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Maryland
The rich and controversial history of Maryland’s clown ministers
We are fools for Christ’s sake.
So believed the apostle Paul when he penned a letter to the Corinthian church. And so, too, believed Maryland’s pioneering clown ministry.
This niche style of Christian outreach is as outrageous as it is earnest, and traces some of its roots back to Columbia. It’s perhaps a legacy that James Rouse never imagined when he founded the Howard County town, with its distinctive urban plan, efficient use of land and commitment to diversity. Rouse included a series of interfaith centers intended to bring people of different beliefs under one roof. The model inspired one local pastor at Abiding Savior Lutheran Church to pursue his own experiment blending liturgy with laughter.
These days, Rev. Floyd Shaffer is remembered by some as the “clown father” of modern Christian clowning. Though liturgical clowning already had a history in Europe, Shaffer spent his time in Columbia in the 1970s dabbling in clown ministry and eventually became known as a leader of the movement in the United States. He died three years ago, his wife Marlene Shaffer confirmed.
Even though the whimsical ministry’s heyday was in the 1980s and ’90s, some Christians continue to answer the call to clown. And the practice has captivated new audiences on TikTok and YouTube.
Earlier this year, the Columbia Maryland Archives put together an online exhibit about the town’s nondenominational clown ministry, called Faith and Fantasy, which Shaffer founded in 1974. Archivist Erin Berry said staffers were inspired after stumbling across a popular YouTube channel’s episode on Christian clowning.
Shaffer’s idea for a clown ministry came to him in 1964 on a beach in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. The pastor was in town for a Bible study and leafing through some books when he stumbled across the etymology of the word clown. He connected it with Jesus’ command to be a servant.
That same year, Lutheran church leaders were getting creative with clowns — and it wasn’t going over well.
The National Lutheran Council produced the short film “Parable,” which depicted Jesus as a white-faced clown and the world as a circus.
The film’s 1964 debut at the New York World’s Fair roiled event organizers, some of whom resigned in protest. One “disgruntled minister threatened to riddle the screen with shotgun holes if the film was shown,” the Library of Congress noted when it announced that it had selected “Parable” for preservation in the National Film Registry in 2012.
Six years later, Shaffer debuted as a clown minister for the opening day of Abiding Savior’s vacation Bible school, according to a news article preserved in Columbia’s archives.
“I don’t think that something that’s so controversial — I don’t know what other word to use — as clowning ministry could flourish in another place other than Columbia,” Berry said. “You could just try what you wanted to try.”
Other leaders within Columbia’s interfaith centers encouraged Shaffer to keep at it, said 86-year-old Marge Goethe. Her husband, Rev. Jerry Goethe, the pastor for Kittamaqundi Community Church, suggested to Shaffer that he teach a class on clown ministry. Together, the two men designed a seven-week course that covered theology, the history of clowning, skits and games to encourage playfulness.
Many local residents, including Marge Goethe, enrolled in the classes, embraced clown ministry and set out to visit children’s hospitals, retirement homes and domestic violence shelters. She learned how to silently deliver sermons with gestures and humor, but never mockery. Goethe used lipstick to draw a red circle — a symbol of the liturgical clown — on her cheek.
Goethe developed her clown persona and named him Harry, after a man she knew as a child who lived on the streets. He was a reminder that she could either be the kind of person who brushed him off or helped him out.
Howard County’s clown ministry eventually grew to include as many as 300 clowns, The Baltimore Sun reported in 1994. Members of the Faith and Fantasy ministry went on to teach clown ministry around the country and internationally.
Not every audience loved the routine.
During a worship service at a Virginia college’s youth convention, Goethe and other clown ministers offered to draw the mark of the clown on people’s cheeks.
“What is that, the mark of the devil?” one man asked.
Goethe couldn’t reply while she was in character.
“All I had to do was accept what he was feeling at the time and hope it changed at some point,” Goethe said.
Goethe still attends Kittamaqundi services and performs clown ministry. When people ask her about the decades she spent cheering up strangers, she worries she won’t find the right words to explain how rich clown ministry turned out to be.
“I did more good for people being silent,” Goethe said.
Shaffer eventually moved to Ohio and authored several books with titles such as “If I Were A Clown” and “Clown Ministry.” He produced instructional videos on clown ministry that lately have found a rapt audience on the internet.
