Church of John Coltrane forced out of historic jazz district in San Francisco

The altar is set with a drum kit, a keyboard, a saxophone, and—most importantly—a much-loved vinyl rendering of a jazz classic, complete with liner notes.

This is St. John Coltrane Church, a 48-year-old San Francisco institution, where Sunday masses are built on a live performance of A Love Supreme, a 33-minute opus that saxophonist Coltrane wrote to express the awesomeness of God.

“St. John Coltrane referred to this music as being an expression of higher ideals,” said Wanika Stephens, the church’s pastor, who played the electric bass guitar during a recent Sunday mass, one of the last in the church’s former storefront location in the Fillmore District. A standing-room-only crowd of about 80 people moved to the beat, some from the neighborhood and some from as far away as Germany, Spain, and Australia.