{"id":1035,"date":"2009-09-24T20:50:40","date_gmt":"2009-09-24T20:50:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/newswire\/?p=1035"},"modified":"2010-12-22T12:49:18","modified_gmt":"2010-12-22T17:49:18","slug":"7314","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/newswire\/2009\/09\/24\/7314\/","title":{"rendered":"Comedy as Medicine\u2014and Ministry"},"content":{"rendered":"

CHICAGO, IL (September 24, 2009) \u2013 Rachel Mohn\u2019s physical and emotional breakdown that included \u201cfull-blown panic attacks\u201d was not funny at the time, but she has transformed the experience into a comedy ministry that she hopes will help break the stigma of mental illness and help all women find healing.<\/p>\n

\"\"Rachel Mohn<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Comedy, she says, is the best medicine. \u201cIt has no co-pay,\u201d she quips.<\/p>\n

Although her one-woman show is humorous, it carries a serious message. She hopes to encourage all women that it is perfectly natural to be imperfect.<\/p>\n

The name of Mohn\u2019s ministry, Panicdotes<\/a>, reflects her sense of humor, combining the words \u201cpanic\u201d and \u201canecdotes.\u201d The former, she explains, in dictionary style, is \u201ca sudden, overwhelming fear, with or without cause,\u201d while the latter is, \u201ca short account of an interesting or humorous incident.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mohn, who attends Ravenswood Covenant Church<\/a> in Chicago, describes her 90-minute show as a \u201chipyoungmamacomeddrama.\u201d It’s part comedy, part drama, part therapy, and part reality show.<\/p>\n

During the performance, Mohn plays different characters and tells stories in a fashion akin to Covenant comedian Bob Stromberg. A stay-at-home mother of three young children, Mohn tells one anecdote about the time she was driving her kids through their suburban neighborhood. As they were passing multiple buildings with playground equipment outside, her daughter suggested that her mother consider getting a job.<\/p>\n

When Mohn asked why, her daughter shouted with great enthusiasm, \u201cBecause then we can go to daycare!\u201d<\/p>\n

Mohn is passionate about sharing the apostle Paul\u2019s words in 2 Corinthians 12:9: \u201cBut he said to me, \u2018My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.\u2019 Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mohn refers to herself as an \u201calumnus\u201d of the Meier Clinic in Wheaton, Illinois. Her breakdown, she says, was \u201cdue to her Type-A lifestyle, several years of wrestling with God, and trying to deal with tragedies in the lives of people close to her.<\/p>\n

And then there was the pretending she had her life together, which Mohn thought she had to do because she lived the \u201cfishbowl\u201d life of a pastor\u2019s wife.<\/p>\n

Her husband, Jason, is a student at North Park Theological Seminary. Prior to starting his studies in Chicago, Jason was the worship pastor at First Covenant Church<\/a> in Salina, Kansas, and had served as the creative arts director at Paradise Valley Community Church<\/a> in Phoenix, Arizona, when the couple was in college.<\/p>\n

Mohn isn\u2019t pretending any more.<\/p>\n

In addition to performing the show, she also includes it as part of a weekend retreat or one-day workshop. The retreat includes breakout sessions offering a biblical study of brokenness, and discussions of topics such as stress management, assertive communication, and self-care.<\/p>\n

The daylong workshop interweaves personal reflection, group activities, and breakout sessions that include “The Busy Woman’s Guide to Going Off the Deep End\u201d and “Just Because I Dropped My Kids Off at School on a Saturday Means You Think There’s Something Wrong With Me?”<\/p>\n

Mohn is next scheduled to perform at the \u201cBehind the Mask\u201d fundraiser for FOCUS Ministries, which offers counseling and other help for women and families suffering from domestic violence, separation, and divorce. The event is slated for October 17 from 10:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. at the Diplomat West hotel in Elmhurst, Illinois. Other speakers include Leslie Vernick, nationally known counselor, speaker, and author of The Emotionally Destructive Relationship; and Anita Lustrea, host of Midday Connection on WMBI radio.<\/p>\n

