The Parrot - Community Mennonite Church of Lancaster

Holy Spirit visits Lancaster congregation in feathered form

(by Dave Wert - Reprinted with permission from Gospel Herald)

It's a bird (well, sort of), it's a plane, it's . . . the Holy Spirit?

An unassuming wooden parrot has taken on a mysterious and exalted role at Community Mennonite church of Lancaster (CMCL). Perching at different spots in the sanctuary from week to week, it has come to symbolize the Holy Spirit to members of the congregation.

The parrot first arrived on the scene in the fall of 1990, at about the time when CMCL was moving into its newly remodeled sanctuary. CMCL members Jan and Sid Stoltzfus noticed the bird at a Selfhelp Crafts store. Something special must have gleamed in its laquered eye, for Jan went back and bought the colorful creature. Sid cut the base off so it could sit unaided, and put it in a weeping fig tree in the front of the church. The parrot added an avian touch to the greenery (and gave a dual meaning to the term, "sanctuary").

Two months later, the fig tree died. But the parrot took on a new life. People began to notice that the parrot appeared in new places each week, sometimes hovering over them from the front, sometimes watching from a windowsill. Because of this unexpected behavior, CMCL pastor Vern Rempel christened it the Spirit Parrot, preaching a sermon from John 3:8, which describes how one born of the Spirit is like the wind; it "blows where it wills . . . and no one can predict its coming."

Since its initiation into fame, the parrot has been the subject of sermons and general congregtional dialogue. Rempel placed the bird on his shoulder as if it were a pirate's parrot to speak about conflict and communication. One Sunday during the 1992 presidential campaign, the parrot became H. Ross Parrot, communicating Sesame Street-style about stewardship and allowing Rempel to engage in his avocation of standup comedy, impersonating Ross Perot.

Another sermon had Rempel claiming that he likes CMCL's parrot as a symbol for the Spirit more than the traditional white dove. "A multicolored resident of the rain forest represents the multicultural spirit which ignited Pentecost," Rempel says.

Sometimes the parrot even sports different outfits--such as a flowing black cloak for the season of Lent.

In June of this year, the church performed what promises to be an annual Pentecost Parrot Pinning. All members aged 50 and over received miniature versions of CMCL's guardian parrot, representing the Spirit's alighting on them as they enter the golden years.

Meanwhile, the original Parrot of the Spirit quietly moves again, ready to surprise a smile onto a searching face next Sunday.