It seems that most people meet online these days, not just in bars or through family connections or through friends. Norma Hill and I met online, not on a dating site as we are both happily married, though not to each other. One early email exchange is dated November 8, 2023 though our relationship feels... Continue Reading →
Sam McGee, Robert Service, and a Summerland Story
I am often asked to share a song or a poem at variety nights or campfire gatherings. Typically I call up memories of British comedy classics from Flanders and Swan. Over the years I have offered my own version of Hoffnungโs The Bricklayerโs Lament. I really need to broaden my scope to include some Canadian... Continue Reading →
First Nations Version of the bible misses the mark
[Ken Gray] As an ordained Canadian settler-descended Anglican who initially welcomed the First Nations version of the New Testament. The language seemed fresh, dynamic, and, well, different than other translations I have always used for preaching and proclamation. In using it sparingly in public worship I thought I was helping the process of healing and... Continue Reading →
Kathy Galloway, fondly remembered
I have long lasting ties with Scotlandโs Iona Community. During the 1990s while ministering at Sooke on Vancouver Island I discovered their music and liturgies. Initially created by John Bell, Graham Maule, and the Wild Goose Worship Group the liturgies were scripturally based, socially relevant, and justice-centred. The music was very well crafted, easy to... Continue Reading →
Celtic spirituality, science, and climate disruption
Diana Beresford-Kroegerโs new book says nature holds the key to a healthy planetby Christopher White in Broadview Magazine -- Originally published Feb. 21, 2025 Diana Beresford-Kroeger is a botanist, biochemist, writer and mystic. Raised in Ireland, she spent her youth immersed in Celtic spirituality and the medieval Irish Brehon laws, which are communal ways of... 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 →
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 →
Disabling disability
A sermon for the congregation of St. Saviour Anglican Church, Penticton BC and for a wider online community of spirit seekers โ Sunday, July 6th, 2025, the Fourth Sunday after Pentecost โ The Very Rev. Ken Gray Nice to be back with you following five wonderful weeks in Victoria. We return at the height of... Continue Reading →
Definitely not a semi-colonoscopy โ A punctuation protest parade
Given my recent foray into book editing and publishing I have brushed up on punctuation. Using the Chicago Manual of Style (CMOS), the Wipf and Stock publisher guide, with reference to the classic Elements of Style (Strunk/White), I found both clarity and confusion about how to punctuate my text. Punctuation reduces ambiguity in both pronunciation... Continue Reading →