Holy Faith Church, Lutheran and Episcopal, Ann Arbor, Michigan

"Feast of Love" Jazz Evening Worship and Church Dinner

to Benefit Appalachia Service

Holy Faith Church in Saline will hold an evening worship service combining jazz with innovative language on Saturday, February 12, 2011 at 5:30 p.m. Those who wish may stay afterwards to enjoy a 7:00 pm pasta dinner accompanied by another set of live jazz. Both events are free and open to the public, but reservations must be made for the dinner at which a donation of $10 per person is suggested.

The theme of the evening is "A Feast of Love." With Valentine's day a few days later, this worship is designed to expand on our culture's romantic emphasis and celebrate all kinds of love including love between friends, love found in community, love of neighbor, and divine love.

In keeping with this theme, the freewill offering will be dedicated to raising funds for the church's teen group to perform service work in Appalachia. "Jesus says the two greatest commandments are to love God and to love our neighbor," says the church's pastor, Ian Reed Twiss. "This trip will provide us the chance to make that love real by fixing and rebuilding homes in one of the poorest areas of our nation."

The pasta dinner will be put on by the church's teen group, which plans to send ten youth and four adults to Appalachia for a week of work in June.

Twiss, who is a jazz pianist and arranger for the service, has designed the worship to borrow from the ancient monastic form for evening prayer mixed with contemporary language and jazz. He describes the service as "both contemplative and joyful." It will feature two singers who are also Episcopal clergy, and several of the area's working professional musicians on trumpet, guitar, bass and drums.

Holy Faith is a combined Lutheran and Episcopal church dedicated to extending God's hospitality and justice to all. It is located at 6299 Saline-Ann Arbor Road between the Brookside Golf Course and Textile Road.

Reservations for the pasta dinner may be made by calling 734-429-2991 or emailing This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it . Please include your name and the number of people attending.