Kathy Hedberg

At the beginning of the service, Pastor James Baughman of Lewiston's First Church of the Nazarene reiterated one of the tenets of the Christian faith: that at the end of time, the saints shall be raised from the dead.

But if they were at all within hearing range Sunday, the saints would have leaped up out of their graves and started hopping at the sounds of jazz praise and worship that filled the wooden arched ceiling with -- Baughman's words -- "more notes than you've ever heard before."

"Wonderful! Wonderful!" said Baughman's wife, Lori, describing the effect of worshiping the Lord with jazz. "We have people that were here for the first service and are staying around for our second service. I love the music. It is a wonderful worship avenue for me."

Making a detour from the Lionel Hampton Jazz Festival that ended Saturday night in Moscow, the Jim Martinez Jazz Quartet performed for about 45 minutes at each of the two Sunday morning services at the Church of the Nazarene.

"The Lionel Hampton Jazz Festival was a lot of fun, but this is what it's all about," said Martinez, a pianist from Sacramento, Calif. "We're not here to make this a concert hall. We're here because God gave us the gifts that we have, and we want to use them for his glory."

The group includes drummer Guy Kowarsh, also of Sacramento; Cleave Guyton, a saxophonist and musical director of the Hampton Band; and bassist Christian Fabian. Guyton and Fabian are from New York.

From the opening hymn, "How Great Thou Art," to the milder tempo of "May the Good Lord Bless and Keep You," Jazz Praise blended traditional and contemporary Christian hymns into a straight-out jazz style that kept little kids bouncing in the aisles and their elders tapping their toes in the pews.

Martinez said he loves traditional jazz, "but I think the hymns just have a special anointing to them."

And to those who would question monkeying around with the more sedate rhythms people are used to in sacred worship, Martinez's defense is clear: "The scripture commands us to make a joyful noise unto the Lord. When it refers to music, it doesn't talk about style."

The formula seemed to work for most of 450 people who crowded the sanctuary for the program.

"I really thought it was a lot softer than I expected," said MayBelle Rittal of Lewiston. "It was just such a sweet experience. It was truly a blessing that they came down and shared."

"I think it's just a different way of praising the Lord," agreed her husband, Bill Rittal.

"I think it was received very well, and I heard very positive comments as people were leaving," said Baughman. "One older lady said, 'It was a lot better than I thought it would be.' "

Even though the Nazarene church urges its members to be selective about the kinds of entertainment they choose -- traditionally young people have been urged to stay away from dancing because of the sexual temptation that may arise -- Baughman said Christian worship has evolved to include a wide variety of music that wasn't known to the earlier church.

"When the organ came out, it was almost a heresy and was rejected by the average churchgoer," he said. "Traditions like that have a way of changing over time. As long as the music is glorifying God, that's good. I have no problem with that at all."

© 2003 Tribune Publishing Co. Inc.