Our Daily Show! 195 Years Jazz Soirée June 6th at First Presbyterian!
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ALTON - First Presbyterian Church of Alton will host a jazz soiree and open house to celebrate its 195th anniversary.
From 3–6 p.m. on Saturday, June 6, 2026, community members are invited to First Presbyterian Church in Alton for the event. Pastor Ian Caveny is excited to celebrate the church’s history and share its presence with the Alton community. He emphasized the importance of connecting with the congregation and the Riverbend community.
“I’m just here to be with people and love them and care for them and be a friend that they feel that they can depend on when they’re in a crisis,” Caveny said. “Getting to know people, getting to know people you don’t know, getting to have conversations with them, sharing a meal with people — to me, that’s the heart of it all.”
There will be a jazz concert in the fellowship hall and tours of the church throughout the open-house-style event on June 6. A St. Louis jazz group will play as the “capstone” of the church’s “Music on the Riverbend” series, which Music Director Mark Brooks started last year. Caveny expressed his appreciation for Brooks and events like this, which allow the church to engage with the community.
He hopes the jazz soiree and open house encourage more people to “mingle and connect” with one another. Caveny believes that his calling as a pastor is to support community members.
He was approached to join First Presbyterian Church last year, and he was eager to jump in as their lead pastor. He shared that it’s important to him to serve everyone in the community, not just his congregation — though, of course, he cares deeply for his congregants.
“I really like those folks. They’re very generous. They’re very curious. They’re very spunky. I think that’s a good description of the folks over at First Presbyterian,” he laughed. “At our church, we feed folks on Tuesdays and Saturdays. It’s not just those folks, and it’s not just the folks in the pews on Sunday. It’s the folks in the community.”
Caveny believes that some people are “underchurched”; like him, they weren’t given tools to navigate “really big questions” they had when they were younger. On the flip side, some people are “overchurched,” growing up in an environment where the church “made specific expectations and demands that were oftentimes overbearing and unhealthy.”
Caveny aims for First Presbyterian to be a safe space where people can set down their “baggage” and ask any questions. He emphasized their belief in grace.
“One of the things that we value, one of our high theological things, is the idea that God will meet you no matter where you are,” he said. “Grace is coming. Grace is out there. Our job is to just create a presence and to create a space where people can run into that grace. It doesn’t need to be pushy or demanding or, ‘Hey, you, you need to change your life right now.’ It’s an understanding that God moves in all sorts of ways and all sorts of places.”
The jazz soiree and open house are chances for people to engage with the church and its history. Caveny noted that First Presbyterian was started in 1831 and commissioned Reverend Elijah Lovejoy. He pointed out that there’s a “very high” chance that most people in Alton have some sort of connection to the church because of its history.
Everyone is invited to the event on June 6 or any of the other events, meals and services that First Presbyterian holds. Caveny encourages people to reach out or click here for more information about the June 6 event.
“The work of pastors and the work of the church is to extend open arms, extend invitations, and really make sure that we are creating the kind of space that is welcoming and inclusive for folks,” he added. “My hope, always, is to be the kind of presence where, if folks have a concern, if they have a problem, they feel comfortable sitting down with me. If they need prayer, I can sit and pray with them. That’s what I’m here to do.”
This Featured Article is sponsored by First Presbyterian Church of Alton. To get your business or organization featured on www.Riverbender.com, contact us at sales@riverbender.com.
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