Gulfport priest mixing Beach Boys and Jesus for Saturday service

The Rev. Patrick Sanders, rector at St. Peter’s by-the-Sea in Gulfport, said he is always looking for ways to explore his liturgy for Saturday evening Mass.

And what he found for this weekend will be a little different.

Sanders, who is an avid music fan as well as a musician, said he found his inspiration for his July 9 service through a movie.

“I was staying by myself last year. It was the week we moved to Gulfport and I was told I should watch the movie ‘Love & Mercy,’ which is the story of Beach Boy Brian Wilson,” he said. “So I watched it and I was blown away.”

Sanders was so inspired by the film and the musical works of Wilson that he and St. Peter’s organist JT Anglin will use Wilson’s music as the basis of Saturday’s “God Only Knows” service. The Mass will begin at 5:30 p.m. in the Episcopal church’s chapel just one block from the beach.

‘God Only Knows’

Sanders said the alternate liturgy service will use the music of the Beach Boys in place of the usual church melodies.

“We will be doing the ‘Great Amen’ to ‘Barbara Ann,’ ” he said. “The message will be the same but the method of delivering it will be a little different — the service is the same, but the music is different.”

Anglin arranged the music for the service, which will include the Wilson-penned melodies “Surfer Girl” and “God Only Knows.”

“JT went back and playfully rearranged the melodies,” Sanders said.

Love and mercy

Sanders said he grew up listening to the Beach Boys, but they weren’t necessarily his “thing.” However, like many music fans who are in their 30s and 40s, he rediscovered the band through their 1966 album “Pet Sounds.”

“After listening to ‘Pet Sounds,’ you really see the pure genius of Wilson’s work through songs like ‘Surfer Girl’ and ‘Good Vibrations,’ ” he said.

The viewing of “Love & Mercy,” Sanders said, reaffirmed his love for the classic album.

“We’ve been talking about doing the service for a year and JT’s been working on it for a long time and here we are,” he said.

Good vibrations

Anglin said Saturday’s service is perfect for those who attend St. Peter’s.

“We have a singing congregation,” Anglin said. “They are into different alternatives and supportive of that.”

Sanders said he and Anglin have been developing a working relationship and friendship since his arrival at St. Peter’s.

“He’s such a phenomenal musician with any type of music,” Sanders said. “But he was in that old mode where the priest dictates the music that will be played on Sundays, but I realized what an artist he was and I thought that would suffocate him if that’s the relationship we had.”

The admiration between Sanders and Anglin is mutual.

“For me, this is has been a Renaissance period in this church,” Anglin said. “It’s the most creative we’ve ever been.”

The message is the same

Although Sanders said he can not speculate on Wilson’s faith or beliefs, he said the service is about finding God in all things.

“If we can’t find God in the secular world, then what’s the point of the Incarnation,” he said. “These melodies that Brian Wilson created were absolutely created by something divine or they wouldn’t resonate with the world the way it did — there’s something beautiful when you find God in the world and not the church.”

Anglin said the service is just a different way to relay the message.

“This is just ‘Sister Act 3,’ ” Anglin said.

Thinking ahead

With the planning for the Beach Boys Mass under their belts, Sanders and Anglin are already thinking about next year’s alternative liturgy service.

“We’re talking about doing a pirate Mass and I would really love to do a Bob Marley Mass,” Sanders said. “Maybe one day we can do a Willie Nelson Mass.”

This story was originally published July 7, 2016 at 6:00 AM with the headline "Gulfport priest mixing Beach Boys and Jesus for Saturday service."