At places like the Green Mill Jazz Club on Broadway Avenue and FitzGerald’s in Berwyn, jazz music fills the leading role, a musical genre rarely associated with virtue and morality. Rather, pop culture references have labeled jazz as the music of sin and decadence, not prayer and peace — even if worthy elements are present in the music. But jazz music, Father John Moulder said, opens doors and invites interaction and dialogue that might not otherwise occur. Music, he insists, has the ability to transcend and the spiritual quality to bridge traditional divides and spark encounters. It’s such a belief that spurred Moulder, an accomplished jazz guitarist and in residence at St. Gregory the Great Parish, 5545 N. Paulina St., to create a six-day jazz festival pairing accomplished jazz musicians with some of the area’s hottest musical spots — and to do so in the name of charity. A noble cause The Chi-Town Jazz Festival ran March 16-21. The musicians and venues donated their services with all of the event’s proceeds, expected to reach $15,000, benefiting Catholic Charities, the Greater Chicago Food Depository and the Northern Illinois Food Bank. “This event brings musicians and club owners together for a noble, charitable cause and that’s good for the soul,” Moulder said in advance of the event’s March 16 opening. The Chi-Town Jazz Festival, however, is only one piece of Moulder’s work and mission to blend music, faith and ministry. A guitarist for 40 years, he sees music as a tool to invite interaction and express his own faith, welcoming others to share aspects of their own spirituality. Middle-aged and unassuming, Moulder, a rare, unlikely fixture on the Chicago jazz scene, is nevertheless one of the area’s most celebrated musicians, a remarkable feat in a city where the roots of jazz run deep. In 2006, Moulder’s fourth CD, “Trinity,” earned him a nod from the Chicago Tribune as one of the top 10 jazz CDs of the year. “Trinity was a way for me to express my faith through the contemporary music I was composing and playing,” Moulder said. “Even more, I think the music helps the listener open up to various musical styles that can have a sacred intent.” Through the years, Moulder said, music has enhanced his life and work as a priest. When playing or composing music, he says both worlds — the religious and the musical — blend together. The two complement one another, as music represents a communication of his own faithfulness and devotion to God and the church. “Music has enriched my life considerably and the experiences I’ve had in life, particularly being a priest, have nurtured and enriched my music,” said Moulder, who is a faculty member at Northwestern, Benedictine and Roosevelt universities. An evangelization tool Music and faith maintain a longstanding relationship. For centuries, Catholics have used music to raise their hearts and minds to God and complement the liturgy, hymns and songs assisting the faithful with prayer and elevating their relationship with God and his presence. “God the Spirit works with music; there’s no question about it,” Moulder said. “The heart opens with music, establishing a tone and mood that uplifts the soul.” Moulder’s musical background led to an appointment as an archdiocesan representative to the local arts community, an “artists’ chaplain” of sorts. The experience of being able to merge his two passions — faith and music — has allowed Moulder the compelling opportunity to share the church with his fellow musicians. “Because I’m in their world and on their turf, a whole set of interactions take place that otherwise wouldn’t happen,” Moulder said. “Music has brought me significant ministerial encounters that provide me the opportunity to help others make a connection with the church.”