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One
day, he's a clown. The next, a magician. But each and every Sunday, he's a
preacher. For nearly 25 years, the Rev. Buddy Lamb has juggled all three
roles. For him, they're natural complements. "I'll communicate
God's love while you're laughing," said Lamb, pastor of Schomburg
Road Baptist
Church. "I want
folks to know about joy, that it's not rocked by circumstances. It's a
possession. No one can take it from you."
His office reflects this dual love of entertaining and
ministering. Amid spiritual books and Bibles and posters about joy and love,
there's a bookshelf filled with about 25 clown figurines and a wall of photos
of clown friends and entertainers from around the country.
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Lamb -
whose clown name is Budzo - especially admires the
antics of Mark Anthony and Lou Jacobs, former Ringling
Brothers clowns. "A clown starts from the heart and works
outward. He exaggerates what's already there," Lamb explained.
"There's a joy that a clown experiences. He doesn't hide behind it but
works from what's inside."
Lamb, 48, started clowning around more than 20 years ago
when a man in his church in Covington,
Ga., encouraged him to
perform for a church group. "I had never in my life 'dressed out,'
with professional makeup," Lamb recalled, but said his outgoing
personality carried him through. "I never meet a stranger."
As he moved from church to church, Lamb built up his act. He improved his
makeup and
magic skills and even went to clown conferences. He did
extensive research, and began to teach others about performing.
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In
1984, he established his first clown ministry, while on staff at First Baptist
Church in Dawson, Ga.
A year later, he was asked to be a teacher for the Georgia Baptist
Convention's drama festival. "That made me bump up my research
further," he said. "Ever since then, I never looked back."
Lamb is now the drama consultant for the Georgia Baptist
Convention, and the only one in the 50-state Southern Baptist Convention to
have a clowning background. Lamb regularly performs for GBC-sponsored events,
and also gets calls to perform at Southern Baptist-sponsored conferences
around the country. "He's one of those rare people in that
he's a professional entertainer as well as a minister," said the Rev.
Dennis Rogers, a discipleship specialist with the GBC's family ministries in Atlanta. "He has a
ministry incentive in doing his clowning and magic tricks. "What's
appealing is, he really loves people," added Rogers, who's been friends
with Lamb for more than 20 years. "He has a boldness
about him. We'll go into places to eat and he has a rope around his neck.
That's his rope trick. He loves to make people laugh."
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