Little Mosque on the Prairie

Great! Our U.S. Anglican brothers and sisters have discovered Little Mosque on the Prairie! Read all about it here.

Little Mosque on the Prairie III

Well this week's episode was kind of fun but again things were said about the Anglican church that were just unbelievable. No, I'm not talking about the same sex wedding. It is hard to imagine that a priest who was so worried only a week ago about being shut down by the Archdeacon for financial reasons wouldn't worry about being shut down by the same Archdeacon for disobeying Church discipline (the issue is being debated in the Anglican Church of Canada but a retired Archbishop was disciplined for participating in a wedding when he didn't actually do the wedding - it is hard to imagine that the same wouldn't happen in small town Saskatchewan). But it is possible - probably as possible as the story line about Yasir taking a second wife. No, the objection I have is to naming the Anglican church Mercy Anglican. Anglican churches are not named for the town they are in. United Churches often are. But Anglican churches have some interesting saint's name. So I'd like to suggest that the church could be named St. Joseph the Carpenter, since Yasir the contractor has found a home there. Or it could be called St. Clare Anglican Church or St. Gabriel's for the patron saints of television. Or maybe St. Genesius Anglican, or St. Vitus Anglican after one of the patron saints of actors. Now that would be believable.

Little Mosque on the Prairie 2

Last night's episode of Little Mosque was a bit of a disappointment. On Tuesday they broadcast an episode about a convert to Islam that was very funny. As a convert I can say that converts can be really difficult to be around. But last night's episode about the impending visit of the Archdeacon wasn't as good.

The premise was that the Archdeacon was coming and the rector of the parish where the mosque meets is afraid that he plans to shut down the church because their numbers are low. To add to this, the Archdeacon doesn't know that the mosque is renting space in the church. So the Muslims decide to help out the priest by pretending to be Anglicans. Funny premise but the Archdeacon was ludicrous. I've never in 25 years of attending prairie Anglican churches heard that thick of a Scottish accent coming out of the mouth of a Anglican cleric. Presbyterian yes, but not Anglican. Now some of the comments about how Anglicans worship were funny. And the little comment the Archdeacon made about closing a church in Dog River because nothing was happening there was funny too. (For those of you who don't watch Corner Gas on the rival CTV it is set in the fictional town of Dog River). But the dynamic between the clergy didn't seem like anything I've experienced or witnessed in my time of ministry.

Mostly I've liked how the writers seem to get church life. I was talking recently with some United Church folks who had found the comment that the organist who was fired for putting hash in his brownies had found work at the United Church very funny. I wonder if there were UC folks offended by the comment too - and if any Anglicans bristled at Sarah's comments last night about growing up Anglican but not remembering actually learning anything. One of the concerns people expressed about the show before it came on was that people would find the humour offensive. I know that over the years of teaching courses on religion I've made it a habit to say right at the beginning of the course that I find a lot of humour in religion and that I hope it doesn't offend people. So far I've never had anyone complain but I'm always aware that the danger is there. I'm glad the show seems to be walking that line well. Mostly I find the show is getting better and better. They seem to be relaxing into their roles and the dialogue is smoother.

Little Mosque on the Prairies

Little Mosque on the Prairies premiered this week and apparently 2.1 million people were watching. I watched it and enjoyed it. It is drawing comparisons to Corner Gas because they are both Canadian comedies set in small town Saskatchewan but they have a different feel. I'm a huge fan of Corner Gas which moves at a slower pace than Little Mosque. Dog River is a smaller town, the cast is smaller and the scope of the stories is smaller. If I had any criticism of Little Mosque it was that it was a little too hyper - it felt more like Ontario than Saskatchewan. But it shows great promise.