Cartoon of two men. One says, “If it rains any more we’ll have to rename our church the ‘Floating Bethel.’”

The cartoon I did for this month’s Church of God newsletter was an inside joke. I had written this idea when Hurricane Irene drenched the east coast. I had hear of many churches that had been caught in the floods.

This was about the time the cartoon was due. Part of the history of the Church of God always stuck out in my mind. Part of the evangelistic efforts was to outfit a barge for missions. They called it the Floating Bethel.

There was something about a floating church that has always intrigued me. Is it the Noah’s Ark story? Is it the idea that it could be a challenge reading a hymnal while the waves rocked the sanctuary around? Who knows!

I was definitely playing to my audience on this one. Not many people would get it without the lesson in Church of God history. But I thought the imagery would lend itself to some humor nonetheless. I like the language of that time too and how disjointed it feels with today’s vernacular.

I hope the recovery is going along well after the deluge and that no churches had to resort to becoming floating chapels.