Travelling in Nova Scotia last year Kathie and I both enjoyed our visit to Africville, the site of a closeโknit Black community in the north end of Halifax for over 120 years. And I have the T-shirt to prove it. The City demolished Africville in the 1960s, and its residents have been fighting for justice... Continue Reading →
Carney on a Palestinian state, with restrictions
Al Mayadeen is an Arab Independent Media Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney on Monday placed restrictive conditions on the recognition of a Palestinian state, stressing the need to address the humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza and the ongoing violations in the West Bank, while simultaneously rejecting any future Palestinian government that includes the Resistance movement Hamas,... Continue Reading →
No long sermon from me today
Amongst other gifts and duties, deacons preach in congregations as they connect us with the wider community In fact, no sermon at all today. As I now only preach on the first and third Sundays of each month today is truly a day of rest. Instead I share a reflection on sermons as an art... Continue Reading →
PBS โ Defunded but not defeated
[Cartoon by Joe Wos] Three simple letters, PBS. Itโs arguably one of the best known and revered acronyms in the US today. Along with CBS, NBC, and ABC three-letter acronyms identified the media landscape throughout my childhood and coming of age in the 1960s and 1970s. Now add to that FOX, CNN, and international sources... Continue Reading →
Taurus and Jeff โ An encampment love story
Almost-six-year-old Labradoodle, Juno, is a famed dog blogger. Follow her here for her thoughts on dog park politics and canine pedigree. I was one of eight or so members of a litter of Labradoodles born at a Kamloops area breeder almost six years ago now. MaPaw and PaPaw came up shortly after we were born... Continue Reading →
How to stop the ruthless men who play with our lives and the life of the world
In a recent op-ed in the New York Times, David Brooks gave an answer to a question we are all asking: When will the political chaos in the United States end, and how will that come about? Some place their hope in the 2026 mid-term elections. By that time however congress itself may be so... Continue Reading →
Let us be fearless โ Church as an imagination-shaping force
A Sermon for the congregation of St. Saviour Anglican Church, Penticton BC - Sunday, July 13 2025 โ The Fifth Sunday after Pentecost โ The Very Rev. Ken Gray Mainstream media has not focused on a very special event that occurred a few days ago in New York City; church media certainly has however. the... Continue Reading →
The Frightening Lesson from Texas โ Political failure in the face of the climate disasters
Reposted from Charlie Angus / The Resistance Jul 11, 2025 "By almost any measure, anyone born after 1990 is finding themselves in a new geological era, navigating a world fundamentally different from the one Baby Boomers and Gen Xers inherited. The chances of anyone alive today experiencing a year as relatively cool as 1996 are... Continue Reading →
Touched with tenderness โ Two online courses worth your consideration โ An invitation from Sylvia Keesmaat and Brian Walsh
Friends, As we struggle to make sense of all that is going on in our world and communities right now, I have increasingly been remembering familial stories about living with atrocities. Both of my parents were born during the Second World War, and stories about those years shaped my imagination growing up. These were stories... Continue Reading →
Hopeful words from Appalachia, Barbara Kingsolver
[Ken Gray] I have long admired the writing of Barbara Kingsolver. From her debut novels The Bean Trees and Pigs in Heaven, her early non-fiction essay collection High Tide in Tucson, her novel The Poisonwood Bible, and most recently the epic Pulitzer and Womenโs prize winning Demon Copperhead I have enjoyed her intelligent and insightful... Continue Reading →