Closed: Trump Admin Officially Shuts Down the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline’s LGBTQ+ Youth Specialized Services Source: Trevor News — Jul. 17, 2025 July 17, 2025 – The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) has officially terminated the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline’s LGBTQ+ Youth Specialized Services program. Starting today, contacts who reach... Continue Reading →
Travelling in Nova Scotia last year Kathie and I both enjoyed our visit to Africville, the site of a close‐knit 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 →
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 →
[Cartoon by Joe Wos] Three simple letters, PBS. It’s 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 →
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 →
Originally published on July 21, 2025 by our friends at the Center for Action and Contemplation (Richard Rohr) Sikh activist Valarie Kaur traveled to Guatemala to learn about the 20th-century genocide of Mayan Indigenous peoples. While there, she joined CAC teachers in an online event to explore how we might honor and learn from our... Continue Reading →
A sermon for the Sixth Sunday after Pentecost, July 20, 2025 for the congregation of St. Stephen, Summerland — The Very Rev. Ken Gray Every once in a while I stumble across some very beautiful language, sometimes poetry, sometimes prose. It’s good, if after one hearing I want to go back and hear it again,... Continue Reading →
Noted dog-blogger Juno lives with the MaPaw and PaPaw in Summerland in the BC interior from where she publishes an extensive set of dog blogs dealing with, well, dogs and other creatures. I love my dog toys. Mapaw buys them for me on special occasions — Christmas, birthdays, and every time she sees something colourful,... Continue Reading →
[Ken Gray] We just picked up where we left off some fifty years ago. Meeting up with other high school friends at our recent graduation reunion I visited with Tim, one of a few Oak Bay High School friends from 1970-1975. Our conversation ranged from music, to photography, to travel, and in one instance, to... Continue Reading →
[First, a disclaimer] Truth be told, the correct phrase is “I will” and not “I do.” In the movies, couples say I do; in Anglican rites the response is I will. The former is considered by many as relating to one point in time; the latter to an enduring commitment and experience over time. For... Continue Reading →
Take Note - Reflections on life, music, politics, retirement and more by Ken Gray 