Godspell

Seven years ago, my church friend Craig started a theater group called the Wayward Artist, which aimed at staging edgy, provocative productions. Annie and I were among the original sponsors, and we have never missed one of its shows.

The original theater was held at California State University, Fullerton. Last year the university did not renew the contract with the Wayward Artist, forcing the group to close its doors, we thought forever.

Craig also serves as the administrative pastor at Irvine United Congregational Church (IUCC). He wasn’t ready to let go of the Wayward Artist. Since IUCC is a progressive Christian church, Craig managed to convince the board to make the church the new home base for the Wayward Artist.

In an earlier blog post, I shared how a group of actors from Wayward reenacted the Last Supper as part of their Maundy (meaning “to wash”) Thursday worship. The church was full, and even people who don’t usually attend it were moved by the actors reliving this event from the life of Jesus.

For two weeks in July 2025, another group of (paid) actors performed Godspell, an off-Broadway production that first opened on May 17, 1971. It had achieved long-lasting worldwide success and was a Broadway revival show in 2011. This triumph continued with the presentation at IUCC. The performance was well attended, and the young actors did an excellent job.

I have always believed that the church’s liturgy is a form of drama but unfortunately is rarely well executed during services. Most of the time, liturgy is boring.

When I had a youth group of about 2,500 young people in 1969, chancel drama and a theater group composed of teens became a major part of our program.

For those who haven’t seen Godspell, it’s a two-act musical that features eight nonbiblical characters, both male and female, who start off very different from each other and are not connected. By the end of the play, they are a cohesive group. There are three other characters—Jesus, John the Baptist, and Judas—whose roles are similar to those in the New Testament. Throughout the play, the character Jesus shares about seventeen different New Testament sayings or stories with the audience. This is done in a clever way that keeps the audience fully engaged.

My only frustration was that the seventeen or so different sayings or parables came so quickly that I was still thinking about the first while Jesus was quoting the fourth. For example, Jesus stated that he did not come to abolish the law and the prophets but to complete them. I wanted the musical to stop so that the audience could discuss this. What does “to complete” mean? For me, it says that Jesus’s message of agape (love) overpowers all 613 laws of the Jewish faith as well as the prophecies of the Old Testament prophets. I wanted to hear what others thought, but the musical kept moving. Maybe a discussion after would have helped.

Here’s the important point: Godspell demonstrates the power of real drama in the church. For many years, I have seen the church as boring and irrelevant, but Jesus isn’t. I think that if Jesus and the messages of the New Testament were presented as drama, whether through stage plays, musical presentations, liturgical dance, or other formats, churches might be full every Sunday.

My greatest wish is that Godspell would mark the beginning of a new reformation at IUCC.

Have you ever seen Godspell? Warning: it’s funny, entertaining, and fast-paced—and has the power to change people’s lives.

PeaceLoveJoyHopeKindness

Bil

Get my book at Bookshop.org, Barnes & Noble, or Amazon!

P.S. People often ask me provocative questions about current events, both religious and secular. I have found that some of these questions are being asked universally. I’ll be periodically alternating regular articles with one of those questions and my answer. I invite you to send me your question to bilaulenbach@yahoo.com.

 

Photo by micheile henderson on Unsplash