A bit of holy humor: Oklahoma faith leaders speak on how laughter can open hearts, ministry

Five preachers, a rabbi and an imam walked into a local church.

Sounds like the beginning of a well-worn joke, right?

This was no gag, though. The spiritual leaders who recently gathered at Crossings Community Church spend much of their time talking about serious matters of faith. But they don't mind telling a joke, or two or three — in fact they're known for their penchants for humor.

When The Oklahoman asked readers to send in the names of their favorite funny faith leaders, several clergy made the cut. Turns out the Rev. Marty Grubbs, the Rev. David Wheeler, the Rev. Landon Whitsitt, the Rev. Rick Stansberry, the Rev. Lori Walke, the Rev. Richard Mize, the Rev. Julie Recher, the Rev. Joseph Alsay and the Rev. Roger Bruns are known for their witty ways.

And the Christian ministers weren't the only spiritual leaders whose hilarity was deemed noteworthy. Rabbi Abby Jacobson, spiritual leader of Emanuel Synagogue, and Imad Enchassi, senior imam of the Islamic Society of Greater Oklahoma City, are also known for their knack for comedy.

Several of these humble humorists gathered a few days before Holy Humor Sunday on April 7 to talk about why their sermons and interactions with their congregations frequently include a light-hearted touch. Fittingly, they all laughed when they found out they had been singled out for their wit and comedic skills.

"All the cool kids were invited to this thing," Mize, pastor of Trinity Presbyterian Church (PCUSA), said, as a photographer with The Oklahoman took some group photos.

Jacobson teased her Christian counterparts.

"All of the rest of you are giddy after Holy Week," she said, referencing the numerous activities and services held at churches in the days leading up to Easter.

Without missing a beat, Wheeler quickly quipped "There's a 99% chance we're having church next week."

What is Holy Humor Sunday?

Wheeler, Recher and Walke said they have observed Holy Humor Sunday at their respective churches over the years. Holy Humor Sunday, Recher said, is typically the Sunday after Easter, and it is sometimes a fun-filled attempt to get Easter visitors to return to church for another worship service. Church attendance may dip sharply from the large Easter crowds that flock to houses of worship on the holy day that Christians celebrate Christ's resurrection.

Recher, senior pastor of Lord of Life Lutheran Church, 15400 N Western, said the premise of Holy Humor Sunday also has a joke at its core.

"You know, the resurrection is sort of a funny joke that was played on the devil, like, the devil thought he won — and he didn't," she said. "I think humor is important, especially after a long season of Lent, where we are being more solemn intentionally. But God calls us to joy, and humor is a big part of joy."

Wheeler, senior minister of New Covenant Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), 12000 N Rockwell, said Holy Humor Sunday is a good time "for those of us who have hair to let it down and just laugh and have a little fun" while continuing on with the same enthusiasm felt at Easter.

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The Texas native said he played a joke on one of his former Oklahoma congregations when the church was in the midst of renovations and people were having serious debates over such things as color scheme and carpet. Wheeler told the church made up of University of Oklahoma and Oklahoma State University fans that he wanted them to consider the perfect color combination and unfurled a banner featuring the University of Texas at Austin's burnt orange and white colors, along with UT's mascot Bevo.

"They stood up, wadded up their bulletins up and threw them at me," he said. "I wanted them to smile and laugh every now and then."

While Holy Humor Sunday has a special focus on the comedic, these spiritual leaders were selected because they are generally humorous year round. All joking aside, each of them said humor can play an important role in ministry.

Grubbs, lead pastor of Crossings, 14600 N Portland, said humor often helps lift people's spirits.

"Church is a moment where for at least for a few moments or an hour, you can kind of set aside all the troubles and difficulties of the world and be together worshiping God, who loves us," he said. "We can celebrate that, and we can laugh at each other and with each other. I don't see there's anything wrong with that."

Other clergy shared similar comments. Humor, they said, is a way of expressing joy.

"Scripture says the joy of the Lord is our strength," Alsay said.

The pastor of St. Augustine of Canterbury Episcopal Church, 14700 N May, said his mother would often say that turning "lemons into lemonade" was a way of finding a bright moment in any particular situation "so, there ends up being this beam of light, this ray of sunshine."

"And, people need that in dark and difficult and dank situations that they may find themselves in, even myself," he said.

Whitsitt, senior pastor of Westminster Presbyterian (PCUSA), 4400 N Shartel, also spoke of joy, which he called one of the fruits of the Spirit, as described in the Book of Galatians. He said he didn't think of himself as a funny person, but he didn't see himself as "stuffy," either.

