St. Francis Church Personnel Biographies
The Reverend Sarah Phelps, Rector
As of August 1, 2006, I begin my work as the St. Francis Church Associate Rector. On June 3, 2006, I was ordained as a transitional Deacon in the Diocese of Los Angeles and I was ordained to the priesthood in January, 2007.
For the past 2 1/2 years I had been an Organizer than the Associate Director of LA Voice, a coalition of churches in Los Angeles that is part of the PICO National Network. PICO brings congregations together in urban communities to advocate for systemic changes to improve their communities. I helped lead an effort to bring permanent supportive housing to Hollywood for homeless people.
Previously, I served as a pastor of United Methodist congregations in the San Francisco Bay area and Fresno. I moved to Southern California when my husband, Mike, and I were married in 2003. It is here in Los Angeles where I began my ministry in the Episcopal Church.
Dr. Ray Urwin, Director of Music/Composer in Residence
Dr. Ray Urwin, Director of Music at St. Francis, is one of the most distinguished church musicians in the United States. He is the composer of two of the most popular hymns in the Hymnal 1982
(679, "Surely It is God Who Saves Me,” and S169, "My Flesh is Food Indeed"). He is nationally recognized for his other compositions,
which are published by Oxford University Press, Boosey and Hawkes and others. He composed two new hymns sung at the 2009 Annual Conference of the Association of Anglican Musicians.
Under Ray’s direction, the St. Francis Choir and Choristers sing a wide-ranging repertoire of music, as well as work toward building excellent vocal and choral technique. His music selections include an eclectic mix of choir pieces from plainsong through the present. The Choir is also highly proficient in the difficult and subtle art of Anglican Chant.
Ray graduated from Oberlin Conservatory, received his master's degree in orchestral conducting from SUNY Stony Brook, and earned his doctorate in organ performance from Yale University. He is in demand as an organ recitalist and accompanist, and has performed nationally in New York, Los Angeles, Indianapolis, Princeton, Sacramento and other cities, and has been a featured Wednesday recitalist at Our Lady of the Angels Cathedral in downtown
Los Angeles.
He was formerly Director of Music at the Cathedral Church of St. John in Wilmington, Delaware, and was Founder and Conductor of the Twentieth Century Ensemble of Delaware and the Cathedral Chamber Players, also in Wilmington. He was also Assistant Conductor of the Yale Concert Choir and the New Haven Chorale.
He has conducted Stravinsky’s Dumbarton Oaks Concerto and L’Histoire du Soldat (staged), Copland’s Appalachian Spring, Weill’s Threepenny Opera, as well as works by Bach, Peter Maxwell Davies and Charles Ives, among others.
An expert of the organ music of French composer Olivier Messiaen, Ray has also had a distinguished career as a harpsichordist and continuo player, including Bach’s 5th Brandenburg Concerto, Telemann, Handel, Rameau, C.P.E. Bach and others. He was the featured harpsichordist in his debut at Carnegie Hall, playing Elliott Carter’s Sonata for Flute, Oboe, Cello and Harpsichord.
“It is a great joy to make music with wonderful choirs and a fine organ in the resonant acoustic of St. Francis. Please come hear us at the 10:00 am service on Sundays, or check the schedule for when the Choir or Choristers at special feast days.”
