Family Eucharist with Roly Bain Priest & Clown

 On the occasion of the Clowns Convention at Butlins

Sunday 8th March 2009 

Faith fun and foolishness descended on St. Wilfrid's Church  during the Sunday Family Eucharist in a hugely enjoyable and spiritually uplifting way with the presence of Roly Bain, Priest and International Clown. He entertained children,  adults and all the young at heart and showed us that our services can be spiritually rewarding and still great FUN!

Roly Bain - picture Peter Jessop

Fr. Andrew with Roly - picture Peter Green

Prior to the start of the service and as the congregation arrived they knew immediately that things were going to be very different as Roly went about his task of dusting everything in sight and rearranging the hymn numbers in the process!  Roly engaged with every facet of the service in an appropriate way  and besides his breath taking feats of balancing and clowning, at various points in his act there were things to ponder, some teaching and some hilarious jokes - even if some were slightly at the expense of the church establishment!

The feather duster was also a very fitting prop which Roly used to great effect and which to me symbolised the way this uninhibited informal approach to Family Services was whisking away all the cobwebs and stuffiness we seem to excel in sometimes and made the whole thing so engaging and outreaching to all the extra people who came to see what it was all about.

Parts of it were priceless - like the moment Roly needed assistance with assembling his very impressive tightrope (or should I say very slack rope!) and young Freddie wasn't quite tall enough to get the cross in place. Fred from Larche sprang to help from the congregation and we were all waiting for the hilarious moment when it dawned on Roly (who seemed to the only one who didn't know Fred's  name) he was dealing with another Fred!
Young Freddie Another Fred to the Rescue!
 
But the highlight for me was undoubtedly Roly's 'Bubble Prayers' - if you do nothing else please do have a listen to them in the quiet of your own homes or wherever you are when visiting this site. These simple heart felt and sincere prayers broke through all the layers that can often defocus and cloud our intercessions and served to remind us that in the midst of our foolishness, laughter and tears there is someone who is listening and who we can engage with - our Saviour and Redeemer.
 
Thank you Roly for everything you did for all of us  and to Fr. Andrew for securing the booking in what is clearly a log jammed full diary for our clown (on Roly's website diary I counted 69 bookings from Sunday 8th March to 19th December alone). A thank you also to Fr. Andrew and those who planned and  were prepared to stage this 'different' event. In true St. Wilfrid's tradition there are bound to be a tiny few dissenters who view this event as something very inappropriate - but they will be in the very small minority - I am sure most reactions will be 'terrific'. Also, if we truly want to outreach to the community and make mission actually mean something and turn words into actions at St. Wilfrid's then things like this have a vital place and need to be right up there in the Mission Action Plan.
 
I hope too this will spur us on to staging a complete Clown's Service when the clowns convention come to town. I still have vivid memories of the one they staged at St. Mary's church South Bersted where the church was filled with clowns and the late much missed vicar, Hugh Pruen turned up appropriately dressed in a clown costume too. Roly do come and see us again soon.
 
Peter Green


 Click Here for a Slideshow
 photographs kindly provided by Peter Jessop

Roly Bain‘s clowning is rooted in the Gospel and his thought-provoking and entertaining presentation of Gospel themes never fails to provoke a profound response.

Roly Bain is a son of the biographer of the first great English clown, Joe Grimaldi.  Having read the biography of Coco the clown at the age of eight, he wanted to be a clown in Bertram Mills’ Circus. Instead he ordained as a priest in the Church of England in 1978 but he did not forget clowning and in 1982 he helped found Holy Fools, a loose-knit network of loose nits committed to clowning in ministry and worship.  In 1990 he resigned his parish in London and did a year at Fool Time, the circus school in Bristol and he’s been clowning full-time ever since.

His talent has won him several awards, including the 1994 Clown of the Year, the Clown’s International Slapstick Award in 1999, and the Impact Clown Award from the USA in 2001.  In 2003 he was invited to become a member of the College of Evangelists

He has clowned all over the UK, and throughout Europe, as well as at international events in the USA, Canada and Australia.   

Website:   http://www.rolybain.co.uk

Telephone:  01454 616593

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