Jen Bryant realized she had a personal connection with clown ministry while putting together an episode on the subject for her YouTube channel, Fundie Fridays, which features cultural commentary on aspects of fundamentalist Christianity in the United States. The Missouri resident’s grandfather, a Catholic, performed for a time as a clown minister under the name “George-o.”
Every community seems to have its subcultures, Bryant said, and she found that was also true for clowns. There are classical clowns like Joseph Grimaldi, a Regency-era entertainer who introduced the white face makeup. There are dark clowns like Juggalos, a nickname for fans of the hip-hop group Insane Clown Posse. And there are scary clowns like Pennywise, the shapeshifting antagonist in Stephen King’s 1986 horror novel “It.”
At first, Christian clowns sounded like a meme to Bryant. The full story, she said, turned out to be “way more interesting.”
Bryant and her husband James Bryant ordered copies of Shaffer’s books and collected a variety of research on clown ministry for their episode, which posted in April. The hourlong segment earned an “overwhelmingly positive” response from their audience, many of whom are in the midst of deconstructing their faith and understanding of Christianity, Bryant said.
“Everyone just thought this was just the most pleasant little novelty,” James Bryant said.
Maybe Christian clowns are even the original deconstructors.
“They’re people who went, ‘faith wasn’t working exactly how we wanted it to, so we broke it down and changed it,’” he said. “It worked. It has a legacy.”
Appearing in a video on Kittamaqundi’s YouTube page, Shaffer said clown ministry gives people a new way to live out and enjoy theology, “instead of being so glum and gloomy and solemn, as much of the church has become.”
Many Bible stories defy rational thought and that’s sort of the point, Floyd said in the video.
Scripture, Floyd noted, often suggests that God has a sense of humor.
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ANNAPOLIS, Md. — Governor Moore has signed House Bill 1532 — Utility RELIEF (Reducing Energy Load Inflation for Everyday Families) Act into law today, providing limited relief to Maryland ratepayers while advancing critical protections for property owners impacted by large-scale energy infrastructure projects.
Several Republican-led amendments aimed at delivering broader, long-term cost savings for Maryland families were ultimately rejected, including:
• Ending the EmPOWER Maryland Program;
• Adjusting Renewable Energy Portfolio Standards; and
• Withdrawing from the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative.
Senator J.B. Jennings successfully secured an amendment to the Utility RELIEF Act, strengthening transparency and notification requirements for landowners impacted by major transmission line projects. The amendment incorporates key language from his bill, Senate Bill 584 — Certificates of Public Convenience and Necessity and Transmission Lines — Notice to Landowners, introduced during the 2026 legislative session in response to concerns surrounding the Brandon Shores Retirement Mitigation Project (PSC Case #9748). Senate Bill 584 requires clear, direct and documented notice to affected and adjacent property owners, including formal notice of their right to intervene in Public Service Commission proceedings, and received favorable testimony from Protect Our Streams, The Valleys Planning Council and the Maryland Farm Bureau.
Harford County Executive Bob Cassilly wrote in support of the measure, saying, “This legislation does not prevent necessary projects from moving forward; it simply ensures that affected citizens are properly notified and afforded due process.”
Joanne Frederick, leader of Stop MPRP, also testified in support of the bill, stating, “Maryland property owners should not have to rely on rumor or last-minute meetings to learn that their land is under consideration for a transmission corridor.”
Although SB584 received a strong hearing before the Senate Energy, Education and the Environment Committee, it was never brought forward for a final vote.
Supporters of the Jennings amendment pointed to major inconsistencies in how utilities interpreted Maryland’s existing notification laws. While developers of the Maryland Piedmont Reliability Project directly informed landowners and local governments of their rights to intervene, BGE relied primarily on a legal advertisement, website posting and social media notice for the Brandon Shores project.
“When this bill didn’t leave committee, I knew that we had to throw a Hail Mary and amend the Utility RELIEF Act to meet the needs of Marylanders like my constituents, who are struggling to navigate an unclear process,” said Senator Jennings.
