Since moving to Vernon in November, David Hunter has discovered that he prefers the mild winters of the North Okanagan to the frigid temperatures back in Saskatchewan.
But the new pastor at Peace Lutheran Church has also discovered a warm and welcoming community of Christians who love music.
And that’s good news for Hunter, an accomplished musician who earned a music degree before beginning his theology studies in 1984.
On Sunday, Hunter will share his love of music with a jazz vespers service to celebrate the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity.
“Arise and Shine” is an ecumenical jazz vespers service which will bring together Vernon congregations to share an evening of prayer.
“The way this started is that I had a degree in music and with a specialty in jazz performance and a bit of composition and when I started theology in Saskatoon, I connected with another student who had a music degree,” said Hunter, who began his ministry at Peace Lutheran Nov. 1, after moving from Saskatoon with his wife Margaret and the couple’s 18-year-old son. “We both loved jazz and talked about the possibility of writing a liturgy. We researched other jazz liturgical music and we wrote a mass in the ‘80s, structured after the regular service in our worship book.”
Sunday’s jazz liturgy was written by Hunter and Dennis Hendricksen with Epiphany texts and themes of Christian unity in mind. Congregational singing will be led by a jazz quartet of Greg Baturin (drums), Jim Leonard (piano), Chris Harwood-Jones (bass) and Hunter (trumpet). Cantors Candice Lipski and Hunter’s wife, Margaret Hundeby Hunter, will lead the congregation in singing.
“I revamped the service, and wrote a couple of new pieces to make it more ecumenically appealing,” said Hunter, adding that the them is ‘Called to proclaim the mighty acts of God,’ inspired by 1 Peter 2:9.
“The Week of Christian Unity is such a great opportunity to gather Christians of all expressions. I wrote it for the week with an emphasis on themes of Christian unity and also for the season of Epiphany, hence the title Arise and Shine.”
Hunter said The Week of Prayer for Christian Unity is an eight-day period of prayer first established in 1908 after years of searching for ways to strengthen bonds between Christians of all expressions.
“Traditionally January 18 to 25 is used, as this period covers the days between the feasts of the Confession of St. Peter and the Conversion of St. Paul, symbolizing two distinct branches of the early church,” he said. “Since 1968 there has been broad international recognition of this week when Christians can pray for unity.
“On the seventh day, the theme is Hospitality for Prayer. Everyone is welcome to join us for this special gathering to sing and pray together with other Christians.”
The jazz liturgy is one that has met with growing acceptance among Christians, said Hunter, who will welcome other congregations and worship leaders from other local churches, including those from The Essentialist Church of Christ, Vernon Alliance Church, First Baptist and All Saints Anglican, as well as saxophone player Curtis Kieres from Evangel Tabernacle in Kelowna.
“This is an opportunity for us to connect with one another and to get to know each other,” said Hunter. “When I started doing this in the ‘80s, people asked me why am I using the devil’s music in church. It made me feel as though I had a mission to make it work.
“My experience over the years is that this music is living, breathing music in that it really speaks to the spirit.”
Hunter is a graduate of the Lutheran Theological Seminary in Saskatoon and was ordained in 1988 in Winnipeg. He served the congregation of Salem Lutheran Church in Pass Lake, Ont. until 1993, when he received the call to Augustana Lutheran Church in Saskatoon, serving there until 2015.
The jazz vespers service takes place Sunday at 7 p.m. at Peace Lutheran Church, 1204-30th Ave. Everyone is welcome, and a freewill offering will be taken.
“What I hope people will take away first of all is just a positive worship experience,” said Hunter. “For me this is very soulful, spiritual music and it’s almost a surprise to me that I’ve been able to successfully merge my love of jazz with Christian worship, which is not something that people necessarily assume would go together.
For more information, contact Hunter at 250-545-5787 or davidpop@shaw.ca
