Rev. Judith Cooke
For as long as I can remember, I have been enamored with The Muppets. Sesame Street drew me right in with Cookie Monster's messy eating and Ernie with his rubber ducky. Years ago, when I was asked to help add puppets to the children’s ministries, I jumped in eagerly. While I own a few puppets, my favorite is Lewis, who is a church-loving, eager to help, overactive kid.
My biggest problem with puppets was finding scripts. Virtually every script I could find had theology with which I disagreed. I am unwilling to use scripts that teach children that they are all terrible sinners who displease God or that their Jewish neighbor is doomed to hell or that God loves Americans more than people in other countries. It is lessons like these that people were taught as children that affect their faith for a long time.
Pastors spend a lot of time helping people unlearn damaging lessons from their Sunday School years. This may be true for you as well. What were you taught as a child that you needed to relearn? What faith messages have you been told that do not sit right with you?
Over the years, I have written dozens and dozens of scripts, mostly for Lewis. Realizing that there is a need for puppet scripts with theology like our denomination’s, I am going to use some of my Sabbatical time to compile scripts into a collection called “Lewis Lovers.” My hope is to create a resource so others can have a meaningful puppet ministry.
While I will be away May through July on Sabbatical, I am excited and grateful to have the opportunity to work toward sharing my love of puppets with other pastors and churches.
My biggest problem with puppets was finding scripts. Virtually every script I could find had theology with which I disagreed. I am unwilling to use scripts that teach children that they are all terrible sinners who displease God or that their Jewish neighbor is doomed to hell or that God loves Americans more than people in other countries. It is lessons like these that people were taught as children that affect their faith for a long time.
Pastors spend a lot of time helping people unlearn damaging lessons from their Sunday School years. This may be true for you as well. What were you taught as a child that you needed to relearn? What faith messages have you been told that do not sit right with you?
Over the years, I have written dozens and dozens of scripts, mostly for Lewis. Realizing that there is a need for puppet scripts with theology like our denomination’s, I am going to use some of my Sabbatical time to compile scripts into a collection called “Lewis Lovers.” My hope is to create a resource so others can have a meaningful puppet ministry.
While I will be away May through July on Sabbatical, I am excited and grateful to have the opportunity to work toward sharing my love of puppets with other pastors and churches.