Customer Reviews

You Might Be a United Methodist If...

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I grew up in the Methodist Church, and my parents are life-long devout Methodists. We often joke about "methodizing" and Methodist ways -- so natually, I thought this would be a funny treat for my Mom. I was disappointed -- the book is full of one-liners, most of which present the Methodist church as a liberal, female-friendly, ecumenical organization. Granted, the church has (thank goodness) become must more open-minded over the years, but not to the extent this booklet implies. I could relate only to one or two of the jokes, and even they were lame. I didn't find any of them laugh-out-loud funny. No doubt, the Methodist Church is large and congregations and practices vary from church to church. I'm sure that there are a handful of Methodists out there who might find this funny. However, even though I have attended several Methodist churches over the years, I didn't particularly relate to this, nor did I find it funny. I wouldn't recommend purchasing this little cheaply-produced booklet (which looks like a freebie you could pick up the on the shelves in the narthex, right next to the Upper Rooms -- and it's not even blessed with a nice paper cover or any four-color illustrations) unless having something titled says "You Might Be a Methodist If . . . " is, in & of itself, amusing to you.

I found this book to be amusing, but a number of the jokes about Methodists could easily be applied to many of the mainline Christian denominations. Ah, well, Methodists have never been known for being very funny.

Although Robert Martin Walker tries to tear a page from Jeff Foxworthy's famous "You Might Be A Redneck If..." routine, the results are hardly in Foxworthy's laugh-out-loud league.

The problem, really, is that individual churches within the United Methodist Church tend to be extremely diverse in tone and emphasis. Depending on the church, you might find yourself in a hysterically conservative, wildly liberal, or casually moderate congregation. Consequently, it is extremely difficult to find one-liners of the "You Might Be..." variety that will resonate with United Methodists across the board.

For myself, as a member of the United Methodist Church I found this small, short book harmless but only mildly amusing at best. If you actually want an idea of the humor you might encounter at a United Methodist Church, you'd really do better to drop in on a UMC pot-luck dinner.

GFT, Amazon Reviewer

Great one liners. Leaves you wishing the book was longer with more punch lines!

A clever and fun look at our denomination--every page hit home. As a life-long United Methodist and a PK, I could readily identify with each amusing observation.