For more information on the event, visit the FOCUS<\/a> website.<\/p>\n

Report This Post<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

CHICAGO, IL (September 24, 2009) \u2013 Rachel Mohn\u2019s physical and emotional breakdown that included \u201cfull-blown panic attacks\u201d was not funny at the time, but she has transformed the experience into a comedy ministry that she hopes will help break the stigma of mental illness and help all women find healing.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1035","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nComedy as Medicine\u2014and Ministry - Covenant Newswire Archives<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/newswire\/2009\/09\/24\/7314\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Comedy as Medicine\u2014and Ministry - Covenant Newswire Archives\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"CHICAGO, IL (September 24, 2009) \u2013 Rachel Mohn\u2019s physical and emotional breakdown that included \u201cfull-blown panic attacks\u201d was not funny at the time, but she has transformed the experience into a comedy ministry that she hopes will help break the stigma of mental illness and help all women find healing.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/newswire\/2009\/09\/24\/7314\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Covenant Newswire Archives\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2009-09-24T20:50:40+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2010-12-22T17:49:18+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/www.covchurch.org\/uploads\/On\/uK\/OnuKLalckNnSwF4Fyny82w\/Rachel-Mohn.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/newswire\\\/2009\\\/09\\\/24\\\/7314\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/newswire\\\/2009\\\/09\\\/24\\\/7314\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/newswire\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/2a26f1b1df304098ad9cbae0bbf2c6e8\"},\"headline\":\"Comedy as Medicine\u2014and Ministry\",\"datePublished\":\"2009-09-24T20:50:40+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2010-12-22T17:49:18+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/newswire\\\/2009\\\/09\\\/24\\\/7314\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":604,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/newswire\\\/2009\\\/09\\\/24\\\/7314\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"http:\\\/\\\/www.covchurch.org\\\/uploads\\\/On\\\/uK\\\/OnuKLalckNnSwF4Fyny82w\\\/Rachel-Mohn.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"News\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/newswire\\\/2009\\\/09\\\/24\\\/7314\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/newswire\\\/2009\\\/09\\\/24\\\/7314\\\/\",\"url\":\"http:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/newswire\\\/2009\\\/09\\\/24\\\/7314\\\/\",\"name\":\"Comedy as Medicine\u2014and Ministry - Covenant Newswire Archives\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/newswire\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/newswire\\\/2009\\\/09\\\/24\\\/7314\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/newswire\\\/2009\\\/09\\\/24\\\/7314\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"http:\\\/\\\/www.covchurch.org\\\/uploads\\\/On\\\/uK\\\/OnuKLalckNnSwF4Fyny82w\\\/Rachel-Mohn.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2009-09-24T20:50:40+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2010-12-22T17:49:18+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/newswire\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/2a26f1b1df304098ad9cbae0bbf2c6e8\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/newswire\\\/2009\\\/09\\\/24\\\/7314\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/newswire\\\/2009\\\/09\\\/24\\\/7314\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/newswire\\\/2009\\\/09\\\/24\\\/7314\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"http:\\\/\\\/www.covchurch.org\\\/uploads\\\/On\\\/uK\\\/OnuKLalckNnSwF4Fyny82w\\\/Rachel-Mohn.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"http:\\\/\\\/www.covchurch.org\\\/uploads\\\/On\\\/uK\\\/OnuKLalckNnSwF4Fyny82w\\\/Rachel-Mohn.jpg\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/newswire\\\/2009\\\/09\\\/24\\\/7314\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"http:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/newswire\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Comedy as Medicine\u2014and Ministry\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/newswire\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"http:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/newswire\\\/\",\"name\":\"Covenant Newswire Archives\",\"description\":\"Evangelical Covenant Church\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"http:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/newswire\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/newswire\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/2a26f1b1df304098ad9cbae0bbf2c6e8\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/ed9f85aca58d0540113c3fcae90abb716831fd0b1d806d275666cf7052268ea9?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/ed9f85aca58d0540113c3fcae90abb716831fd0b1d806d275666cf7052268ea9?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/ed9f85aca58d0540113c3fcae90abb716831fd0b1d806d275666cf7052268ea9?