Clarissa Strickland shares her unique brand of Baptist history humor.

Clarissa Strickland is my friend. She is my co-worker. And, she is one of the funniest people I know. Clarissa has a well-honed sense of humor that Fellowship Baptists turn to again and again in our hours of reminiscence and celebration.

This evening, she and McAfee School of Theology professor Brett Younger performed a comedy routine that provided levity and laughter for the “CBF: A Love Story” celebration of CBF’s 20^th anniversary at the General Assembly in Tampa.

A native of Atlanta, Clarissa grew up a Baptist, was a
Baptist pastor’s wife and has faithfully served CBF for 20 years. She was CBF’s
first official employee.

And each time she reads from the “Dare She Scrolls,”
Fellowship Baptists share in the knowing laughter of a community shaped by
common events. Even if we’ve heard the jokes before, they comfort us and remind
us that joy can come from pain.

I happen to know that Clarissa was extremely nervous about
her part in Wednesday evening’s 20^th anniversary dinner party. She
was witty and clever and induced laughter and applause like we all knew she
would – it all seemed so effortless. But I know Clarissa, as she has done on
behalf of CBF year after year, put a lot of blood, sweat and tears – and her
very Baptist heart — into her script and delivery. She and Brett Younger will
no doubt be called on again to headline other events in the Fellowship community.

Just remember the next time Clarissa unrolls the “Dare She
Scrolls” for a reading, there is no more committed Baptist, no more dedicated
Christian, no more faithful student of the Bible, no more advocate for CBF, no
more compassionate Christ-follower than Clarissa Strickland.

She has a ministry of humor, and we are all healthier for
her sharing it.