Pop and Rock (of Ages) : Church in Hollywood Takes a Cue From ‘Sister Act’

For almost a decade a Methodist congregation on the West Coast has been busy turning tradition upside down, alternating pop tunes in worship with sacred hymns that helped earn Methodism a reputation as the “singing church.”

But a fresh twist, inspired by a moment of fame, has elevated that effort to the status of life imitating art. The congregation is now singing tunes from the soundtrack of the hit movie “Sister Act,” which stars Whoopi Goldberg as a choir director who uses her street smarts to convert her singers into one of the hottest tickets in town.

Where is all of this happening? At First United Methodist Church in--where else?--Hollywood.

As it turns out, the church was one of two used in filming “Sister Act.” Now the real-life pastor, the Rev. Ignacio Castuera, hopes that his congregation can cash in on the success of the movie’s make-believe congregation by using some of its music.

The church choir has added “My God” to its repertoire. The song is a “Sister Act” variation of “My Guy” by the late Mary Wells.

The congregation’s life-imitating-art story has aired on the television show “Entertainment Tonight,” and Castuera expects the publicity to attract new members, some out of sheer curiosity.

If they come, he said, they will find a congregation that is not “uptight” about its forms of worship and believes that “the spirit of God doesn’t only work in and through the church.”

“I feel the singers and the poets of our time, we really have to listen to them also,” Castuera said in an interview.

Borrowing songs from a movie filmed in his church may be a new twist. But Castuera notes that he has been asking congregations to listen to poets and singers since he was ordained more than 20 years ago.

Castuera said much of the inspiration for his ministerial style derives from the biblical book of Esther, which makes no direct reference to God. By and large, he said, distinctions between the “secular” and the “religious” are artificial, especially when it comes to music. “What makes it sacred is the use we give to that song.”

During his early years in the ministry, Castuera said, he would bring his guitar to the pulpit. “I used to break into song in the middle of my sermons,” he said, oftentimes with tunes from the likes of the Beatles or from the traditional blues.

So when he decided to get permission from Walt Disney Productions to borrow from the “Sister Act” soundtrack it was no big deal for the congregation, Castuera said. It helps that his congregation is on the younger side. But even the older parishioners, he said, “are pretty much adjusted” to his freewheeling style of worship.

It probably does not hurt, either, to have a few Hollywood actors and backstage people in the pews.

Actor Dorian Harewood, who starred as Olympic champion Jesse Owens in a recent television production, attends First United Methodist, as do television actors Reiner Schoene and John Dye.