The Very Rev. Gary Hall, a former professional joke writer, is still making us laugh in his new role as dean of Washington’s National Cathedral, an Episcopal institution. From Sally Quinn’s favorable profile in the Washington Post:

“If the Cathedral wants to survive as institutional,” he goes on to explain, “it has to be transitional. It has to be the spiritual hope of the nation. It has to be about faith in public life and interfaith collaboration.”

Okay, but here’s the funny part:

“… I describe myself as a non-theistic Christian.”

And he goes on to expand on the concept.

“Jesus doesn’t use the word God very much,” he says. “He talks about his Father.”

Hall explains: “Where I am now, how do I understand Jesus as a son of God that’s not magical? I’m trying to figure out Jesus as a son of God and a fully human being, if he has both fully human and a fully divine set of chromosomes. . . . He’s not some kind of superman coming down. God is present in all human beings. Jesus was an extraordinary human being. Jesus didn’t try to convert. He just had people at his table.”

Ladies and gentlemen, the dean of the National Cathedral, the spiritual hope of the nation.

Makes me nostalgic for Evil Vicar:

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yRujuE-GIY4?rel=0&w=480&h=360]

UPDATE: A reader points out that this story is old, and that I poked fun at it when it first came out. Mea maxima culpa. Russell Moore tweeted it this morning, and when I read it, it sounded ever so slightly familiar, but I didn’t check the date. Amazing how often that happens to me, and to other people. Anyway, the points here still stand, and I’m going to leave this post up because the Evil Vicar skit is funny.