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Georgia Major State Day Sunday, July 17, 2005 Photos from Service: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 News Release | Sunday’s Sermon | State Day Calendar | Back to State Days Click on the photos for larger version (225 dpi)
Photo 1: The 55 voices of the combined choir of St. Thomas Episcopal Church of Columbus and St. Mark’s Episcopal Church of LaGrange, Georgia calling the congregation to worship on Georgia Major State Day at Washington National Cathedral. The combined choirs from the West Georgia churches were spotlighted at Georgia State Day at Washington National Cathedral. They sang a half-hour musical prelude to a worship service that was celebrated by a Georgia bishop and featured a preacher from Atlanta and attendees from across the state. The singers selected a program of Georgia-flavored spirituals and psalms, one written by H. Hamilton Smith, an Atlanta composer. Their final number was a traditional African song, “Siyahamba,” featuring choir member David Bonaker providing percussion on an African drum called a d’jembe. St. Thomas choir director Rick McKnight said singers had tears in their eyes after the performance which was greeted by applause from close to a thousand people and praised by cathedral leaders afterwards. “It was a tremendous community builder for us and for our congregation,” a joyful McKnight said afterwards. About 100 members of the two small parishes traveled to Washington, where they combined weekend sightseeing with the cathedral event. |
