Funny over on Sacred Sandwich this month, a humor bit on picking pastors in a fantasy draft league. Here’s a clip, head there for the complete story:

Last season, as a participant in the Fantasy Church League (FCL), Brad Paulsen won the 2005-06 championship by putting together a fantasy team of real-life ministers whose combined church growth statistics were best in the league. Because of this success, some FCL observers considered Paulsen a shoo-in to repeat this accomplishment for the 2006-07season. However, his attempt at building another top fantasy church team was severely damaged when he made a huge blunder during this month’s FCL Draft Day by accidentally selecting an elderly, small-town Baptist pastor as his first round draft pick. “What can I say,” Paulsen remarked afterwards. “Any hope of building the top fantasy mega-church for 2007 was gone as soon as I found out my No. 1 pick was still using a hymnal.”

Paulsen, an insurance salesman from Columbus, OH, had intended on selecting perennial All-Pro favorite Richard D. “Rick” Warren of Saddleback Community Church, but inadvertently submitted the name of Richard B. Warren, an eighty-year-old pastor from Viburnum, MO, whose small congregation consists mainly of AARP members. The mix-up was not recognized until after Bernard Gleason, the player with the next draft selection, saw Paulsen’s typographical error and quickly snatched up the Purpose-Driven pastor for himself. Afterwards, League officials ruled that Gleason had drafted the Saddleback pastor legally, and that Paulsen must keep his official selection despite his honest mistake.

JG