Songs from Godspell at Mass

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OP, you’re probably not going to get a straight answer on this. It’s not what I interpret to be “sacred” – that said people aren’t really going to universally agree on what is suitable.
 
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Sbee0 said:
I could be wrong but it’s funny how it seems the church looked at this musical more favorably than Jesus Christ Superstar for some reason. You’d also never hear a song from JCS played at Mass.
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It’s not odd at all. Godspell didn’t suggest that Mary Magdalene was in love with Jesus. JC Superstar also contains a slightly unusual view of Judas.
And yes, as the other person said, it ends with Jesus dead.
Godspell was just hippies singing Scripture.
 
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Back in the 1970s at the Catholic Church my family attended, IIRC, they sang songs from Godspell during Mass. “Day by Day” was one of them. They also sung other pop songs like “Bridge over Troubled Water” by Simon & Garfunkel.
 
On a more serious note, I remember that “All Good Gifts” was the offertory song at the Papal Mass in Iowa in 1979. It is a reference to James 1:17, so I don’t consider it secular.
 
I read about a bride who wanted that song sung at her wedding.:cringe:
 
I didn’t know that but a few years later this was sung while I signed it for the offertory at a Thanksgiving (holiday) Mass.
 
Norseman82 said:
On a more serious note, I remember that “All Good Gifts” was the offertory song at the Papal Mass in Iowa in 1979. It is a reference to James 1:17, so I don’t consider it secular.
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That one too is a traditional hymn, they simply set it to a different tune for Godspell.

We Plough the Fields and Scatter

Originally German by Matthias Claudius ca. 1782
Translated in 1861 by Jane M. Campbell
TUNE: WIR PFLÜGEN
 
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Rob2 said:
Prepare ye: Diocese of Orange’s Bishop Vann cast in ‘Godspell’
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Now that will have an influence on the kids for decades to come . . . the world needs more bishops who get involved in details like this . . .
Tis_Bearself said:
Godspell was just hippies singing Scripture.
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I haven’t seen it in decades. But doesn’t it end with the Crucifixion on a baseball backstop?

I do recall having Handel’s Messiah playing, and hearing something that that I had always thought came from one of those two . . .
PeterT said:
They also sung other pop songs like “Bridge over Troubled Water” by Simon & Garfunkel.
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Which everyone knows should be reserved for when Senator Kennedy takes the stage 😱:roll_eyes::crazy_face: (actually, I read that the band once did this . . .)

hawk
 
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Godspell can end with the crucifixion or there can be one of a couple of alternate endings that are supposed to signify the Resurrection. The creators apparently okayed the alternate endings if people want to use them.
 
I saw it in NYC when I was about 17. It had a resurrection ending and it was an outstanding performance.
 
I was hooked when I saw my first production, in Val speak, back in the mid 80s. That was a touring group in a church basement.

Then a few years later I saw a high school production in a church sanctuary while sitting in the choir loft.

Fast forward 10 years and I was the assistant director in my drama club’s production of same. I didn’t enjoy it as much because the director cut all the funny stuff out of it and he mimed the last supper scene. We did have the resurrection though, as did the other two productions.

I must admit I could sit through a production once a week but I don’t particularly care for the movie version other than the presence of “The Chief”.
 
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