BATON ROUGE — The St. James Episcopal Church choir is leaving for a 10-day residency in England this weekend, but not before being sent off by the downtown church's community Tuesday night.

The choir leaves for their residency at Worcester Cathedral in the western part of the United Kingdom on Friday.

Choir Director Shannon Gallier said the journey to the residency started three years ago when they started fundraising and recruiting.

"It's really exciting because, in the Episcopal Church, we have a historic connection to the Church of England," Gallier said. "To go sing all of this music that was composed for these amazing thousand-year-old cathedrals in those spaces will be a really meaningful experience for everyone."

The church choir is bringing 65 people across the pond for the residency, 44 of whom are in the choir itself. Gallier said that 13 people from the group are trebles, fifth through 12th graders who still sing soprano.

"It's a big group," he said.

A reception to send off the group is being held at St. James on Tuesday at 6 p.m.