Jazz Mass comes to Bundaberg Anglicans

The idea of an Anglican mass infused with Jazz music was a foreign concept for me until  recently. My hometown of Bundaberg hosted the Australian Jazz Convention over the Christmas New Year period in 2011 and one of the elements that I had the opportunity to explore was the Jazz Mass.

Rector Of Christ Church Anglican father Cliff Greaves expalined that in his previous parish in Central Victoria, his rector's warden was the piano player with the Southern Cross Jazz Band. This, combined with the parish wanting to do something a little different in expressing themselves, became the inspiration behind a Jazz Mass in a pub which attracted 230 people. They then used trad jazz to do 2 services a year in the Central Victorian region.

Fast Forward to a new parish for Fr Greaves in the city of Bundaberg and when he discovered that the Australian Jazz Convention was to be hosted there he thought it would be a natural fit for a gospel jazz service as part and parcel of the convention.

Father Cliff Greaves officiates over Jazz Mass.

So how different is a Jazz mass to a normal Anglican Mass? Fr Greaves says its not that different at all. "The elements are exactly the same its just that we use different music and a different setting and a slightly different arrangement of the words that's all. The structure of it is pretty much identical."

Local group "The Trio" provided the music for this mass.

Any church can be uncertain when introducing a new untried concept, but Fr Greaves says the Christ Church Anglican community were more uncertain than concerned about how it would work and what it would be like. "Its almost like an advent happening, the waiting  in faithful expectation of what was going to happen. I couldn't do it alone, its the musicians and the singers and working with them that makes it happen and the people that clearly like the expression of jazz. But we saw today also a greater expression of faith mixed with that liking of jazz."

Fr Steven Threadgill, parish priest co-presided over the mass and said "It was super, there was great participation also as we saw with the number of people coming forward for communion. I thought it was first class, really exciting."




With easily a couple of hundred people in the church for a Wednesday morning mass "no-one was disgruntled and no-one walked out. Everyone was there until the end. It was a wonderful celebration" Fr Greaves said.

The Trio featuring Stuart Wadham on keys, Matt Farthing on Bass and Bob on drums

Jazz Mass Whole World In His Hands Jazz Mass Trio

Easterfest: Chaplains needed

Every Easter the city of Toowoomba in regional QLD plays host to a massive music festival that also features a mass of great speakers. This festival started off as The Australian Gospel Music Festival, but changed its name to Easterfest for its 10^th anniversary 5 years ago to better reflect its mission to be a festival at Easter about Easter.

Being a Christian festival, one thing that they are constantly aiming to do is to look after the spiritual health of the (mostly) volunteers that make this festival happen and this is done through a network of chaplains.

Me and Leanne doing our best self portrait, studio 2 VRN

Leanne Hutton, chaplaincy coordinator, says they are coming from a place of service to just “be there” and to help out with stress and bring God into the forefront of everything that happens. This is done through praying for people, sharing a cuppa or lending a hand in areas which reflect the skills of their other lives. Throat lozenges, water, band aids, earplugs, picks, safety pins are the main stay of a chaplain’s “tool kit” which comes out of years of Leanne being a mum to a musician. “Musicians are a forgetful bunch on the whole, so its amazing how often they forget to drink before performing. If someone loses a pick in the grass, its great to pray about it, its even better to just hand one to the artist.”

A great example of the way that chaplains can be an asset in a totally unforseeable way was at last year’s festival when the site in Queen’s Park copped a torrential downpour and had to be evacuated. “The young man who was chaplain for Mainstage was a Large Tongan young man who used his physical strength to lift and carry…” Leanne said. “Another person who was only able to come on the Sunday, in his professional life he had been involved in the Brisbane floods looking after the victims and he knew how to speak to the young people who had been in a pretty stressful situation the night before. I think he went to every campsite that remained and spoke to everyone to see how they were doing. I had just the right people for the jobs that needed to be done.” 

Chaplains are being recruited for this year’s festival and the type of person Leanne is looking for is specific. “We don’t really want someone who is there to get their photo taken with a famous person. We want someone who can be sensitive and caring and who understands that everyone from the car park attendant to the sound and lighting techs and the artists need someone who will be there to listen, pray and just be available.”

If you feel that you may just be able to be a chaplain at this massive festival or maybe there’s another area of festival life that you would like to offer your skills to, there may still be time to apply. After all Easter is only a fortnight away April 6-8.  http://easterfest.com/crew/