"You can be intelligent, you can be serious about your faith and you can also be light-hearted, all at the same time," he said. "One of the things that I believe is that if you are connected to God, and God is working in your life, one of the things that's going to be produced is joy. I see humor as really tightly connected with joy."

Bruns, senior minister of Trinity Lutheran Church, 5701 S May, said he has tried to use humor throughout his 45 years of ministry to “lighten the load that I and so many others carry this side of heaven."

"We deal with loss, grief, pain, illness, broken relationships, disappointments, lost jobs, lost loves, and the list can seem endless," Bruns said. "Interjecting some humor along the way can help us refocus. The challenges can become overwhelming. Humor can make them appear more manageable and even give us an element of control in what may seem like out-of-control circumstances."

Poking fun

So, do these funny men and women consider themselves witty? Were they always the funniest person in the room? A common thread they share is that they are not afraid of laughing at themselves ― and lots of people can identify with that.

Grubbs said people are sometimes amused by his stories about his own mishaps.

"Most of my humor comes from confessing the crazy dumb things I sometimes do," he said, chuckling. "If I find a story that's just funny and it can be part of my content, then that's fine."

Stansberry, pastor of Our Lady's Cathedral, 3214 N Lake Ave., echoed those sentiments. He said humor also can help faith leaders connect to others.

"I think there's always a danger that as religious leaders, we can take ourselves too seriously," he said. "Not that we need to get up there and be like the Three Stooges or something, but I think if you let people know that you can laugh at stuff, I think people can relate to that better."

The priest said he may be good at making people laugh because he watched sitcoms like "I Love Lucy" as a child. Laughter, he said, is important and studies have shown it reduces stress and it cuts tension.

Bruns also said clergy can sometimes take themselves too seriously.

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"This can cut off the important give-and-take in conversations and other interactions," he said. "For pastors, self-deprecating humor — poking fun at ourselves — helps people see us as real people."

Mize, who is The Oklahoman's Senior Business Writer in addition to his pastoral role, said he typically doesn't plan on being amusing.

"I don't set out and say 'I'm going to be funny today,'" he said. "If I do come off as funny, it's because I'm telling on myself."

He said he grew up in a faith tradition where being light-hearted in the pulpit was uncommon. He said that's likely why he was shocked years ago when the Rev. Robin Meyers once wore a T-shirt to a Mayflower Congregational Church UCC Holy Humor Sunday service that said "Jesus is coming — look busy."

Grinning, Mize said he's now more laid back.

"I think freedom in Christ means free to be human," he said. "Humor is part of life."

Walke, senior minister of Mayflower Congregational Church UCC, said she laughed when told she was considered among the funniest clergy in the area because she appreciated that someone would take the time to submit her name but also "because humor is part of the craft of preaching."

"It's not just what you say, but how you say it," Walke said. "And, humor is, of course, a rhetorical device just like irony or alliteration or onomatopoeia, and it provides a mechanism for us very often to say hard things and more challenging things because hearts have been softened, guards have been let down and the heart is more open to receiving teachings that are more challenging."

Breaking down barriers

Humor often helps break down barriers among people of different faith traditions, Enchassi said. He said when he is invited to speak at churches and synagogues, he opens up by talking about how the faith traditions of Judaism, Islam and Christianity share the biblical patriarch Abraham.

"So, I always tell the people that Muslims, Jews and Christians are brothers from different mothers, and I follow that up with 'I'm this brother that shows up to Thanksgiving dinner that kind of looks like your dad, but nobody wants to know him,'" Enchassi said.

"It seems like this humor breaks down all the stereotypes, and the conversation takes a different route."

Jacobson, immediate past president of the Interfaith Alliance of Oklahoma, shared similar remarks, saying she often uses a funny quip to talk to non-Jewish audiences about the fact that Jews are a minority in Oklahoma.

"Humor helps us bridge gaps," she said. "I often start when I'm speaking from a dais or at a school, 'This is Oklahoma. You may never meet another Jew again. Please ask me any question you want' — which often breaks the ice nicely."

Meanwhile, Grubbs said humor is perhaps needed now more than ever.

"These are serious times — a moment in our world, in our country — that are not to be taken light hearted, certainly," he said.

"But on the other hand, I think we have to bring hope and we have to keep on living our lives, even though there's some conflict around us, and a lot of that's just because it's always present in the news."

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Oklahoma preachers, rabbi, imam talk the impact of humor