Music often makes occasions more festive. At Westminster Presbyterian Church, it makes services more blessed.

Westminster Presbyterian Church is hosting an extraordinary worship event built around special guest J.A.C. Redford. It's a unique way to connect with God and music.

"We don't just do music for music's sake," said Frank Dodd, who's been Westminster Presbyterian's director of music and organist for five years. "We understand that God meets His people through an event like this. Music is a secondary feature; it is not the primary function. Preaching is the primary function, but music supports it."

Located at 2151 Oregon Pike, Lancaster, Westminster Presbyterian Church will present its Reformation Evensong performance on Reformation Sunday, Oct. 27, beginning at 6 p.m. in the church's 1,100-seat sanctuary. The 75-minute performance will also feature liturgy, Scripture readings, two new pieces of music specifically composed by Redford for the event and a performance of "The Ancient of Days," Redford's dramatic music narrative of Daniel 7.

An hour before the concert, Redford will share his journey of faith and the highlights of his life's work with the audience.

The event is free to attend, and a good will offering to benefit Westminster Presbyterian's music series will be accepted.

"It's going to be quite an evening," said Dodd. "We want to worship God; we want to do it through music, and we want to go beyond what we do on a Sunday morning. It's taking us out of our norms. This is Westminster's first Evensong worship service. People have been asking for an event like this for a while. We have done some hybrid worship services before, but this is the first one where we're going to have a conductor directing music he has composed."

Redford will be conducting a choir and brass quintet that consists of a pair of trumpets, a trombone, a tuba, a horn, a percussionist and Dodd on the organ. A world-renowned composer, orchestrator and conductor, Redford has produced music scores for films like "The Mighty Ducks," "Newsies," "The Little Mermaid" and "The Perfect Storm" and TV series like "Coach" and "St. Elsewhere." He has collaborated with artists like Adele, Sting and Steven Curtis Chapman.

"He has made his career from not just writing music, but also conducting the music for its recording," said Dodd. "J.A.C. has been very gracious. We thought we were going out on a limb asking him to write this music for us, and he blew us away by saying yes. As a composer, he's written across all the genres. J.A.C. has written quite a bit of church music."

A congregation of more than 1,400 parishioners, Westminster Presbyterian meets in a church building that was constructed in 1968. The church's stated mission is summed up with three simple words: glorify, nurture and proclaim.

Westminster Presbyterian offers worship services at 8 a.m., 11 a.m. and 6 p.m. every Sunday. In addition, the church offers a nursery, children's Sunday school, a youth group, an adult ministry, women's Bible studies and men's Bible studies.

"People can spend Reformation Sunday in Lancaster County worshipping God and hearing brand-new music conducted by the composer himself," said Dodd. "This combination of worship and musical performance is inspiring. We worship with a traditional musical style performed by classically trained musicians who worship through their instruments."

For additional information about Westminster Presbyterian Church, go to http://www.westpca.com.