Join us Each week in person or online
Sundays at 9:30am.
SCRIPTURE:PHILIPPIANS 4:4-7
WE WELCOME PRESIDENT TAMMY SWANSON-DRAHEIM
THIS SUNDAY
Tammy Swanson-Draheim serves as the first female president in the denomination’s history. She has held a variety of roles within the denomination for more than 23 years and most recently has served as superintendent of the Midwest Conference of the Evangelical Covenant Church since 2011.
Join us on Sunday December 15th as President Swanson-Draheim preaches in our Worship Service and teaches Adult Sunday school.
THE ARK PRESCHOOL FUNDRAISER
Cooks, take the day off and join our friends from The Ark Preschool for a Monday meal!
The event runs from Noon until 6pm on Monday December 16.
15% of the net sales will benefit The Ark.
eNJOY READING PASTOR DAWN’S ARTICLE WHICH APPEARED IN THE NOVEMBER EDITION OF
tHE “COVCHURCH NOW” nEWSLETTER
“Sacred Jazz: A Joyful Noise Unto the Lord”
Sacred jazz blends faith with jazz’s rich rhythms, tracing roots from African American spirituals to Duke Ellington’s transformative Sacred Concerts. The jazz trumpeter steps to the microphone. Light outlines his horn. With closed eyes, he begins. The crowd settles, quiet and reflective, as the tune hangs in the air. A saxophone bellows, the bass moans, and the pinpricks of the piano join in with the steady rhythm of the drums. It’s Sunday, the song is “Amazing Grace,” and I am ready to sing. It’s time for church.
Sacred jazz (also known as church jazz or gospel jazz) gained visibility in the 1950s, though its roots are found much earlier in African American spirituals and hymnody, gospel music, jazz standards, and the blues. The first significant sacred jazz work was created as a response to grief. In 1958, Ed Summerlin, a jazz clarinetist, composed a piece for his church using Methodist liturgy to cope with the loss of his infant daughter.
The interweaving of jazz music with sacred text grew in popularity with Duke Ellington’s Sacred Concerts in the ’60s and ’70s. Three sacred concerts premiered successively at Grace Cathedral in San Francisco, Cathedral of St. John the Divine in New York City, and Westminister Abbey in London. Ellington himself regarded these concerts as his best.
My first exposure to sacred jazz was at The Riverside Church of New York City, where I performed for several years as a soloist and in their professional choir. The music we sang each week—the great oratorio works of Bach, Handel, and Mozart—and the inspiring preaching by the Rev. Dr. James Forbes in that magnificent space built by the Rockefellers made for a dream job.
Then Duke Ellington’s Sacred Concerts appeared on our schedule, and my life was changed. Discovering music that combined sacred text with jazz harmonies and syncopated rhythms was transformative. Ellington’s music ignited in me an enduring interest in jazz, both secular and sacred. Come Sunday, which Ellington first performed with the incomparable Mahalia Jackson, remains a favorite song.
Moving with my family to Chicago, I connected with William Russo and the Chicago Jazz Ensemble. Russo needed a classical soprano for some of his compositions. It was an opportunity to sing high Ds and challenging contemporary jazz passages, and still swing with Ellington’s sacred tunes. Russo composed his final work, Jubilatum, for soprano soloist and jazz trumpeter, incorporating Gregorian chant with a big band.
Concert opportunities introduced me to the concept of jazz in worship. One particularly meaningful context was the Sunday evening jazz vespers at Fourth Presbyterian Church, where the transcending power of jazz tunes and hymn settings brought people of different generations, socioeconomic situations, and ethnic groups together in worship.
In an article for the Yale Institute of Sacred Music: Colloquium on Music, Worship and the Arts in 2004, Dr. John Sherer, then Fourth Presbyterian’s music director and organist, responded to these services, saying, “With sacred jazz, everyone gets that this is being offered to the glory of God. What better way to show the joy of the resurrection than people dancing and singing in the aisles? Through jazz, one can truly experience the spirit of God in a vibrant and profound way.”
Other prominent pioneers of sacred jazz include Vince Guaraldi, pianist of the beloved Charlie Brown Christmas album, and pianist and composer Mary Lou Williams. Williams’s first work, Black Christ of the Andes, was in honor of the Peruvian saint, Martin de Porres, and in recognition of sacred jazz used in the Civil Rights movement of the 1960s. “The ability to play good jazz is a gift from God,” she told Ebony Magazine in 1966. “This music is based on the spirituals—it’s our only original American art form—and should be played everywhere, including church. Those who say it shouldn’t be played in church do not understand they are blocking the manifestations of God’s will.”
