FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Media contact: The Rev. Jemonde Taylor
Email: jtaylor@stambroseraleigh.org
Release date: Tuesday, Oct. 6, 2026
NCCU Jazz Collective and the Brandon Mitchell Quartet perform Oct. 17 at the National Register-listed Southeast Raleigh church; proceeds benefit the Honey from the Rock Capital Campaign
RALEIGH, N.C. — Saint Ambrose Episcopal Church will celebrate six decades in its Darby Street home with an anniversary Jazz concert on Saturday, Oct. 17, at 6 p.m. The evening features the NCCU Jazz Collective and the Brandon Mitchell Quartet. Tickets are $60, and children 17 and under attend free. Proceeds benefit the church’s Honey from the Rock Capital Campaign. A reception follows the concert.
Guests are invited to come for the music and stay for the place. The Grounds open at 5 p.m. Visitors can explore the 1965 modernist sanctuary, the courtyard garden, and the church’s outdoor labyrinth.
The anniversary weekend continues Sunday, Oct. 18, when the Right Rev. Michael B. Curry leads worship at Saint Ambrose at 10:15 a.m. as the celebrant and preacher. Bishop Curry, a former bishop of North Carolina, served as the Episcopal Church’s 27th Presiding Bishop from 2015 to 2024, the first African American to hold the office. He is also known as the royal wedding preacher, as he preached at the wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle. The service features music composed by Jazz legend Mary Lou Williams. All are welcome.
The building on Darby Street was a long time coming. Founded in 1868 as a ministry to people newly freed from slavery, the congregation announced plans for a new brick church in 1910 that were never built. A second push in 1946 also stalled. When ground was finally broken in December 1964, the Rev. Arthur Calloway, then rector, described the new church as the dream of parishioners who had seen “many building campaigns begun, only to fade out.” The congregation held its first service there on June 20, 1965, and dedicated the building that October.
The church was designed by Raleigh modernist architect Leif Valand, best known for Cameron Village. Its A-frame sanctuary rises behind a glass facade crossed by a large wooden cross, with laminated wood trusses running from floor to peak. Above the altar, a carved shield bears a beehive, the traditional emblem of Ambrose of Milan. In 2019, the church was listed on the National Register of Historic Places for its architecture and its significance to Black heritage.
That beehive gives the capital campaign its name. Honey from the Rock draws on Psalm 81:16, in which God promises to satisfy God’s people with honey from the rock. It also nods to the legend that bees left honey on the lips of the infant Ambrose. The campaign supports needed renovations to maintain the safety and beauty of the building and campus. The church aims to sell 250 tickets to the concert.
“Six decades ago, this congregation finally built a new edifice after half a century of trying,” said the Rev. Jemonde Taylor, rector of Saint Ambrose. “Honey from the Rock is about sweetness drawn from hard places, and this building is proof of it. We want our neighbors to hear great music, walk the labyrinth, and witness what faithfulness built.”
The NCCU Jazz Collective comes from North Carolina Central University’s Jazz studies program, which has trained musicians since 1977. Vibraphonist Brandon Mitchell, a Washington, D.C., native, earned his graduate degree in Jazz studies at NCCU and previously directed the Jazz ensemble at Elon University. His debut album, Black Guardian, was released in 2020.
The pairing echoes the parish’s own roots. Saint Ambrose grew out of St. Augustine’s, the Episcopal school founded in Raleigh in 1867 to educate freedpeople, and its worship has long drawn on Spirituals and Jazz.
Adult tickets are $60, and children 17 and under are free. Tickets are available at tickettailor.com/events/stambroseepiscopalchurchraleigh/2414416. Those unable to attend can give to Honey from the Rock at https://stambroseraleigh.org/capital-and-fundraising-campaign/
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Fact sources: National Register nomination (dates, architect, beehive shield, Calloway quote, 1910 and 1946 plans) · Saint Ambrose history (June 20, 1965 move; parish status) · Brandon Mitchell bio · NCCU jazz program (since 1977) · Ticket page · Episcopal News Service on Bishop Curry
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