Reverend Lovejoy is voiced by Harry Shearer, and first appeared in the episode "The Telltale Head".
16 Facts About Reverend Lovejoy
2.
Reverend Lovejoy is the pastor of the Western Branch of American Reform Presbylutheranism First Church of Springfield, which most of the show's characters regularly attend.
3.
Reverend Lovejoy initially came to Springfield in the 1970s as an eager, enthusiastic, young man, only to become cynical and disillusioned about his ministry, mostly due to Ned Flanders, who constantly pesters him with minor issues such as "coveting his own wife" or thinking that he "swallowed a toothpick".
4.
At one point, Reverend Lovejoy "just stopped caring", but rediscovered the joy of helping others, though Ned still irritates him.
5.
Reverend Lovejoy even suggests Ned join another religion, as he believes that "they are all pretty much the same".
6.
Reverend Lovejoy's sermons vary between dreary recitations of more opaque parts of the Old Testament, to the occasional "fire and brimstone" about Hell.
7.
Reverend Lovejoy appears bitter about the tall Episcopal church across the street, wanting to build a larger steeple, and when mentioning the other church, placing the emphasis on "pis".
8.
Reverend Lovejoy tells Marge that he might as well do a Voodoo dance for Abe Simpson when asked to give him the last rites.
9.
Reverend Lovejoy helps kidnap Bart to keep him from converting to Catholicism.
10.
Reverend Lovejoy has been shown to do things that would be considered sinful.
11.
Reverend Lovejoy has been known to exploit his congregation for money, brawl with a Roman Catholic priest, encourage his pet Old English Sheepdog to foul Ned Flanders's lawn, and implied that he once burned down his church for insurance money.
12.
In "The Joy of Sect", the episode in which the whole town of Springfield is deceived into joining a cult, Reverend Lovejoy kidnaps Homer with Groundskeeper Willie from the cult and hits him across the head numerous times hoping to knock him out.
13.
Also, when Reverend Lovejoy sees the spaceship emerge from the "forbidden barn" he throws his religious collar on the ground.
14.
Reverend Lovejoy is not always enthusiastic about the Bible, calling it a "2000-page sleeping pill".
15.
Reverend Lovejoy's father is briefly shown in the episode "Bart After Dark" as an older version of Reverend Lovejoy who visits the Maison Derriere.
16.
Matt Groening has indicated that Reverend Lovejoy is named after Reverend Lovejoy Street in Portland, Oregon, the city where Groening grew up.