A Coral Gables church believes in the gospel according to Jimmy Buffett. How can that be?

On first pass, a late Key West icon famed for songs like “Margaritaville” and “Why Don’t We Get Drunk” might seem a curious subject for a church sermon.

But for one Coral Gables pastor, Buffett is precisely the songwriter her parishioners could look to to find wisdom, joy and spirituality in — if they look and listen deeper. So she plans to share his gospel in her coming Sunday church sermon a week after Easter.

“The word ‘gospel’ means good news and we want to share the good news that is often found in Jimmy Buffett’s music about finding joy in life, seeing the humor in things, embracing the beauty of the world around us be it the sun, sky, or sea; and enjoying unique and peculiar people that come into our lives bringing wisdom, a little craziness, and often a call to adventure,” the Rev. Laurinda “Laurie” Hafner told the Miami Herald in an e-mail interview.

Hafner, in her 18th year as senior pastor at Coral Gables Congregational United Church of Christ, will preach to devout Parrotheads and the traditional faithful a sermon titled “The Gospel According to Jimmy Buffett” at the church across the street from the Biltmore Hotel on Sunday, April 7.

What you will hear at Buffett’s service

The hour-long sermon will feature five decades of Buffett music. Hawaiian shirts and flip-flops may be the dress of choice at this particular service.

We can just see the twinkle in Buffett’s eye.

The musician, who died last September at his Sag Harbor home of a rare form of skin cancer, has been the subject of plenty of tributes and honors of late — the renaming of A1A as the Jimmy Buffett Memorial Highway, the enshrinement of “Margaritaville” in the Library of Congress, a Florida Margaritaville license plate, and the naming of a Florida sea creature after the troubadour whose career took flight in the Keys in the early-1970s, to name a few.

But this honor seems particularly fitting.

KNOW MORE: How Jimmy Buffett found his vibe in the Keys, and why Florida will miss his presence

Buffett’s brand of spirituality

Buffett alluded to the spirituality of his music to his flock of fans on his 1990 tour, captured on his live album, “Feeding Frenzy,” on a cheeky spoken-word introduction to his naughtiest song entitled “Today’s Message.”

As a church organ washed over his blended baritone-tenor, the Rev. Buffett, a once Catholic schoolboy who often wrote about his upbringing in his songs, teased his audience:

“Welcome, welcome all. In the middle of this Parrothead madness this evening we thought it would be appropriate to take a few minutes of your time to reflect on a little spiritual healing. So when we get to this next song we’d like for you to sing. I know that some of you may be a little hesitant here. The climate that’s going around these days because some pea-brained people think that some of my songs are obscene and nasty. We know better don’t we?”

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How Buffett fits in with the church

Count Hafner among the enlightened.

“My philosophy of preaching is to preach with a Bible in one hand and the newspaper in the other,” said Hafner who last September led a service at Gables Congregational on faith and the impact of book bans across the country.

“Good preaching should reach into the lives of people, give them hope, courage, grace, and encouragement in the midst of all that is swirling around and challenging them. Buffet’s songs remind us to enjoy life, to care about others, tend to the earth, and find the joy in all that is,” she said. “And, who says that church or worship or sermons have to be solemn, dull or boring? While as people of faith we listen to the ancient voices of prophets, scripture writers and Jesus, we also pay attention to contemporary prophetic voices and those who carry a message that can inspire and call us to our better selves.”

On the amusing “We Are the People Our Parents Warned Us About” from his 1983 “One Particular Harbor” album, Buffett opens with a personal reflection.

“I was supposed to have been a Jesuit priest/Or a Naval Academy grad/That was the way that my parents perceived me/Those were the plans that they had/But I couldn’t fit the part/Too dumb or too smart/Ain’t it funny how we all turned out?”

Hafner wants to share that message amid the flip-flops, colorful patterned shirts and rousing Key West soaked music at her “Gospel According to Jimmy Buffett” worship service.

“While life is often challenging, difficult and hard, there is still much joy to be found,” she said. We should embrace the day, enjoy the journey, and do some good stuff for others along the way. In the Bible, it reminds us that Sarah declared, ‘God has brought me laughter.’ Therefore, laughter is a gift from God, and we should relish it every day.”

If you go

What: “The Gospel According to Jimmy Buffett” worship service

Where: Coral Gables Congregational Church, 3010 De Soto Blvd.

When: 11 a.m.-noon Sunday, April 7.