Troy and Gabriella better watch out—High School Musical may have some competition. And the emphasis is on “may.” In an attempt to attract those seeking an alternative to the teenage Disney hit, Faith Films offered up Sunday School Musical, a story about two competing choirs who unite under a common leader to enter a competition in an attempt to save one of the churches.

It’s nice to know that movies that don’t revolve around bad language, excessive nudity, and violence are still being made (not that HSM has these characteristics). But if Sunday School Musical was trying to fly under the banner of a Christian film, it failed. The characters may wear crosses and the setting may be churches and Bible schools, but the people do not act differently than anyone else.

In fact, there are more virtues to be found in the stereotype-defying Troy of HSM than the self-centered SSM kids who are quick to act on their own passions. Children yell at their parents, friends blow up at each other, and no one asks for forgiveness. An unnecessary and pointless relationship develops between Zach and Savannah, the two choir leaders—the sort of sap that is expected from Disney but not from a genre that should be above worldly teen drama.

Sometimes the characters refer to God and prayer, but Savannah, a pastor’s daughter, comes closer to confessing agnosticism than demonstrating even a shred of faith in Christ. Her lack of faith in God’s plan is no wonder—her father delivers a “sermon” in which he declares that the Bible exists for our self-actualization, not salvation. He teaches Savannah a “prayer” that is nothing more than a mind trick involving bubble gum: “Dear God, put my trouble in this bubble.” And the only reference to Jesus in the entire movie is in the last song.

Not only does SSM not explain the Gospel, but none of its characters even seem to know what the Gospel is. Whatever Faith Films has faith in, it’s not Jesus Christ. If SSM was trying to do HSM one better in a “faith” setting, all it did was borrow the themes of unity, throw in some cherry-picked Bible verses, and create a sub-par knock off that perpetuates Christian stereotypes and retains all the cheese-filled lyrics and dance numbers HSM is notorious for.

It’s unfortunate that this is true, but children would learn the same lesson (and better dance moves) from the Disney hit than Sunday School Musical. And at least they wouldn’t be subjected to empty prayer and misquoted scripture.