When facing pushback on the Senate floor, regarding the inconvenience the amendment would cause for utility companies, Jennings said, “It’s somebody’s family’s home, where they raised their children. And to sit there and say to them, ‘I’m sorry you didn’t get notified, tough luck,’ That’s why we are down here, to fight for our constituents… This amendment can fix that, to make sure they’re notified properly and it’s done the right way. It’s simple. I’m disappointed that this is the attitude we are going to take, when I try to fight for my constituency.”
As he fought for the amendment, he warned, “They’re going to be calling each and every one of us, saying I wasn’t notified, they’re taking our family farm and taking my home,” emphasizing that the measure would address a problem many lawmakers will otherwise be forced to confront.
“The statute, as previously written, was too ambiguous and allowed utilities to decide how much, or how little, notice to provide,” Senator Jennings said. “Maryland families deserve a fair and transparent process regardless of which utility is involved.”
The signing of the Utility RELIEF Act comes as Senator Jennings, and several regional lawmakers continue to challenge the Brandon Shores Retirement Mitigation Project before the Public Service Commission. On April 9, 2026, Senator Jennings joined Senators Chris West, Johnny Ray Salling and Mary-Dulany James in filing an appeal. He later submitted a detailed Memorandum of Appeal on April 19, 2026, outlining constituent concerns, alleged deficiencies in the CPCN process and evidence suggesting the proposed transmission infrastructure may extend beyond immediate reliability need.
Among the concerns raised was a 2014 rendering mailed to landowners depicting a second transmission line designated for “future capacity,” raising additional questions about the long-term scope and purpose of the project. During evidentiary hearings last October, a Public Utility Law Judge cited Senator Jennings’ earlier letter challenging the redaction of project files and acknowledged the validity of transparency concerns raised by affected communities. In that letter, Senator Jennings wrote, “My constituents deserve transparency and assurance that there is a genuine and immediate reliability crisis, not that this infrastructure is being justified by speculative, future commercial needs.”
An independent report prepared for the Power Plant Research Program similarly concluded the project could create transmission capacity exceeding identified reliability needs.
The Public Service Commission is now expected to issue a final order in Case #9748 in the coming months.
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LEONARDTOWN, Md. – A Mechanicsville man was sentenced to life in prison on Tuesday for killing another man outside a Maryland liquor store in 2023.
What we know:
Leroy Christpher Neal, 50, was sentenced to life in prison plus 20 years, and life plus five years of active incarceration for the attack, the St. Mary’s County State’s Attorney’s Office announced.
Neal was convicted in December.
SUGGESTED: Alabama man charged after gun pulled in Maryland road rage incident, deputies say
The murder happened on Nov. 4, 2023, at a liquor store in Great Mills. That day, deputies said, Neal lured the victim to a secluded part of the parking lot behind the building, close to the edge of the woods.
What they’re saying:
State’s Attorney Jaymi Sterling said Tuesday that Neal “executed the victim in cold blood by shooting him in the back as he tried to escape,” calling it “a merciless and premeditated killing that stole a man’s life and devastated his family.”
“For years, his loved ones have carried the weight of this unimaginable loss while waiting for justice and accountability,” Sterling said. “My heart remains with them, and I hope this outcome brings them a measure of peace and closure.”
The Source: Information in this story is from the St. Mary’s County State’s Attorney’s Office.
Police said Dequan Gravely, 23, of Charles County, was driving northbound on Route 210 near Pine Drive when his Mercedes collided with the school bus turning left from the southbound lanes.
The driver of a car involved in a crash with a Prince George’s County school bus in Accokeek, Maryland, on Friday has been identified.
Prince George’s County police said Dequan Gravely, 23, of Bryans Road in Charles County, was driving northbound on Route 210 near Pine Drive around 7:20 a.m. when his Mercedes collided with the school bus turning left from the southbound lanes.
Investigators said the crash happened in the intersection, causing the school bus to flip onto its side. Gravely died at the scene.
The school bus driver was transported to a hospital and treated for injuries that were not considered life-threatening. Police said no students were on the bus at the time of the crash.
Investigators said they believe debris from the collision damaged a third vehicle. The driver of that vehicle “declined medical attention,” police said.
The Prince George’s County Police Department’s Collision Analysis and Reconstruction Unit is investigating. Anyone with information is asked to contact investigators at 301-731-4422.
WTOP’s Acacia James contributed to this report.
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