Wednesday, March 31, 2004
Learn Religion through the Lives of the Simpsons
The Bensalem(PA) United Methodist Church holds a new ministry class that gleans wisdom from America's favorite animated family:
The irreverent television cartoon series "The Simpsons" has been called many things, but religious?
Perhaps. A new adult ministry in Bensalem, Pa. is focusing on "The Gospel according to The Simpsons."
The young adult group is using the book, "The Gospel According to The Simpsons," by Mark Pinsky and Tony Campolo.
Bensalem United Methodist Church hosts the new ministry class, and Liz Gruenbaum runs it.
She says one class focused on an episode when Homer was stealing cable television service, and Lisa showed him the error of his ways:
"It puts faith into a real world perspective. Because we all know people who have stolen cable, we took that 'stealing cable' episode to 'what hell looks like,' to real world things like filing false insurance claims and those people we know who fake worker's comp, and those kinds of things. It's real world perspective."
They meet Sundays at 9:30am and welcome new members at the church, Hulmeville Road in Bensalem, Pa.
I had a TV Theory professor at Penn State who extolled the virtues of the Simpsons and how they represented a wholesome American family. I guess he was right.
| Permalink Here
The Bensalem(PA) United Methodist Church holds a new ministry class that gleans wisdom from America's favorite animated family:
The irreverent television cartoon series "The Simpsons" has been called many things, but religious?
Perhaps. A new adult ministry in Bensalem, Pa. is focusing on "The Gospel according to The Simpsons."
The young adult group is using the book, "The Gospel According to The Simpsons," by Mark Pinsky and Tony Campolo.
Bensalem United Methodist Church hosts the new ministry class, and Liz Gruenbaum runs it.
She says one class focused on an episode when Homer was stealing cable television service, and Lisa showed him the error of his ways:
"It puts faith into a real world perspective. Because we all know people who have stolen cable, we took that 'stealing cable' episode to 'what hell looks like,' to real world things like filing false insurance claims and those people we know who fake worker's comp, and those kinds of things. It's real world perspective."
They meet Sundays at 9:30am and welcome new members at the church, Hulmeville Road in Bensalem, Pa.
I had a TV Theory professor at Penn State who extolled the virtues of the Simpsons and how they represented a wholesome American family. I guess he was right.
| Permalink Here
