Laughter of Faith: A Thesis Submitted to the Faculty of Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary in Parti

This is my DMin Thesis for Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary. I did not "improve" it or work to make it more readable. Many have requested it, so my producing it here is in response to them. From the abstract... This work is a study of laughter and its importance in congregational life from the perspective of pastors. It is concerned with the history and theories of laughter in terms of how they connect with current pastoral attitudes towards it. Questions of appropriateness are central to this exploration. A primary premise of the work is that laughter is a significant component of pastoral ministry, but its study seems marginalized by the church. This incongruency is further aggravated by the fact that much of the rest of the world accurately sees laughter as a significant social force. Except for the church, almost all other entities in society interested in shaping society seem to know the power and place of laughter. To address this inconsistency, this study reviewed all available literature and the Scriptures in order to discover the theories and views of laughter leading theologians and philosophers have had and then apply the best of the categories emerging from this to a current understanding of laughter. Both surveys and interviews uncovered what the current understanding of laughter is for a sample group of pastors within the geographical framework of New York's Hudson Valley. The research findings led to the development of ideas for applying an enlightened view of laughter to pastoral ministry for the purpose of making it more effective.