'The best humor publication in Christendom'

G.K. Chesterton once wrote: “Angels can fly because they take themselves lightly. Never forget that the devil fell by force of gravity. He who has the faith has the fun."

And our subscribers do have fun with our feast of Christian humor and jokes pastors can tell.

Our award-winning newsletter, The Joyful Noiseletter, provides churches with a bountiful bimonthly supply of reproducible cartoons, faithful humor, clean jokes, one-liners, inspirational stories, and joyful Scripture references, all of which may be passed along in church communications.

Pastors and lay speakers use JN's fresh and timely holy humor and cartoons in their sermons and presentations. And teachers, youth pastors, chaplains, and health professionals find the healing humor in JN invaluable in getting the attention of children and teenagers, and cheering up hospital patients, depressed parishioners, shut-ins, and the elderly.

Subscribers have the option of receiving the paper or electronic version of JN. The electronic version is sent directly to your e-mail box,  where you can easily cut and paste the articles, jokes and cartoons directly into your church publication.

The Joyful Noiseletter's subscribers include pastors, church newsletter editors, health professionals, chaplains, humorists, comedians, cartoonists, clowns, public speakers, toastmasters, lay church leaders, youth ministers, and lots of people who just enjoy sharing good, clean humor and healing laughter.

JN's fame is widespread, as ought to be the case for a publication which easily buries the concept of Christianity as a 'joy-killer.' Truly, it's a 'joy-instiller,' as witty comments, puns, holy humor, and cartoons bring out in every issue. We. See The Joyful Noiseletter as the best humor publication in Christendom. Keep up the great work!" 

Paul Lintern recently took the helm of the Joyful Noiseletter, after founder Cal Samra passed it along after nearly 40 years of publication. 

Paul, a pastor, humorist, journalist and child of God, is eager to bring the Joyful Noiseletter along, expanding its e-offerings and giving opportunity to develop the Fellowship of Merry Christians, which is a loosely offered name for those who enjoy the Joyful Noiseletter. 

Your options for subscribing are two — a mailed paper copy or an electronic PDF.

A.) $29 will give you a year’s worth of Joyful Noiseletter as paper by mail, six bi-monthly issues, ($55 for two years; $82 for three years).

B.) $29 for receiving a year’s worth of Joyful Noiseletter as PDF by e-mail (suitable for printing or placing in your church communications). Electronic subscribers receive those 6 issues, plus 24 extra editions of at least two pages at the rate of twice a month, an additional 48 pages annually.

Go here to order either of these ways.

In addition, $36.50 will get you a daily dose of Holy Humor and Faithful Offerings through Paul’s Substack site, which can be viewed and purchase with monthly or annual plans at:

https://merrychristians.substack.com

Jesus asked his followers to “be of good cheer.” Faith and good humor are powerful healing partners. When you subscribe, you, too, like C.S. Lewis, will be “surprised by joy.”

Malcolm Muggeridge said: Christians can afford to laugh; we know how it turns out!

But wait, there’s more!

We at The Joyful Noiseletter are in love with this image of “The Risen Christ By the Sea,” and are delighted to own the rights to the painting. We are eager to help you share it in notecards, bulletin covers, wallet-sized cards and enlargements of many sizes, as indicated in our on-line store.

‘The Risen Christ by the Sea" was painted by a Massachusetts seascape artist, the late Jack Jewell, at the suggestion of a friend who was then a chaplain to the New York Fire Department and the predecessor to the only NYFD chaplain who was killed in the 9/11 Twin Towers tragedy.


A MESSAGE FROM PATCH ADAMS, M.D.

The Joyful Noiseletter filled churches with healing laughter for almost 40 years

The Joyful Noiseletter has filled the sanctuaries and fellowship halls of all faith traditions with healing laughter.

The Joyful Noiseletter amazingly has survived as both a print and electronic newsletter - without advertising — during a prolonged recession and the demise of many secular and religious publications.

