worship could be welcome, indeed.<\/p>\n<p>Distinct from clown ministry at large, the practice of the \u201cClown Mass\u201d in specific was met with swifter response by a concerned National Conference of Catholic Bishops\u2019 Committee on the Liturgy (responding to repeated questions from the Congregation for Divine Worship) in the Bishops\u2019 <em>Newsletter<\/em> appearing in November of 1985. Though the Committee did not doubt the sincerity of those involved in clown ministry, in the context of the Mass, clowns were officially deemed as having no legitimate liturgical function. No more were we to \u201csend in the clowns\u201d it seems\u2014at least during Mass.<\/p>\n<p>But, more seriously, the use of the clown Mass begs important questions regarding inculturation. At what point is a \u201cline\u201d drawn regarding what elements of the arts, culture, and society are \u201cacceptable\u201d as material for the \u201choly\u201d or not? Who draws that line? The document, \u201cEnvironment and Art in Catholic Worship,\u201d for example, describes the need for both \u201cquality\u201d and \u201cappropriateness\u201d of art and arts employed in worship settings (no. 20, 21). Even if a clown is quality, is the clown, by its very nature, not appropriate?<\/p>\n<p>How do other forms of art and culture fare? As <em>Sacrosanctum Concilium<\/em> notes, the \u201cgenius and talents\u201d of various peoples can be preserved and admitted to the Liturgy \u201cso long as they harmonize with [the Liturgy\u2019s] true and authentic spirit\u201d (no. 37). So, what of abstract stained glass? Of folk idioms in music? Of liturgical dance? It seems that, rather than the particular type of art or cultural element in question, the more pressing issue is how that particular element functions in any given society. That is, liturgical arts and aesthetics, indeed, any of the liturgical ministries, should not become \u201cends\u201d in themselves, but serve as vehicles or transmitters of the holy. Liturgical art and ministry should not distract the faithful. A good lector should \u201cdisappear\u201d behind the text proclaimed; a good set of altar paraments should be signs of the feast and season and not clash with the presider\u2019s vestments (and vice versa). Liturgical arts and the skill of liturgical ministers never serve the Liturgy fully if their form attracts more attention than their function.<\/p>\n<p>So, perhaps my students\u2019 question remains: if clown Masses were permissable, would there be any possible context in which a clown Mass would be a good idea? If there were a context in which the faithful were not distracted by the form of light-up noses and polka-dot stoles&#8230;and many of us weren\u2019t naturally terrified of clowns&#8230;in theory, perhaps, it could be possible.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>DR KATHARINE HARMON \u2014 Would there be any possible context in which a clown Mass would be a good idea?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":55,"featured_media":70387,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[8,4392,14],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-27420","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-art-and-architecture","category-best-of-pray-tell","category-inculturation"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>The Legitimate Liturgical Function of Clowns - Home<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/index.php\/2014\/09\/29\/the-legitimate-liturgical-function-of-clowns\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Legitimate Liturgical Function of Clowns - Home\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"DR KATHARINE HARMON \u2014 Would there be any possible context in which a clown Mass would be a good idea?\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/index.php\/2014\/09\/29\/the-legitimate-liturgical-function-of-clowns\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Home\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2014-09-29T16:59:47+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-04-08T15:10:39+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/carol-highsmith-s-america-GbBnfPh_ItQ-unsplash-e1775656878769.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2967\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1987\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Katharine E. 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Harmon","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/HARMON-y-768x768-1-96x96.jpg?crop=1","url":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/HARMON-y-768x768-1-96x96.jpg?crop=1","contentUrl":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/HARMON-y-768x768-1-96x96.jpg?crop=1","caption":"Katharine E. Harmon"},"description":"Katharine E. Harmon, Ph.D., is Project Director for the Obsculta Preaching Initiative at Saint John\u2019s School of Theology and Seminary in Collegeville, Minnesota. \u202fA Roman Catholic pastoral liturgist and American Catholic historian, Harmon is a graduate of the University of Notre Dame\u2019s liturgical studies program.\u202f She has contributed over a dozen articles and chapters to the fields of both liturgical studies and American Catholicism.\u202f She is the author of\u202f There Were Also Many Women There: Lay Women in the Liturgical Movement in the United States, 1926-1959\u202f(Collegeville: Liturgical Press, 2013) and\u202fMary and the Liturgical Year: A Pastoral Resource\u202f (Chicago: Liturgy Training Publications, 2023). She edits the blog, Pray Tell.","url":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/index.php\/author\/kharmon\/"}]}},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/carol-highsmith-s-america-GbBnfPh_ItQ-unsplash-e1775656878769.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27420","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/55"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=27420"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27420\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":70406,"href":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27420\/revisions\/70406"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/70387"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=27420"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=27420"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=27420"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}