You whose mind-set is hostile towards God he reconciled through Jesus in order that he might present you in God’s presence if you continue to believe.

St. James’ Church in Hemingford Grey has a rich heritage of Christian worship dating back nearly one thousand years, yet on Sunday, 13^th May a very different service will take place, that of ‘Jazz Vespers.  This has been the brainchild of St. James’ new Worship Minister, Dan Forshaw.  Dan, a professional saxophonist moved to St. James shortly before Christmas last year and is delighted that he is able to bring some of the finest Christian jazz musicians in the country to Hemingford Grey.

Dan first got the idea of jazz vespers when he heard about St. Peter’s Church New York and their evening services, which incorporate jazz into their liturgical services. Dan said,  ‘By it’s nature jazz is a very open and inclusive art form and the church should be like that too. There have often been unnecessary barriers thrown up because of the word ‘jazz’ and some of the less than savoury associations with it.  But, highly creative and often improvised music has been at the heart of the church right back to the days of J.S Bach.’

Vespers literally means ‘of evening’ and the service will include familiar hymns arranged in a jazz style, jazz standards appropriate for the church and instead of a sermon the service will feature a performance of John Coltrane’s 1964 album A Love Supreme, which Dan has performed across the UK and Ireland with his quartet over the past four years.  Dan said ‘A Love Supreme is a very special piece of music.  For me it lead me on a path to study not just music, but also theology.  I wanted to try and understand what Coltrane was working towards, and why this particular recording was so special. I realised that at it’s heart was one man’s (Coltrane’s) desire to appreciate God through his music, that spoke very loudly to me in an age when we often believe music is to please ourselves.’

Dan will be joined by musicians from the church, plus some of his regular sideman from London, pianist Ewan King, bass player John Henry Baker and drummer Richard Morgan.  As it is a church service there is no admission fee although you are advised to arrive by 6.45pm in order to get a seat!