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"url\":\"http:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/newswire\\\/author\\\/covwebster\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Comedy as Medicine\u2014and Ministry - Covenant Newswire Archives","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/newswire\/2009\/09\/24\/7314\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Comedy as Medicine\u2014and Ministry - Covenant Newswire Archives","og_description":"CHICAGO, IL (September 24, 2009) \u2013 Rachel Mohn\u2019s physical and emotional breakdown that included \u201cfull-blown panic attacks\u201d was not funny at the time, but she has transformed the experience into a comedy ministry that she hopes will help break the stigma of mental illness and help all women find healing.","og_url":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/newswire\/2009\/09\/24\/7314\/","og_site_name":"Covenant Newswire Archives","article_published_time":"2009-09-24T20:50:40+00:00","article_modified_time":"2010-12-22T17:49:18+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.covchurch.org\/uploads\/On\/uK\/OnuKLalckNnSwF4Fyny82w\/Rachel-Mohn.jpg","type":"","width":"","height":""}],"author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/newswire\/2009\/09\/24\/7314\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/newswire\/2009\/09\/24\/7314\/"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/newswire\/#\/schema\/person\/2a26f1b1df304098ad9cbae0bbf2c6e8"},"headline":"Comedy as Medicine\u2014and Ministry","datePublished":"2009-09-24T20:50:40+00:00","dateModified":"2010-12-22T17:49:18+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/newswire\/2009\/09\/24\/7314\/"},"wordCount":604,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/newswire\/2009\/09\/24\/7314\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"http:\/\/www.covchurch.org\/uploads\/On\/uK\/OnuKLalckNnSwF4Fyny82w\/Rachel-Mohn.jpg","articleSection":["News"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/newswire\/2009\/09\/24\/7314\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/newswire\/2009\/09\/24\/7314\/","url":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/newswire\/2009\/09\/24\/7314\/","name":"Comedy as Medicine\u2014and Ministry - Covenant Newswire Archives","isPartOf":{"@id":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/newswire\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/newswire\/2009\/09\/24\/7314\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/newswire\/2009\/09\/24\/7314\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"http:\/\/www.covchurch.org\/uploads\/On\/uK\/OnuKLalckNnSwF4Fyny82w\/Rachel-Mohn.jpg","datePublished":"2009-09-24T20:50:40+00:00","dateModified":"2010-12-22T17:49:18+00:00","author":{"@id":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/newswire\/#\/schema\/person\/2a26f1b1df304098ad9cbae0bbf2c6e8"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/newswire\/2009\/09\/24\/7314\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/newswire\/2009\/09\/24\/7314\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/newswire\/2009\/09\/24\/7314\/#primaryimage","url":"http:\/\/www.covchurch.org\/uploads\/On\/uK\/OnuKLalckNnSwF4Fyny82w\/Rachel-Mohn.jpg","contentUrl":"http:\/\/www.covchurch.org\/uploads\/On\/uK\/OnuKLalckNnSwF4Fyny82w\/Rachel-Mohn.jpg"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/newswire\/2009\/09\/24\/7314\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/newswire\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Comedy as Medicine\u2014and Ministry"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/newswire\/#website","url":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/newswire\/","name":"Covenant Newswire Archives","description":"Evangelical Covenant Church","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/newswire\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/newswire\/#\/schema\/person\/2a26f1b1df304098ad9cbae0bbf2c6e8","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ed9f85aca58d0540113c3fcae90abb716831fd0b1d806d275666cf7052268ea9?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ed9f85aca58d0540113c3fcae90abb716831fd0b1d806d275666cf7052268ea9?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ed9f85aca58d0540113c3fcae90abb716831fd0b1d806d275666cf7052268ea9?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"admin"},"url":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/newswire\/author\/covwebster\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/newswire\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1035","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/newswire\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/newswire\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/newswire\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/newswire\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1035"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/newswire\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1035\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5942,"href":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/newswire\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1035\/revisions\/5942"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/newswire\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1035"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/newswire\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1035"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/newswire\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1035"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}