A sermon on the Feast of St Michael and All Angels for the congregation of St. Stephen, Summerland, Sunday, September 29th, 2024 -- The Very Rev. Ken Gray Today’s preacher is presented with an embarrassment of homiletical riches. On this, the Feast of St. Michael (Michaelmas) Revelation describes how “war broke out in heaven; Michael... Continue Reading →
Invitation
Everyone is invited to join us on the hill at the Summerland Ornamental Gardens for a special time of reflective quiet and garden exploration on Sunday, September 29th. To the information on the poster, allow me to add the following: On the day, if possible, please bring a small foodstuff—finger food only, no utensils required... Continue Reading →
White Lake Wisdom — Proverbs and the DRAO
A sermon for the congregation of St. Stephen, SummerlandSunday, September 15, 2024The Very Rev. Ken Gray [I must first note the passing of Lois Wilson, long serving justice advocate and onetime moderator of the United Church of Canada and of the World Council of Churches. She died Friday at the age of 97 in Fredericton,... Continue Reading →
Radio Station – Extending our imagination, by listening
Another in our “Little Town of Summerland” series As a teenager growing up in Victoria I remember walking home with a friend who always knew what songs were popular. As a geeky kid with strange coloured hair and wobbly eyes, I needed help integrating with student and teenage culture. I asked him how he found... Continue Reading →
Why bother with church in the age of climate crisis?
Jasper, AB, Anglican Diocese of Edmonton John J. Thatamanil -- From FaithTides, a publication of the Anglican Diocese of Islands and Inlets, September 2, 2024 Church and world: how are we to think about the relationship between the two? Once upon a time, the question would have made little sense. When the church was the... Continue Reading →
Ready, set, go — The 2024 Season of Creation begins today
And Father Richard Rohr from the Centre for Action and Contemplation set the scene so very well for us. He describes how creation-centered spirituality opens us to a deeper connection to God: Creation spirituality reveals our human arrogance, and maybe that’s why we are afraid of it. Maybe that’s why we’re afraid to believe that... Continue Reading →
Hilltop Paradise — An August afternoon at Summerland Ornamental Gardens
It was a warm and lovely, late-August afternoon when I asked Kathie to drop me off at the Summerland Ornamental Gardens to photograph flowers. I visit the gardens several times each year and find ample subject material through all seasons. Readers of this blog will already know how I love photographing flowers in all their... Continue Reading →
Salsa Garden 2024 – A Summerland tradition is born
With thanks to Jan Carlson I am pleased to share yet another inventive, practical, and ecosocial initiative developed in our little Town of Summerland. Good people, doing good things, for good reasons, with good and great outcomes for each other, for our community and for creation. Jan writes: The idea was to create a sharing... Continue Reading →
The Case of the Disappearing Salad — A Summer-Land Mystery
It was a beautiful kitchen creation; a summer salad; a mix of spinach, chicken, avocado, strawberries, almonds, and cucumber topped off with a poppy seed dressing. And it’s gone . . . On a warm, breezy, summer evening in 2024 Ken and Kathie Gray drove to Sunoka Beach Park, a provincial park just outside the... Continue Reading →
Bread for the journey
Eleventh Sunday after Pentecost, Sunday, August 4th, 2024A sermon for the congregation of St. Saviour, Penticton BCThe Very Rev. Ken Gray Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures for eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. For it is on him that God the Father... Continue Reading →