A three-ring service

I'm still playing a bit of catch-up after being out of town for the weekend. One of the stories that made the rounds while I was away was the "Clown Eucharist" held at Trinity Church in Manhattan on Trinity Sunday (May 22):

Calling the clown a "symbol of 'divine foolishness,'" Trinity's rector, the [ir]Reverend James Cooper, aka Bom Bean, parish clown, defends his antics as follows:

It will likely be a surprise to see clowns inside Trinity Church, but think about it this way: how we perceive the world in light of our relationship with Jesus could rightly be called foolish. Jesus looked at things in a new and strange way - a foolish way. But, as St. Paul said, the foolishness of God is wiser than the wisdom of the world. Paul declared himself a fool for Christ's sake.

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If you have the stomach for blasphemous tommyrot, there's actually video of the service. The most surreal moment is probably Rev. Bozo consecrating the Eucharistic elements to a chorus of kazoos:

My advice to the clergy of Trinity: Once you've replaced the the traditional Episcopal vestments with clown costumes, you might as well stick with them. You've only admitted what you really are.