Jazz Sunday salute to Dave Brubeck at WAUMC

The public is invited to participate in two special events at Wauwatosa Avenue United Methodist Church, 1529 Wauwatosa Ave, on Feb 9 and 10: “Pasta with a Purpose” spaghetti dinner and the 13th annual jazz worship service.

Spaghetti with marinara or meat sauce, salad, garlic bread and dessert will be served by church youth this coming Saturday from 5 – 7 p.m. in Fellowship Hall. Tickets are available at the door and cost $10 for adults and $5 for children ages 4 – 12. Guests 3-years-old and younger eat for free.

Pasta proceeds help fund the church’s annual Appalachia Service Project mission trip. A team of WAUMC young people and adult counselors will head to Tennessee in July. ASP is a home repair ministry that focuses on making homes warmer, safer and drier for families in need.

At 9:45 a.m. the next day -- Sunday, Feb. 10 – WAUMC musicians, children’s Troubadour Choir, Youth Ensemble and Agape Praise Choir will welcome members of the Big Swing Face band in a salute to American jazz pianist and composer Dave Brubeck. Brubeck died last December one day before his 92nd birthday.

Among the day’s musical selections will be three sacred Brubeck compositions: “Jesus Meet Us in the Center”, "This is the Day" and "Yes, We All Have Our Cross to Bear". Everyone will join in singing the hymn “Sing of the Lord’s Goodness”, which was inspired by Brubeck’s most famous jazz work “Take 5”.

Child care is provided in the church nursery for infants through 3-year-olds.

Brubeck is considered one of the foremost exponents of progressive jazz with a style that ranges from refined to bombastic, reflecting his mother's attempts at classical training and his improvisational skills. His music is known for employing unusual time signatures and superimposing contrasting rhythms, meters and tonalities.

Parking is available behind the church off Underwood Avenue in the ramp and surface lot across from the fire station for both events. Enter the building through the southwest door (red roof) or the northwest door (handicap accessible) off the upper level of the parking structure.

 “All are welcome to come and enjoy our youth’s culinary talents on Saturday and then return on Sunday for this much-anticipated spiritual, musical time in advance of Ash Wednesday and the beginning of Lent,” WAUMC Pastor Sue Burwell said.

Wauwatosa Avenue United Methodist Church dates back to 1848 and began with 42-members. Today, the congregation is more than 400 strong and firmly committed to inclusiveness, celebrating a diversity of people, ideas and cultures. WAUMC offers two Sunday services, Christian education classes for individuals ages 3 through adult, a variety of adult and youth music programs and Girl Scout and Boy Scout troops.

The congregation is involved with more than a dozen local, national and international mission outreach efforts.

The Mary of Magdala, Apostle to the Apostles, inclusive Vatican II Catholic Church celebrates Eucharist every Sunday in Wesley Hall at 9:45 a.m. on the WAUMC campus, as of Jan. 13, 2013. 

For more information, call 414-453-0700 or visit www.waumc.org.