Cast of characters brings laughter, faith message to St. Michael's

By KATIE LEFEBVRE, Globe staff reporter
Sept. 13, 2007

Estelle walked into the church looking for answers about the Catholic faith. She was looking for a church to belong to.

She is one of the characters that Doug Brummel portrays during the "Lighten Up!" Whole Community Celebration.

"It was awesome," said Sioux City St. Michael parishioner, Anita Small.

St. Michael Church in Sioux City was filled with laughter as Brummel, a nationally known speaker, portrayed his cast of characters on Sept. 11. "Lighten Up!" is a faith-filled, funny presentation for all generations.

"When people lighten up, it means that people are going to enjoy and maybe laugh a little bit," said Small.

Sue Dentlinger, a parishioner at Our Lady of Good Counsel in Holstein, attended the presentation because she liked the title, "Lighten Up."

"I felt like my husband and I needed to lighten up a little bit, so we decided to come and make an evening of it," she said. "It was awesome. It kind of reminded me of what we might have had as a mission 40 years ago. I wish we could come back to that."

Estelle is a non-Catholic researching what church she would like to belong to. She brought attendees to the front to help her understand parts of the Catholic faith -sacraments, RCIA, Lent, marriage, the Mass, etc. - that she had been reading and learning about.

Small liked Estelle's openness and willingness to learn about something and that she touched upon some of the misconceptions about the Catholic faith.

Andrew, the second character, had been in college for nine years and sampled several majors. One of the classes he took was a religious studies course that helped him explain his Catholic faith to a person who had questions. A question he was asked was "Why do Catholics worship statues?"

"We don't," was Andrew's simple answer. He explained that statues remind Catholics of their faith and what Jesus did for them.

Andrew also touched upon the importance of parents and putting family first. He had mothers and fathers stand to be recognized.

"We watch everything you do," said Andrew. "We listen to every word you say. We will learn more from watching the way that you live your life than we will ever learn in school."

This character was a favorite of Dentlinger's because he reminded her of her children that are in college.

The third character was Hoover, who, after early retirement, started working as the maintenance person at his church.

"God has given us gifts and talents," said Hoover. "It is our job to use them."

He also talked about knowing what Catholics believe and why they believe.

"Why don't you just pause for a moment and look at the beautiful crucifix you have," said Hoover. "Ask yourself what you would say if someone stopped you on the street and asked you what you believe in as a Christian and a Catholic. Pray about that for me."

Before the final character for the evening came out, Brummel came out as himself. He recognized the youngest, oldest and middle children who were present.

"None of our families are perfect," said Brummel. "We really learn a lot from our families."

Joe, the old man, was the last character. He talked about his deceased wife and their relationship.

"When we pledged our love in the sacrament of matrimony, we promised to love each other and respect each other," said Joe. "We promised to be faithful to each other and to forgive each other."

He also talked about older people relating to younger people. He told a story about youth group kids visiting him just to talk. It took him a while to find a topic to talk to the kids about. They realized they had more in common than they thought - faith and family.

Brummel ended the evening with prayer and song.

Theresa Fawcett, also a St. Michael's parishioner, attended the presentation with her husband and five children.

"We come to church as a family and thought it would be a good experience for all of us," she said. "We really enjoyed it. All the kids did, too. They want to come back tomorrow night."

Brummel's other three characters (Sister Simon, the teacher; Timmy, the little boy; and Rob, the busy man) visited St. Michael's the second night, Sept. 12.

For more information about Brummel and his cast of characters, visit www.dougbrummel.com.