{"id":235245,"date":"2026-07-04T05:46:07","date_gmt":"2026-07-04T05:46:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/235245\/"},"modified":"2026-07-04T05:46:07","modified_gmt":"2026-07-04T05:46:07","slug":"pittston-church-hosts-independence-day-concert","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/235245\/","title":{"rendered":"Pittston church hosts Independence Day Concert"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\"<p>Percussionist<\/a>
\n\t\t\t\t\t <\/p>\n

Percussionist Monica Spishock, left, and flutist Cindy Fisher Thomas perform at the church choir loft for the Independence Day Concert at St. John the Evangelist Church, Pittston.<\/p>\n

Tony Callaio | For Sunday Dispatch<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\"<p>Pianist<\/a>
\n\t\t\t\t\t <\/p>\n

Pianist and Independence Day Concert organizer plays along to a patriotic number during the concert.<\/p>\n

Tony Callaio | For Sunday Dispatch<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\"<p>St.<\/a>
\n\t\t\t\t\t <\/p>\n

St. John the Evangelist Church in Pittston was nearly filled to capacity for the annual Independence Day Concert on Monday, June 28.<\/p>\n

Tony Callaio | For Sunday Dispatch<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\"<p>Sr.<\/a>
\n\t\t\t\t\t <\/p>\n

Sr. Mary Ann Cody, IHM, read Psalm 33 during the Independence Day Concert at St. John the Evangelist Church.<\/p>\n

Tony Callaio | For Sunday Dispatch<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\"<p>The<\/a>
\n\t\t\t\t\t <\/p>\n

The brass quartet consisted of Dale Chase, Dan Coyle, Chuck Smith, and Geoff Speicher, with Michael Sowa at the piano, at the annual Independence Day Concert.<\/p>\n

Tony Callaio | For Sunday Dispatch<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\u276e<\/a>
\n \u276f<\/a>
\n\t\t\t <\/p>\n

PITTSTON \u2014 The annual Independence Day Concert at St. John the Evangelist Church, William St., was held to a capacity audience on Monday, June 29.<\/p>\n

The concert celebrated the nation\u2019s Semiquincentennial on July 4.<\/p>\n

Parish combined choirs led in patriotic songs, as well as Bible verses and poetry recitations. The program began with a welcome from Fr. Joseph Elston, the church\u2019s pastor.<\/p>\n

Dale Chase was the guest instrumentalist for this year\u2019s concert, as well as a brass quartet made up of Dan Coyle, Chuck Smith, Geoff Speicher, with flutist Cindy Thomas, and Monica Spishock on percussion.<\/p>\n

Musical artists Ed Sankus and Amy Sekol also performed.<\/p>\n

Members of the audience who served in all branches were recognized.<\/p>\n

City of Pittston Mayor Michael Lombardo presented remarks and Deacon Dave Marx, who offered additional remarks and a closing prayer.<\/p>\n

The event organizer was Michael Sowa. He and Brandon Jopling were co-musical directors of the program. Dolores Mirro served as choir conductor.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Percussionist Monica Spishock, left, and flutist Cindy Fisher Thomas perform at the church choir loft…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":235246,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[178,180,179],"class_list":["post-235245","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-scranton","tag-scranton","tag-scranton-headlines","tag-scranton-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/235245","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=235245"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/235245\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/235246"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=235245"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=235245"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=235245"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}