March 29, 2024

Former minister pens cheeky book about Bible

The first thing Jeff Carter wants you to know is this — he’s not making fun of the Bible — instead, he’s laughing along with the good book.

Carter, a former minister with the Salvation Army, recently published a book of biblical limericks, and while he’s the first to admit some of them might be a little bit raunchy, he’s glad to have a chance to call attention to some of the lesser known sections of the Bible. Carter’s book, “There was once a prophet from Judah” was published earlier this year by Resource Publications. After picking up a book of limericks at a library in Rochester, Carter started writing his own, based on stories from the Bible.

“I started writing them to amuse myself, and to have something to share with my family and friends,” Carter said. “Ten years later I had about 800, I thought ‘I should do something with these.’”

During the writing process, Carter relied on his wife Mikey as a guide. If Mikey rolled her eyes and walked away after hearing his latest limerick, he knew he had a hit on his hands.

“She wasn’t as amused as I was, generally that meant they were pretty good,” Carter said.

With a son in high school and a daughter attending college, Carter and his wife decided to leave the Salvation Army last summer rather than move back to Indiana. After six years in Newton, they wanted to stay put while their son finished high school. Last summer Carter looked written and started getting serious about putting a book together.

Carter had a number of friends who’d previously worked with Resource Publications, a publishing house in Oregon. Once he’d completed the process of picking his favorites, he mailed off his submission last summer. By August of last year, he’d signed a contract and started with an editor to fine tune his manuscript. By February, the book was finished and sent off for printing. Carter said he already has a few ideas for his next book.

“This is the second book that I’ve had published,” Carter said. “I don’t want to rush it though, I want to spend some time with this one before I jump into the next one.”

Carter’s first book, “Muted Hosannas,” a book of poems accompanied by his photography, was published by Frontier Press in Colorado.

After the release of his latest book, Carter he’s still waiting for fame and fortune to roll in, despite what his friends and coworkers might believe. With the other 300,000 books published every year in the United States, Carter said he’s not expecting to become famous anytime soon.

“It’s easy to get lost in that title wave of published material,” Carter said.

Despite Carter’s modesty Chad Jennings, the pastor at St. Luke United Methodist Church in Newton, said the book has made the author a celebrity in the congregation. Jennings said many of the church members have purchased copies and have been “digging in” to the book. The pastor said it gives readers a chance to see the Bible in a different light.

“I think that if you compare his limericks to the scripture that it’s all right there and it’s faithful to it, but it’s a different look at it,” Jennings said. “It’s done in a whimsical way and it pushes you to really think about it in a different way, I find it really compelling.”

Finding a way to showcase a different side of the Bible was always Carter’s goal. Being able to do it by showcasing his wry humor is an added bonus. Some readers might find the limericks to be a little bawdy, but Carter is quick to point out the Bible is as well, even including the scriptures that each limerick is based on.

“There’s some weird or gross material, there’s some stuff that should be laughed at,” Carter said.

Jennings couldn’t agree more. The pastor was quick to point out that Bible has more to offer than just parables, there’s also plenty of action-packed adventure, as well as a dash of romance thrown in as well.

“There’s stuff people won’t know unless they really dig in,” Jennings said. “The limericks kind of brings that to the forefront and gives people a chance to encounter it in a different way.”

Despite the irreverent humor that runs throughout the book, Carter wants to make it clear that he’s not bashing the Bible, rather he’s focused on bringing some of its lesser-known sections to life.

“I’m not trying to make fun of the Bible, it’s been a part of my whole life,” Carter said. “I’m not denigrating the Bible, I’m laughing along with the scripture.”

Carter said all of the responses that he’s received have been positive so far, including praise from several Bible scholars and a Christian Humorist he’s long admired. He’s hoping as more and more people read the book they’ll find the same humor in the Bible he’s seen for years. Carter can count Jennings as a fan, the pastor said he laughed all the way through the book. Brushing up on sections of the Bible that don’t often find themselves in use for Sunday services made it a fun read, Jennings said.

“I laughed a lot, I was certainly intrigued by Jeff’s take on some of the things,” Jennings said. “There are things that are parts of scripture that we don’t open up, stuff we don’t talk about or preach about.”

Contact David Dolmage at 641-792-3121 ext. 6532 or ddolmage@newtondailynews.com