I believe that I last saw Sister Act in the theatre, when it came out in 1992. Lynette, Sarah and I watched it last night. I am intrigued by the fact that, though the movie is a Whoopi Goldberg comedy with some "plot holes" big enough to drive an 18 wheeler through, the revitalization of a struggling church follows almost exactly the plan that the "experts" tell us we should follow.
Whoopi's character, Delores, arrives at a struggling inner city parish and convent because she is in hiding from her mobster boyfriend. She has inadvertently witnessed a murder he has ordered and is willing to testify against him. (In "real life" she would have been in the Federal Witness Protection program, but where's the "funny" in that?) Delores has been presented as a former "terror" of a parochial school, whose interest in pop music has led her to a couple of "disrespectful" answers in a religion class.
The "Reverend Mother" of the convent (played by Maggie Smith) has decided that the walls around the convent will "protect" the sisters from the rough neighborhood surrounding the church. The church building itself appears to be in disrepair and Mass is poorly attended. The priest decries poor attendance at Mass in the first two homilies. The parish choir (consisting of all nuns) does "traditional" Catholic music (in Latin), but sings VERY badly.
Delores is definitely a "fish out of water." An initial joke is her negative reaction to the "Vow of celibacy." She doesn't like the food, the accommodations, the habit (a very uncomfortable looking Carmelite outfit from the 19th century) or the discipline. After a couple of misadventures (including a foray into a neighborhood bar, yielding the great line "If this is going to be a nun bar, I'm leaving.") Delores is "banished" to the choir. There she takes over almost immediately from an aged sister (played by the always hilarious Mary Wickes). She starts out just teaching the sisters to sing on key and in harmony (which had previously been a challenge), then moves on to teaching them ways to "spiritualize" some Motown hits.
During the first performance of the choir under Delores' leadership, they "rock out" and the tattoed and pierced "neighborhood" folks spontaneously appear in the middle of Mass. It seems that the only thing keeping the folks in the neighborhood from coming to Mass was the "old fashioned" (and badly performed) music. Once "spiritualized" Motown is in the bulletin, attendance and contributions soar.
Later, the sisters do something even more "radical." They leave the "safety" of the walled-in convent and go out to do concrete acts of mission to revitalize the neighborhood. Whoopi (Delores) gets to show off her "Double Dutch" skills too.
To sum up-"Contemporary" music in worship and "hands on" mission in the community revitalize a dying parish AND this is all pulled off in about a month to six weeks, under the leadership of a "severely lapsed" layperson. Moreover, the priest is totally "on board" with these radical changes from the very beginning and even the "Reverend Mother's" mild objections are swept aside fairly easily.
As I said, there are some huge "plot holes" here, but I am intrigued that someone (maybe the author of the original screenplay?) appeared to know that "Vital Worship" and "hands on mission" are key to the revitalization of a "tired" parish/congregation. Those of us who are "in the trenches" know all too well that such changes are rarely accomplished in a month, if at all, and that opposition can be intense. Still, to find such an outline in a "secular" entertainment is fascinating.
