St. Mark’s Lutheran Church on Spokane’s South Hill is celebrating Fat Tuesday with a jazz Mass featuring local musicians and the congregation’s 45-voice choir.

The hourlong Fat Tuesday Jazz Mass, at 7 p.m. March 5, will have a guest preacher, Rev. Heather VanDeventer, dean of the Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist in Spokane. Desserts will be served after the service.

Dan Keberle, director of jazz studies and trumpet professor at Whitworth University, created the congregation’s jazz Mass in 2002 after Randi Von Ellefson, a former director of music at St. Mark’s, suggested he arrange a jazz liturgy.

“I had a sabbatical from Whitworth in 2001 and that was my project – to write a liturgy in the jazz style that would be accessible and enjoyable by the congregation,” Keberle said. “I wanted it to be appealing to everybody.”

Keberle, who performed with the Phoenix and Spokane symphony orchestras as well as with community orchestras, brass quintets, and touring Broadway productions, will be playing trumpet in the liturgy.

Keberle incorporated “chords and grooves” from songs like “All Blues” by Miles Davis and “Song for My Father” by Horace Silver into the jazz liturgy.

“It’s all different styles of jazz. It’s become so diverse. It’s everything from swing to funk,” he said. “Most people really kind of enjoy it. I sure get a lot of positive comments. I didn’t try to write something way out there or super-modern. I tried to write something that people do like.”

The congregation also features jazz hymns arranged for a six-piece group every Sunday from January to Easter Sunday. Keberle writes the arrangements, while the congregation’s pianist, Carol Miyamoto, coordinates the music.

“As the years went by, I would come up with two or three new hymn arrangements,” Keberle said. “Over the years, I bet I have 40 to 50 hymns arranged.”

The Fat Tuesday Jazz Mass is usually well-attended and fun for the congregation as well as the community, said Eric Dull, one of three pastors at St. Mark’s Lutheran Church.

Dull said event turnout is typically dependent upon the weather, attracting anywhere from 150 to 500 attendees each year.

“It’s one of the things we are known for in the community. Many people come to the Fat Tuesday service that don’t come to church otherwise,” he said. “It’s lively. After the service, we have a reception for a bite to eat and fellowship.”