It's a bird... It's a plane... It's a... OUTHOUSE?

They claim we are crazy and they are right. We had registered for the City of McDonough, Georgia Christmas parade a couple of months earlier. But, due to our busy schedule we had not yet constructed a float. Frankly, we did not even have a firm idea of what the float was going to be about.

The paperwork said the theme was "Christmas on 34th Street". Only a couple of days earlier had we discovered that 34th Street is a street in Baltimore, Maryland famous for its Christmas lights. Whatever we did had to be lighted, which made sense since the parade was to be held at night.

It was noon the day of the parade. The Out-Team had gathered at the church for lunch to decide what we could put together in time for the parade. According to the rules the float had to be complete by 5pm and the Christmas parade was to begin at 7pm. We had to hurry, we were short on time.

We had built an outhouse out of used lumber two years earlier to enter into our church's Tunk-N-Treat celebration. The suggestion was made that we use it. But, we wondered...an outhouse? In a Christmas Parade? Entered by a church none the less?  Why not? We were certain crazier things had been done. We did not know what, but something crazier had to have happened at some point in the history of Earth. The worst thing that could happen is that we would be kicked out without anyone ever seeing the float. So, the decision was made.

But how would we decorate it? We had some left over hay from another event which had been sitting outside for a while. No one would notice the freshly sprouted grass reaching up from the bales. One member of our team had noticed some discarded garland drooping out of a dumpster. Other members had extra Christmas lights and such at home. With a few other items we could have a float. It may not be a good float, but no-one could argue that it would not be a conversation piece!

We quickly hogged out on our pizza and left to gather the items we needed. One member went to get a trailer to haul the outhouse on. Another member went dumpster diving for garland and other decorations. One lady hit a dollar store, and other members went to their homes to gather whatever they had laying around.

We all met in the parade staging area. We assembled the outhouse on the trailer and quickly decorated the float and waited for the judges. Yes, there was judging. The judges stood before our magnificant creation is awe... or maybe shock. Made a few notes and moved on. Almost unimaginably we did not secure a trophy.

The parade itself was glorious! Volunteers walked along beside the float handing out Christian materials and church information to the crowd. Little children and adults alike marveled and cheered as the procession passed. We are not sure the order of the floats, but maybe there was a Christmas train, followed by a high school band. Then a north pole scene, complete with penguins and a barber's pole followed by an antique car or two. Then there was a gingerbread house with snow hanging from the eaves, and behind it... yes, you guessed it, was an outhouse decorated with garland and lights. We explained to several people that if the gingerbread house had indoor plumbing our float would have not been necessary. Alas, maybe next year.

At the end of the parade we were all too cold and tired to break everything down. Instead we towed the complete float a few miles away for overnight storage discovering in the process that our outhouse could withstand 35 mph winds. Not quite hurricane proof but a good shelter should a tropical storm ever come inland and hit Henry County during one of our events.

Now all of this may seem quite silly. After all, what church in their right mind would ever enter an outhouse in a Christmas parade? But it worked! Out of all of the floats entered ours garnered the most attention from the crowd. This was not due to its quality of workmanship or its bells and whistles. The attention was due to it being the unexpected. Because of its uniqueness it was without a doubt the most photographed float in the parade. Why is this important? Whenever someone remembers this parade, adult or child alike, and whenever they look back on the photographs they took that night they will see the message "Life down the toilet? Choose Jesus!"

While we might have walked the line on what some may consider to be good taste it is quite certain that everyone left the parade with the message imprinted in their mind that when their lives are in a mess, God will be there.

Local Out-Team
Community Bible Church
2001 Jodeco Road
Stockbridge, Ga 30281
770-914-0808

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Crusader on 01.15.10 @ 11:05 PM EST [link]