Newnan Fumc

This week's service featured quite a bit of special music, so that has been included in this episode of the podcast for all the enjoy!   We started with a special Opening Voluntary, with Marian Steed, soprano, singing “O Gracious Light” in an arrangement by Dorothy Papadakos that features a Whale Recording by Dr. Roger Payne. The unpublished music setting by Dorothy Papadakos offers us the opportunity hear the voice of the whale in the vastness of the ocean. The text (Phos Hilaron) from Ancient Greek praises the light that shines on all creation. Biologist and environmentalist Dr. Roger Payne (1935-2023) is famous for his discovery of whale songs while researching and recording humpback whales. The Phos Hilaron, Gladdening Light, is a Greek song of devotion and prayer. Dorothy Papadakos, Juilliard trained, has served as organist of St. John the Divine in New York City and also worked with Paul Winter. “O Gracious Light” was commissioned for the 60th Anniversary of the Alston Memorial Organ at St. Luke’s Episc