A reflection by the Rev’d Jon Swales [Extracts] Every church has leaders.Every church has a culture.Even if nobody names it,something is shapingthe life of that community. Culture is the feel of a place. It’s how people are treated when nobody is watching. It’s what gets celebrated, what gets ignored, who gets heard, and who slowly... Continue Reading →
A video of her acceptance speech at the Shaughnessy Cohen Prize for Political Writing is here A transcript is below. (Check against delivery.) [Maggie Helwig] This is not my book. This book belongs to a community. I am cognizant that I am in the kind of room which I am not in very often, and... Continue Reading →
Hundreds out for opening of rebuilt baseball field in Summerland Casey Richardson - Apr 18, 2026 / 3:40 pm | Story and photos / Castanet Summerland Click here to view gallery Hundreds of people came out to Summerland's Living Memorial Park on Saturday to celebrate the opening of a special baseball field, more than a... Continue Reading →
By Hankookilbo - Published Apr 13, 2026 Hankook Ilbo, Korea Visitors crowd the Yeongnangho Cherry Blossom Festival around Yeongnangho Lake in Sokcho, Gangwon Province, April 11. Yonhap {Ken Gray - As a child growing up in Victoria on Harlow Drive my street was drenched in pink cherry blossoms every March of April. I have fond... Continue Reading →
Photo Credit: ScottProject Photography/Kamloops Tourism, Kamloops BC A sermon for the congregation of St. Saviour, Penticton on the Second Sunday of Easter Sunday, April 12th, 2026 by the Very Rev. Ken Gray I know it’s not the traditional, formal Easter greeting many of you prefer: “The Lord is risen / He is risen indeed; Hallelujah.”... Continue Reading →
Artistic rendering of Donald J. Trump by KJG We all know them; whether we live in the US, or hail from north of the Canada/US border. The late Allan Fotheringham (1932-2020) whose column appeared on the final page of Macleans Magazine for decades, used to describe Americans as individually, the nicest kind of person you... Continue Reading →
[Notes from a CBC article here] Former politician, diplomat and activist Stephen Lewis has died at age 88. Lewis was a former leader of the Ontario NDP, Canadian ambassador to the United Nations and a longtime journalist and environmental activist. The Lewis family said in a statement on Tuesday that he died peacefully in hospice... Continue Reading →
From Andrew DeCourt on Facebook who writes: I usually script my sermons. I do this to be precise, respect time, and keep a record of what I’ve said. But yesterday morning, I felt nudged to call an audible. I switched my sermon text an hour before church and preached directly from my heart without any... Continue Reading →
The CEO of the Cathedral Music Trust is visiting 100 choirs across England and Wales over 50 days of cycling Meg Elliot writing in Cycling Weekly The late afternoon light is falling in greens and oranges and reds on the cathedral's terracotta floor. People clutter the pews as the music starts up, complex, layered sound... Continue Reading →
[Anne Lamott] We sing a hymn in church whose refrain ends, "and all around is sinking sand," and I have felt this since, oh, approximately November 2024. Everyone I know felt this, the existential instability, the sinking of our hearts. We did what we do — tried to take care of each other and not... Continue Reading →
Take Note - Reflections on life, music, politics, retirement and more by Ken Gray 