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Songs from glass

When you walk into the Athens First United Methodist Church, it's impossible not to notice the three columns of stained glass windows right above the altar. They're about 30 feet tall, sparkling with jewel-toned colors.

If you look at the pictures in a zigzag - start with the top of the first column, go down to the bottom of the second column, and then back up to the top of the third column - a story emerges. That story will be told in song by the church's Wesleyan Youth Choir on Sunday. Each song will focus on a different medallion of the window columns, or lancets, providing a visual representation the congregation can look at while they hear the story sung to them.

The first lancet holds images from the Old Testament; the second from the New Testament, the third focuses on the Holy Spirit.

The very last medallion of that lancet is Athens-themed, including images of the church's steeple and the University of Georgia Arch.

Janis Maxwell, the church's associate director of music, spends a lot of time looking at those windows. One day, she realized there was choral music that could accompany each picture, and she had the idea for the next fundraiser.

It's an idea two years in the making, she says, as she looked for specific pieces.

The 60-member choir, made up of middle and high school students, has been working on learning the music since last August. "We are very fortunate to have a strong children's music program at this church," says Maxwell, adding that some are experienced singers while others are newcomers who "fall in love with music."

Past summer tours for the group have taken them to other traditional church settings, but also to a high-security juvenile prison in New York City and a recovery home for AIDS patie



Continue reading the rest of "Songs from glass" by Athens Banner-Herald
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