SOUTH SUBURBAN CHURCH PREPARES TO HOST ANNUAL JAZZ ON THE GRASS EVENT

Living Grace Church in Lynwood is preparing to host their annual Jazz on the Grass event on Aug. 4. Photo Credit: Living Grace Church
Living Grace Church in Lynwood is preparing to host their annual Jazz on the Grass event on Aug. 4. Photo Credit: Living Grace Church

SOUTH SUBURBAN CHURCH PREPARES TO HOST ANNUAL JAZZ ON THE GRASS EVENT

BY KATHERINE NEWMAN

Every summer, Living Grace Church in Lynwood opens its doors to the community during their free Jazz on the Grass event. This years free event will take place from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. on Aug. 4 on the Church grounds, 20100 Lakewood Ave., and feature local jazz, R&B, and gospel performers.

“This is probably the one event that we look forward to the most here at Living Grace Church because it’s an opportunity for us to open our doors to the community and show them a different side of the church world. We bring in a variety of gospel, jazz, and R&B artists and we give them a platform where people can sit back and enjoy local artists and enjoy the fulfilled stress-free beauty in music,” said Jada Curry, member of the Living Grace Church Board of Trustees.

Some of the featured performers at Jazz on the Grass will be the Lowe Family Gospel Group and the J. Grant Experience. Every year, Jazz on the Grass hosts a variety of local performers with some having graced the stage in years past and others being new to the event at Living Grace Church.

“This is the first year where we actually struggled to narrow it down. We were trying to just present something new and fresh for the first couple of years so we brought back the same performers but then we started to notice that we were getting repeat attendees and they were telling their friends and so we thought it’d be nice to expose them to some different performances,” said Curry.

Attendees are encouraged to bring their own chairs, blankets, and tents or umbrellas for shade and it is recommended that people arrive early to secure a good spot to enjoy the performances. There will be plenty of food vendors at Jazz on the Grass but attendees are also welcome to bring their own snacks to enjoy.

Hosting Jazz on the Grass every year is an important part of Living Grace Church because it gives them a chance to reach out into the community and let people know that they are there to support them whether or not they regularly attend services.

“Part of our mission at Living Grace Church is to love people and serve the world. Music is a universal language where love is probably most commonly expressed and so we’re able to provide a platform and create a day where people that are not very familiar with the church or not very comfortable with the church, for a variety of reasons, get to see that we’re all just human and we believe in having a good, clean, fun time and we enjoy fellowshipping with each other,” said Curry.

Every year Living Grace Church is able to connect with new community members not just from Lynwood but from across the south suburbs and Curry said that they always have at least one person from Jazz on the Grass decide to start attending Sunday service which she sees as an added benefit.

Latest Stories

Latest Podcast

STARR Community Services International, Inc.