What better time than the middle of Lent to begin an occasional series of religiously-inspired jokes? The following is a reworking of something that appeared on Ben Witherington's excellent blog. A big hat-tip to Dr Witherington, who of course is not responsible for what I've done with his material.

A small Southern town has three churches, all of which are infested with rats. The Presbyterians figure that the rats are predestined to be there and that trying to get rid of them would be an affront to God's almighty sovereignty. So they do nothing.

The Baptists notice that the rats are clustered in the baptismal pool, so they slam the pool cover on and fill it with water in an effort to drown the rats. However, the rats manage to escape somehow and next Sunday there are twice as many of them.

The Episcopalians have the best luck. First they form an Inclusion Committee to engage in social outreach to the rats. Then they reserve a seat on the vestry for a rat. Then they tell the rats that they can receive communion even if they are not baptized. Finally, they begin to talk incessantly to the rats about the importance of stewardship and contributing to the Capital Campaign. After a month of this, the rats go away and only come back for Christmas and Easter.