NEWS FEATURE: In Alabama, Churches `Jazzing Up’ Their Sacred Music

c. 2003 Religion News Service HUNTSVILLE, Ala. _ Music has been used in worship throughout the centuries. In the book of Psalms, David urged people to “Praise God in his sanctuary” and to “Praise him with stringed instruments and flutes.” Today, virtually every kind of music is used in worship services, from classical and traditional […]

c. 2003 Religion News Service

HUNTSVILLE, Ala. _ Music has been used in worship throughout the centuries.

In the book of Psalms, David urged people to “Praise God in his sanctuary” and to “Praise him with stringed instruments and flutes.”


Today, virtually every kind of music is used in worship services, from classical and traditional to the popular contemporary Christian and Christian rock styles. One of the most recent musical appearances on the church radar screen in Huntsville is sacred jazz.

The idea, however, is not new. In the latter part of his life, jazz great Duke Ellington devoted much of his time to writing sacred music.

“The message Duke wanted to deliver consisted of his own beliefs about God, which were rooted in Christian doctrine, but idiosyncratically selected and interpreted,” wrote the Rev. Janna Tull Steed in her book “Duke Ellington: A Spiritual Biography.”

She said Ellington performed many sacred concerts the last 10 years of his life, which “was a mission for him.”

Two Huntsville-area musicians who have joined Ellington’s sacred jazz mission are Rose Marie Rushin and Keith Taylor. Rushin is organist at Huntsville’s United Church of Christ and Taylor is pianist at Northminster Presbyterian Church here.

Rushin grew up playing the piano in church. After learning to play the organ in college, she continued serving as a musician in churches. But when she retired and moved to Huntsville in 1997, she had no intention of becoming a church musician again.

“I just didn’t want to play anymore,” said Rushin. “I was tired of it.” But when she visited the Huntsville United Church of Christ one Sunday, she learned the organist was resigning. She offered her services on an interim basis. That was six years ago and she’s still playing for her congregation.

Rushin recently performed her second Jazz Vespers service at the church.

“I really had to encourage her because she would not have done it,” said Nancy Hamilton, the church’s choir director. “We really needed to utilize that part of her talent. I had never had much experience with jazz, but I’ve learned a lot from her and it has deepened our experience in a very unique way.”


Taylor, who recently performed a jazz concert at his church, also has strong support from his pastor, the Rev. Jim Matthews. “He’s a very talented young man and has incorporated a little bit of everything in the worship services,” Matthews said. “We gave him free rein and let him play whatever he picks. I think the jazz is wonderful. I’m not against having Christian rock. If I can get the people in, I don’t care what kind of music it is.”

Both Rushin and Taylor said they “struggle” with playing jazz in a worship service.

“I don’t do too much jazz in the worship service, but I do improvise some,” said Taylor. “I play some jazz in the offertory. I’ve never had any complaints about it. I guess maybe if I did a full-blown jazz worship service, some people might object.”

Rushin said her mother always warned her against playing jazz for a church service. “I wasn’t comfortable playing it (in church) at first and it really bothered me,” said Rushin.

The 47-year-old Taylor began taking piano lessons at age 7 and often played for his home church, Lakewood Baptist of Huntsville. He played the trombone in high school and majored in music at the University of Alabama in Huntsville. He earned a graduate degree in jazz at the University of South Carolina.

After returning to Huntsville 20 years ago he took the job playing the piano at Northminster Presbyterian. About the same time, Taylor landed a job at the Heritage Club, a private social club, where he performs three nights a week.

A Birmingham, Ala., native, Rushin graduated from high school in 1944. In addition to attending Oberlin Conservatory where she played the drums in the marching band, she earned a master’s degree in music at Columbia University in New York. Rushin was raised a Baptist but eventually joined the United Church of Christ.


In addition to playing the organ and piano, Rushin can also play the drums, saxophone and guitar. She taught music to junior high students, and then guitar when the folk music craze was at its height in the early 1960s. And she’s in the Alabama Jazz Hall of Fame.

The Rev. Cliff Aerie, special events producer for the United Church of Christ, wrote in a November 2000 newsletter that jazz was “once a rarity” but is becoming more common in contemporary worship as well as traditional worship services. Aerie added, “When jazz is offered in worship, the Spirit comes alive in new, creative and unpredictable ways.”

DEA END BETOWT

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