Sacred jazz has been inspirational for me not only as a singer but also as a songwriter. I am about to hit the recording studio with jazz settings of the Psalms. The beauty, heartbreak, and hope of the Psalms profoundly match the same in jazz music.
It’s the close of the service, and the band and I rise once more to lead the congregation in a joyful rendition of “When the Saints Go Marching In,” with every musician taking a final solo. Let dancing in the aisles begin!
Click on the link to see more! Sacred Jazz: A Joyful Noise Unto the Lord - The Evangelical Covenant Church
COLLEGE STUDENT MINISTRY
NEXT MEETING IS DECEMBER 15 AT 5PM
College students, you are warmly invited to join us for food,
fellowship, and conversation.
December 15: Paul and Jayne Bischoff will host.
IF YOU COULD HELP WITH THE SIDE DISHES ON DECEMBER 15, OR FOR MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE TEXT KRISTIN KRIEGBAUM AT 630-294-0045.
THANK YOU VERY MUCH.
FRONT DOOR MINISTRY
Thank you to all who have joined this important ministry! Front Door Ministry offers a friendly face and helpful advice to newcomers to GE Covenant on Sunday mornings. Would you consider joining our team? We especially need Door Greeters and Connectors for December 22.
Soon we will need to add parking attendants to this ministry as our parking lot is full every week.
Thank you!
Click to sign up!
IMPORTANT CHRISTMAS SERVICES
Mark your calendars for some special services at Glen Ellyn Covenant
this holiday season.
Christmas Eve Worship Service : Tuesday December 24 at 5pm.
Please join us for a candlelight Worship Service.
Worship & Breakfast Potluck December 29: Join us (come in your PJ’s) on Sunday morning as we gather together for worship and fellowship. Following this shorter Worship Service, we will enjoy a Potluck Breakfast in the Family Life Center.
WOMEN OF THE WORD
INTERGENERATIONAL BIBLE STUDY
jOIN US FOR A STUDY OF PHILIPPIANS
BEGINNING JANUARY 2025
Mondays at 6:45pm at the home of Pastor Dawn
Tuesdays at 9:30am in Higher Grounds at church, chilcare provided
Upcoming Dates:
January 13/14, January 27/28; February 10/11, February 24/25;
March 10/11, March 24/25
EXODUS WORLD SERVICE
Thank you for all who have already donated to our “Welcome to America Pack.” This is a whole-church endeavor to welcome a refugee family to America with practical Christian love.
Please see the link below and consider participating in this project. All items can be dropped off at Pastor Dawn’s office.
Sign up link: https://signup.com/go/qxShXOO
PARTNERS IN MINISTRY
Book Collection for Tarcisio
We continue collecting books for our partner Rev. Tarcisio Magurupira. The theology-based books will help the Evangelical Theological College’s Bachelor of Theology program achieve accreditation by The Association of Theological Education in Africa (ACTEA). The children’s Christian education books will be useful in the district and national camps. Place books for donation in the coat room near the Higher Grounds coffee area at church. Rev. Magurupira is academic dean and lecturer at the ETC and is director and field officer of Firm Foundation.
Glen Ellyn Walk-In Ministry
If interested in serving on the Board of Glen Ellyn Walk-In Ministry, contact Diane Brown at dgraceb05@gmail.com. Supported by 13 area churches including ours, this faith-based organization provides emergency help with expenses such as utilities, food and gas vouchers, and auto repairs and insurance.
Repeat Boutique
Children’s winter coats, adult coats, men’s sweaters, and jeans are needed. Linens (bed sheets and towels) are in short supply as well. Additional volunteers on Thursday and Friday mornings would be helpful. Repeat Boutique provides clothing and household goods to refugees, low-income families, and Christian workers. Contact Rosie Gardner (RosieGardner@sbcglobal.net) for assistance in responding.
WEEKLY CHURCH PRAYER MEETINGS
MONDAYS AT 7PM ON ZOOM AND WEDNESDAYS AT 10:30AM IN PERSON IN THE CHURCH LIBRARY
“Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful.” -Colossians 4:2
ZOOM PRAYER MEETING DETAILS
Zoom Meeting ID: 859848614 Password: geecc
Send a prayer request to Jayne Bischoff who will forward to Prayer Partners. Please mark if confidential. (jaynebischoff@gmail.com)
WORSHIP ARTS NEWS
Calling all artists! Thank you to those who have already displayed their artistic responses to our sermon series on Romans.
It is exciting to see the new submissions in our south alcove. If you missed the “assignment” – we are creating a display of art that reflects a favorite verse from Romans.
Please email Kriste Sveen for more details as needed.
