Godspell, brought to life by the youth of St. Stephens and St. Joan of Arc parishes. Performances in the St. Stephen's School, March 30-April 1st.

It all started with a challenge….

I feel so empowered in my church; I felt as if there really wasn’t anything I couldn't do.”

Ali Lauer(right), a 16 year old parishioner from St. Stephens, went on a spiritual retreat last summer through YTM (Youth Theology and Ministry) and was challenged to find something that she could offer the world that would spread peace and justice in the community.   Ali found Godspell.  She recruited parishioners, especially youth, from St. Stephens and St. Joan of Arc communities and the magic began!

After her two week long theology camp experience with other high-schoolers at the College of St. John’s, Ali came back from camp and told her youth minister what she wanted to do this musical. It all started from there. She approached her friend, Kari Olk to co-direct with her and they were off!!!   They individually approached various people in her church and those willing parishioners made up her 'creative team'.  Ali said, “St. Stephens is very small faith community; I feel so connected with the people in power at the church; everyone knows each other and talks to each other really easily without needing to jump through hoops.”  Bottom line, Ali felt her dream of Godspell could be defined in 3 words; “Opportunity meets preparation! I feel so empowered in my church; I felt as if there really wasn’t anything I couldn't do.”

How St. Joan of Arc became involved….

Ali was originally planning on having this musical be a youth-only performance and since SJA was big congregation and since the churches have similar missions, she felt there would need to be a lot of youth recruited to pull this off.  She said that she walked into the SJA parish center, scared and unsure, but was met with excitement and encouragement from staff members Pam and Margaret. She talked to the SJA youth group and was able to recruit one brave soul, Leah Kremer(above right, with crown), who was encouraged to get involved by Peace and Justice Coordinator and veteran actress Julie Madden. “Leah was the so prepared for her audition, she was amazing!” said Ali.

Lessons from a youth perspective….

When I asked Ali what we can learn from her experience to build more youth-led efforts in both our parishes, she gave a ton of great advice. First, she offered that having such a confident feeling of purpose and place in her faith community gave her a sense of complete power and complete access to pursuing her dream. The transparency in her parish gave Ali the road map to the adults who were able to help her mobilize her plan. She offered these nuggets of wisdom:

• Challenge youth with the challenge that YTM gave me, “Do whatever you need to do to make it yours and make it a success'”. You’ll be amazed at what wonderful creativity comes your way!
• “Don't assume that kids need a step by step handbook of how to do something;  just inspire them, challenge them and then trust them and support them.”
• I learned that kids my age can be just as dependable as adults (and sometimes, more so because adults have so much on their plate).... what she got back from the kids was exactly what she needed - she learned to trust her peers. 
• Adults, do all you can to not try to take the power away from the youth.
• Youth, if adults try to take over, make the project theirs or want to take power away from the youth in charge, say, "I appreciate your input, and I will think about it." 

• If an opportunity comes your way, just go for it if it sounds interesting. It’s so much fun to do something new and it really doesn't matter if you've done it before. 

The Impact….

The take away for Ali was the friendships that were developed across the metro area.  They ended up recruiting from their theater camp (E-3), the churches, their schools, etc...  Worlds collided and it worked!! Friendships were developed and rekindled.  

The impact at her church from what she heard was that people were reenergized and they really needed it, especially, during Lent. Godspell brought Jesus’ message of love home in ways that youth could receive it and ways that adults needed to remember it.  This effort brought her faith community together across all ages.  That was fun for Ali, because she now knows and is recognized by more people at her church which only increases her sense of purpose and place within the church.  

She learned that she liked being a leader.  The whole point of the YTM challenge was to harvest her leadership skills.  She felt very good about this project. She learned that she likes directing a lot and naturally fell into this part of the work.   

What was most impactful for Ali was that the whole musical and all of the plans came to fruition. It really astounded her.  She was surprised that they made over $5,000 and they had a full house each night (over 200 people each night).  She was so impressed at how professional the play was and that is wasn't an amateur performance; the amount of talent in her cast was impressive.  

Postscript….

I attended the first performance on Friday night and truly couldn't keep myself from bawling during many of the scenes.  Our own St. Joan of Arc’er, Leah Kremer, sang a wonderful version of "Day by Day" and really got the crowd going!!!  And the scene where all of Jesus' friends were saying good bye, was really more than I could handle.  But the finale was again hopeful and throughout the entire play I couldn't help but think how incredibly awesome this was that I was relearning the Gospel through these young people's energy, creativity and convincing acting.  

To think that two 16 year olds put this whole thing together; securing the advertisers and the gym; scheduling practice times; creating the choreography, costumes; getting the band and chorus together, making sure the set and lights were suitable, orchestrating the taping of the shows, and organizing the concessions, ticket sales, t-shirts and even flowers for the actors.  No stone was left unturned.  They even have DVD's of the play available to be sold for $10 after the show. Entrepreneurs in the making!!!  

The play had its punchy wit as well.  There were unpredictable and genuinely funny antics that kept the audience glued and engaged throughout the whole play.  All I kept thinking as I was watching these young people perform is that Godspell was a GREAT choice for how Ali wanted to meet the challenge of putting out peace and justice into the world.  Ben, who played the role of Jesus, reminded me of the true message of purpose of Jesus' coming.  He was a gentle, yet firm teacher.  His message was consistently a message of unconditional love, acceptance, justice and peace.  Each and every one of these performers didn't just learn their lines, you can tell they internalized Jesus words.  What better way to learn the Gospel then through a musical that truly brings Gods word to life.  What better way to extend the love of God, but through youth and theater; a fine combination indeed.

Mary Sue Hansen has been a parishioner of St. Joan of Arc for over 11 years. She lives in St. Paul and treks over to S. Mpls every Sunday Morning for 9 o'clock mass, community and spiritual renewal. She lives and breathes community, loves children, and believes strongly in the power of collective learning and action. She is the Director of a collaborative community working to improve protective factors for children in Suburban Ramsey County.

  Ali's dream came true and it will forever change me.  I am better for having witnessed this great act of love.  If that's not a fulfilled goal, I don't know what is!!!  

You can view segments of the performance on YouTube.