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Northwestern Pennsylvania cathedral to host Jazz Vespers summer series

June 15, 2026

[Episcopal News Service] The Cathedral of St. Paul in Erie, the Diocese of Northwestern Pennsylvania, will host its third annual Jazz Vespers summer series beginning June 21. A jazz ensemble will accompany Scripture and hymns, poetry and other written works by Thomas Merton, a Trappist monk and mystic. Christopher Petit, the cathedral’s director of music and director of choirs at Mercyhurst University in Erie, decided in 2024 to launch a jazz-focused liturgical series because “many people find something spiritual or a connection to jazz.” “Jazz Vespers is opening up another connection for people to know that the cathedral is a space where we want to provide what’s meaningful to those in the community, and for them to know that everyone is welcome,” Petit told Episcopal News Service. “Different styles of music go with different styles of worship and spirituality, and we want to provide something for everybody.” Unlike Western classical music, which is historically rooted in the Western sacred music tradition and often emphasizes formal structure, jazz is spontaneous. The latter, which originated from Black communities in New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, emphasizes improvisation against a steady rhythm. Jazz was born from several Black American music traditions like blues, ragtime and Black American sacred music. The Rev. John Garcia Gensel, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America’s pastor to the Jazz Community in New York City, created Jazz Vespers in 1965. The ministry gave the city’s jazz musicians, who often worked late on Saturdays into the wee hours of Sunday, an opportunity to participate in church services outside of traditional Sunday morning services. Over time, churches of different denominations began adding their own Jazz Vespers services. Barry Davis, a St. Paul’s parishioner who voluntarily promotes and financially supports Jazz Vespers, hasn’t missed a service. It has been held at the cathedral on the third Sunday evening of June, July and August since it began in 2024. He told ENS that he looks forward to attending the services every summer because jazz’s spontaneity “touches the soul” differently from sacred and classical music and “adds another dimension” to worship, comparing it to the Holy Spirit. “You can never play the same piece of jazz the exact same way twice. There are always different improvisations and interpretations, and the Holy Spirit, I believe, works the same way,” Davis said. “You can’t say, ‘This is the way it’s got to be, and you have to follow this dogma or doctrine to get an answer.’ Everybody’s experience with the Holy Spirit, like jazz, comes in a different form each and every time. In a church setting, jazz opens me up to a new interpretation of the Scriptures, and sometimes it informs my prayer process.” The Very Rev. Melinda Hall, St. Paul’s dean, told ENS that she was inspired to focus on Merton’s writings this year after reading “A Book of Hours,” a compilation of his works. Sister Kathleen Deignan, the book’s editor, curated, arranged and interspersed the works with elements of Christian liturgy into a daily prayer and contemplation resource in the Divine Office’s “praying the hours” tradition. The Jazz Vespers services will be loosely structured on “A Book of Hours.” “I’m excited to see how the combination of the contemplativeness of Thomas Merton interlaced with jazz will work. I think it’s going to be so cool,” Hall said. “I think everyone will really appreciate how poetry and written reflections on faith can be brought together in new ways such as prayer and meditation.” Hall, Davis and Petit all noted that many “very good” professional musicians live in Erie. St. Paul strives to build working relationships with all of them and offer diverse musical performances throughout the year. Earlier this year, for example, the cathedral offered weekly Celtic services featuring live Celtic music as part of its larger Sacred Pathways program on exploring different spiritual practices. “At the end of the day, we want people to have fun and to feel welcome, and that group worship must not be boring,” Petit said. “Even though Jazz Vespers is first and foremost a worship service, you’re not forced to pray a specific way, but rather you go wherever the music takes you.” -Shireen Korkzan is a reporter and assistant editor for Episcopal News Service. She can be reached at skorkzan@episcopalchurch.org.