That time I accidentally said an inappropriate word in church.

While giving an announcement in church, I misspoke. My friends and colleagues probably won't ever let me live it down, so I might as well own it.

Oct 08, 2023

When you say as many words as I do in public, there’s bound to be some missteps.

This past weekend, I had to make an announcement at church about our Fall Festival, where we throw a big Halloween-esque party for our neighbors. Halloween can veer away pretty quickly from the adorable “Lightning McQueen” and “Princess Tiana” zone to the “Drag Me to Hell” territory.

This is super scary for little kids.

So to help with future counseling sessions for toddlers, we throw a fun party during the daytime in our parking lot. It’s before nap time. It’s safe. It’s super cut. And it’s more “aren’t you just the most adorable Ewok ever” and less “we all float down here.”

BUT.
We needed our folks to donate a TON of candy.

SO.
I was going to make an announcement to ask our folks for that.

BUT.
Because of allergies, we wanted to stay away from candy that contained peanuts.

SO.
I was going to have to go on stage and make an announcement that contained the phrase “No nuts.”

THEREFORE:
I knew as an experienced and skilled public speaker, that this was a danger zone phrase.

DANGER WORDS AND PHRASES IN CHURCH

Lot pitched his tents
Let everything that has breath praise the Lord
Take out your note sheets
Daniel’s friends, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego
Love your enemies.

I knew especially to be careful with my enunciation around the word “peanuts.” Turns out, that was not the word that would be my downfall.

<sigh>

At any rate, if you’re local in San Jose, we’d love to have you come out to our Fall Festival. So much fun for the little ones and their adults:

jumpy houses
trunk-or-treat
games
tons of candy
food
face-painting
And a live FUNK BAND.

Check out all the details here!

WHAT ARE THE CHANCES?

My son, who is a freshman at Baylor University, has loved getting involved in big-time college football with giant stadiums brimming with loyal fans. This is something his mother (who attended the University of Michigan and followed their championship season in 1997) knows all about, but which I (who attended a Division III school) don’t.

Here my son is at the 50-yard line wearing his Freshman Jersey with his last name and graduation year on it - seated two rows behind someone who *just happened* to have his unique first name as his last name.