JN began publishing with the aim of bringing good, clean humor to pastors, church newsletters, bulletins and web sites - jokes that pastors can tell in their sermons, and holy humor and cartoons that local church publications can reprint.

JN succeeded on a bare-bones budget because of a massive, mainly volunteer effort involving hundreds of talents from many faith traditions all over the world — humorists, comedians, cartoonists, clowns, pastors, chaplains, medical doctors, nurses, health professionals.

Hundreds of humorists, comedians, and clowns, including Steve Allen, Joe Garagiola, Malcolm Muggeridge, George and Peggy Goldtrap, and Rev. Susan Sparks have contributed freely to JN.

Eighteen of America's foremost cartoonists, including Bil and Jeff Keane of “The Family Circus,” Johnny Hart of “B.C.,” and Dave Coverly of “Speed Bump,” have regularly contributed cartoons to JN that were widely reprinted in church publications.

JN founder editor emeritus Cal Samra discovered early on that holy humor, like love, crosses denominational lines, and is an important healing, bridge-building and peace-making tool. He also discovered that holy humor is the one thing that all of the great religions agree on and value unanimously. JN has attracted subscribers from a variety of faiths that ordinarily rarely communicate.

The holy fools of JN sometimes have gone where angels fear to tread.

Here are some other achievements of JN's unique ministry:

  • JN's set of four Holy Humor and Holy Hilarity books by Cal and Rose Samra (published by Guideposts and Waterbrook Press) and the book The Joyful Christ: The Healing Power of Humor (Harper San Francisco) sold nearly a million copies.
  • JN has distributed tens of thousands of its trademark full-color print of "The Risen Christ by the Sea," Jack Jewell's painting of a joyful, triumphant Risen Christ surprising his disciples at the Sea of Tiberias. Jewell, a seascape artist, painted it in the early 1990s, at the suggestion of a New York Fire Department chaplain who later succeeded the NYFD chaplain who was killed in the 9/11 attack on the World Trade Center.
  • The holy humor and joyful Scriptural messages in JN's “Signs and Wonders” section are often posted on outdoor church signs.
  • Numerous clowns use JN's materials to cheer up shut-ins and patients in hospitals, nursing, and retirement homes.
  • Hospital and military chaplains use JN materials to lift the spirits of those they are counseling.
  • The Joyful Noiseletter resurrected “Bright Sunday,” a very old service on the Sunday after Easter when the early Greek Christians celebrated God's last laugh on the devil by raising Jesus from the dead. The early Christians spent the day picnicking, singing, dancing, joke-telling, and playing practical jokes.

Bright Sunday became “Holy Humor Sunday,” that marks the Sunday after Easter with skits, joke-telling, dancing, singing, practical jokes, and picnicking in an ongoing celebration of Jesus' resurrection.

The effort by The Joyful Noiseletter during the last 40 plus years, has prompted many churches across the country, mainly Protestant, to revive the old Christian practice.

Through the years, it became increasingly clear to Cal that joy also has a physical component. While we've known many courageous believers who suffer from various ailments or handicaps and yet maintain an attitude of good cheer, it was obvious to us that it's much easier to be joyful when one is in good health. Some of the enlightened medical doctors on JN's board of consulting editors wrote marvelous books on the importance of physical fitness, good nutrition, and prevention, and also contributed articles on living a healthy lifestyle to JN.  (Cal’s book, In Pursuit of Health and Longevity: Wellness Pioneers Through the Centuries, is offered in our online store.)

Thanks for listening to our story. By the grace of God, we have been sharing  for four decades. We welcome anyone who wishes to share holy humor and subscribe to The Joyful Noiseletter for just $29 annually. You may subscribe on this web site. Or call 1-616-558-5488.

And, finally, remember Proverbs 17:22 - "A cheerful heart is a good medicine."

The Peace and Good Cheer of Jesus.


Patch Adams, M.D.
The Gesundheit Institute
(JN Consulting Editor)