Sunday

The Stoning of the Organist
By Garrison Keillor

This is a hysterical, funny riff on a King James verse by Garrison Keillor about an organist who “hath played too loud” with dire consequences.

About 15 years ago, we were searching for a new product for the catalog because we had several pages to fill. Our first goal was to look for words, phrases, sponsors or other bits of humor that Garrison had written that we could apply to a new shirt, mug or product line. In one of the product brainstorming sessions, we had the idea to sell memberships to the American Duct Tape Council, complete with a membership doctrine written by Garrison. We would include the membership scroll with a few other Duct Tape-branded products and have an instant bestseller — sounds easy.

Well, Garrison loved the idea about a printed piece but not about Duct Tape and said he would write one. This has been a “classic” ever since and is the first product that has never appeared in any other format, even though we all tried to persuade him to record it for the CD compilation Church People — The Lutherans of Lake Wobegon. The print had disappeared for about five years but was the first of many items brought back three years ago to wild success. The length of the piece makes it difficult to read when shrunk down to fit for the print catalog or website, but rest assured that any organist with a sense of humor will find it wildly funny.