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By Matt Curry
BIXBY, OKLAHOMA – An Oklahoma husband-and-wife pastor team uses its love for theater to share the Good News with the congregation, providing sermons as plays that often feature modern and humorous takes on biblical stories.
Revs. Elana Keppel Levy and Lucus Levy Keppel recently took their creative gifts to a new level, with the help of other pastors from across the country. “Keep it Light” is an 18-minute video retelling of the Parable of the 10 Bridesmaids (Matt. 25: 1-13), presented as a zoom call between a wedding planner and the bridesmaids.
“Is someone singing ‘Time After Time’? Or am I 2,000 years too early?” asks one participant as planning begins.
While keeping it light and humorous throughout, the production wrestles with serious biblical questions such as:
- Who is wise? - Who is foolish? - What do you do with all that time waiting for the bridegroom to arrive?
“We have to make the stories our own,” Pastor Elana said.
Spoiler Alert: At the end, all are met with the grace and love of Jesus Christ, as the bridegroom assures those who were ultimately shut out of the wedding that they can repent and try again: “When you live in love, you abide in me and I in you. I am with you even to the end of the age – so keep awake, trust and believe.”
The co-pastors have served together at Trinity Presbyterian Church in Bixby, a member of the Eastern Oklahoma Presbytery, since 2016. They met at Louisville Presbyterian Seminary, where they were involved in a theater group. When Pastor Elana put out the casting call for “Keep it Light,” former classmates like the Rev. Susan Carter Wiggins were eager to sign up.
The bridesmaids in the parable are depicted in the play as virtues and vices, such as wrath, envy, kindness and diligence. Wiggins, draped in pearls and jewelry, played the role of Greed.
“For me, I’m sure it’s everybody, we all need some kind of diversion. This makes us smile,” said Wiggins, associate pastor for congregational care at Germantown Presbyterian Church in Tennessee. “Pastoring is hard anyway, but in the midst of the pandemic it’s really hard. With Elana and Lucus, knowing them, you knew they were going to create something good.”
Pastor Elana wrote the script, and cast members each sent in various takes and retakes. Pastor Lucus, the producer, spent three days and long nights putting all the pieces together to create the video. The cast even had a premiere night watch party to see the final version of its work.
Pastor Elana said one of the most gratifying comments she received after showing the video at Bixby was that that the play helped a parishioner think about sin and righteousness in a new way.
Being made to laugh brings added value to a message.
“That’s the thing about comedy, only the jester could tell the truth to the king,” she said.
Added Pastor Lucus: “It harkens back to the origins of medieval theater. The way people learned, it was amazing how much theater made a difference in what you learned as you moved forward.”
The video and the entire script are available on Pastor Elana’s Web site, www.somuchbible.com, which offers numerous resources for preachers and worship leaders.
The Rev. Matt Curry is in search of Good News from ministries throughout the Synod of the Sun that are making connections with their congregations and communities. Do you have an idea to share? Send Matt an email at cpcwaxpastor@gmail.com.
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