When we come to know something as an institution, the temptation is not to tinker with it. After all, the very nature of an institution is something that is steady…lasting…constant. The problem with that line of thinking is that those steady, constant ideas can find themselves irrelevant if they don’t adapt.

Institutions can be as grandiose as government branches, or as secluded as a community church – and its the latter’s struggle with adaptation that is the subject of YOU CAN’T SING IT FOR THEM.

The doc, which plays this year’s NXNE festival tomorrow, takes us through one year at Messiah Baptist Church. Specifically, it focuses on the parish music director Jonathan Barryman. Barryman is brought in to guide the church choirs, and one of his first ideas is to combine the three main choirs into one large choir. Considering that the members of these choirs have been singing together, the mere suggestion of tearing down the traditions is almost heresy.

But undeterred, Barryman takes us through this daring undertaking, and in so doing reveals just how fickle a gospel choir can be. One would think that expressing one’s faith through music would be the most important thing, but as we watch the events of the year unfold, we learn that choirs are just like any other group dynamic…everyone has an opinion, and there’s always dissention as to what “should” be done. So yes folks, it would appear as though there is a right and wrong way to pray.

Along with the drama at Messiah Baptist, Barryman gives us a lengthy history lesson of Gospel music and how it has evolved. While truly fascinating, the digression feels like a bit of a hiccup since it stops the narrative dead in its tracks for a solid ten minutes. It might have been more ideal to break up the history lesson and weave it into the journey the film takes us on. That said, the history is essential, and I would never dream of suggesting it be cut.

Which leads me to my only wish for YOU CAN’T SING IT FOR THEM – I wanted more. What Barryman had to accomplish couldn’t have been easy (he jokes that the church didn’t need a musician; it needed a magician). Late in the film, his predecessor who had been musical director for decades suggests that he needs to feel the music more to truly be able to guide the choir.

In that same vein, I wish I was able to feel the film more to truly be able to dissect it. But if a film about gospel music taught me one thing, it’s to be open and to be thankful, and with that in mind I am truly thankful for the 68 minutes I got with YOU CAN’T SING IT FOR THEM.

YOU CAN’T SING IT FOR THEM plays North by Northeast on Wednesday June 15th – 12:00pm at NFB (150 John Street).