Edited 8:00 a.m., 10 October 2025
A Lady Preacher, an Amish Couple, and a Handful of Catholics Walk into a Funeral.
What seems like the start of a corny religious joke is actually the start of a true story about Betty, her late partner Tom, and the unity of those gathered to celebrate Tom’s life.
As we settle into the deceased man’s living room, his partner Betty putters around preparing for the funeral. She rearranges some chairs, fluffs a throw pillow, and then perks up at the sound of a distinct “clip-clop” from the driveway. “Oh!” Betty exclaims, “The Amish are here!” She hurries her frail body to the door to greet them.
An Amish man with a long white beard enters, followed by his silent wife. Both are dressed in their funeral best: simple, black garb. They belong to a conservative Amish sect, so their clothes are arranged on their work-worn bodies with stick pins instead of buttons.
Several more neighbours and friends file into the living room. Betty rearranges more chairs. The Amish couple remain silent. A neighbor pipes up, breaking the awkwardness of funeral small talk. “Where’s Father Fish?” the woman asks.
Most of the friends and neighbours sitting in Betty’s living room have been raised Catholic in generationally Catholic families. A priest must be coming to lead the funeral proceedings…so where is Father Fish? A neighbor responds: “Father Fish isn’t coming. It’s that lady preacher.”
That lady preacher emerges from Betty’s kitchen. She cracks a joke with the Amish man, and greets the Catholic schoolteacher sitting next to him. Even at a funeral, she can’t quell her sense of humour.
They all grieve in unique ways: some by telling jokes, others by silently remembering, and still others by storytelling. The guests share how they each knew Tom: work stories, meetings around town, doctors appointments, and more.
What seems like the start of a corny joke, then, is really the start of a beautiful story about people from historically divided Christian groups who came together in a moment of holy unity.
Of the many topics which have historically divided these groups, communion is the most significant. Disagreement over this sacrament–which should be one of our uniting ties as the Body of Christ–is the very thing which tears this holy Body apart, limb by limb.
“Disagreement over this sacrament–which should be one of our uniting ties as the Body of Christ–is the very thing which tears this holy Body apart, limb by limb.”
Despite this, and many other divisive issues, I am convinced that in Betty’s living room, the diverse Body of Christ was gathered in unity and love, as our Lord desires it to be. Jesus makes this clear in his High Priestly Prayer in John 17. Praying to the Father, Jesus asks that his disciples “may all be one, just as” the Son and the Father are one (v. 21).
We can imagine Jesus mourning the hatred and violence between his beloved followers, just as he mourns the hatred and violence between the tens of thousands of Christian denominations today. “O Righteous Father,” he continues, “[may] the love with which you have loved me…be in them, and I in them” (vs. 25-26).
It is God’s will for us, as Jesus’ beloved followers, to be united in such holy love that it reflects the trinitarian unity that the Father, Son, and Spirit possess with each other. We are called to be so united in love that we reflect the holy unity of the Trinity itself!
“We are called to be so united in love that we reflect the holy unity of the Trinity itself!”
Does this mean that we should throw all of our theological convictions out the window? Certainly not. As Christians, we make decisions as we are convicted by the Holy Spirit and led by the Scriptures. We should stand firm in our positions on the theological hot topics of today, which range from LGBTQIA+ discussions, to Christian nationalism, and even the question of the Antichrist. As John Wesley notes in his 1750 sermon, “Catholic Spirit,” we can refuse to compromise our convictions and yet also fulfill our calling to Christian unity. Even if you disagree with me, Wesley wrote, you can still “love me as a companion in the kingdom and patience of Jesus, and [as] a joint heir of his glory.”
Christ is not glorified when we pick our theological hill to die on. Rather, Christ is glorified when we pursue reconciliation and loving unity within his Body. When the lady preacher, the Amish couple, and the ragtag bunch of Catholics meet as the Body of Christ to celebrate and mourn together, Christ is present and glorified.
Beatrice Brooks is the Lambein ARD and the London Honors Program Assistant this year. She is a junior studying Bible & Theology and plans to one day be a lady preacher in the Wesleyan Church.
