Here is a link to the premiere of “Into the World of Light” by Tom Shelton and Camilla Pruitt. A re-engineered version may be found here: PUMC Youth Choir – Oct 2020 subtitles De Hiss De crackle.mp4 – OneDrive
Dedicating his new anthem to those who lost their lives to Covid-19, Tom Shelton, director of Princeton UMC’s Youth Choirs, took all the precautions against the disease. Recording outdoors at Veteran’s Park in Lawrenceville, the singers wore special “singers masks,” and Delaney McCarty’s flute had its own mask. Bill Gardner managed the recording.
After finding no appropriate anthem for the youth choir to sing on All Saints Day, Tom had written “Into the World of Light” with his sister, Camilla Pruitt. The text is based on Ecclesiastes 3:11 and words by 17th century poet Henry Vaughan, including these lines:
They are all gone into the world of light!/ As stars and angels in my dreams
Lighting the darkness with a ray of light/As Saints illumine me.
To hear “Into the World of Light” in the context of the All Saints Day worship, tune in to the archived worship service for November 1 at Princeton United Methodist Church’s web page, or on Facebook.