Thanks, Kermit.

Rev. Danielle Elizabeth Tumminio, author of God and Harry Potter at Yale, has seen the new Muppet movie and wants to say thanks to Kermit and pals for lessons learned.

(Warning: big spoiler ahead.)

Many a pastor, many a Christian, knows this storyline all too well. In this era of shrinking resources, full-time pastors become part-time pastors; the rectory needs to be sold. The church closes.

Kermit, I loved your message to us all at the end of the film: It doesn’t matter that you lost your building. It doesn’t matter that you failed to raise the money.

The experience of becoming a community again created a foundation of relationships more stable than any building’s....

The Muppets teach us Christians that a building does not a church make.

Financial resources do not a church define.

Instead, a church is constructed upon the relationships between people who undertake a journey to love God and their neighbor together.

Posted by Torey Lightcap on December 7, 2011 1:55 PM | |
Comments (4)

AMEN!!!

Posted by Lois Keen [TypeKey Profile Page] | December 7, 2011 5:08 PM

If it's not about the buildings, then why does ECUSA engage in nasty and expensive legal battles over buildings? Wait, don't answer that -- I already know your answer. But I find this an ironic post.

Posted by Catherine Alexander [TypeKey Profile Page] | December 7, 2011 6:10 PM

Well, Catherine, even though it's not all about buildings, but about relationships between God and neighbor, realistically, families still do need a house to live in, and relatives have to have a place to meet.

Posted by Gregory Orloff [TypeKey Profile Page] | December 7, 2011 6:57 PM

Um, maybe I saw a different Muppets movie, but the one I saw was entirely about rescuing a building. The old theater signified their community exactly as a church building signifies its community. In the end, whether it mattered if the building was lost, it was not lost.

Posted by C. Wingate [TypeKey Profile Page] | December 7, 2011 10:45 PM

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