Author, composer and professor Fr. Michael Joncas holding a June 2024 letter from former U.S. president Joe Biden by the bookcase where he framed and displayed the original 1976 score of "On Eagle's Wings," in his apartment in St. Paul, Minnesota, May 2026. (NCR photo/Camillo Barone) by Camillo Barone, NCR staff reporter By the mid-1970s, Fr.... Continue Reading →
A sermon for the congregation of St. Saviour Anglican Church, Penticton // Sunday June 7, 2026 by the Very Rev. Ken Gray I am sure that Archdeacon Peter (O'Flynn) and I have both struggled on occasion to find just the right sermon topic. At times, there are far too many options. Today is a good... Continue Reading →
The Road to Santa Marta, by Emile Theresa Smith - Mad Love for the World Daniel Maestre invites me to sit across from him beneath a giant mango tree. The wide branches above shade the whole area beside the kankurua, the sacred house. Three months ago, arsonists destroyed the original kankurua. The new house is... Continue Reading →
Organist Mark McDonald stands below Christ Church Cathedral’s organ, Canada’s largest pipe organ west of the Rockies. (Olivier Laurin/Victoria News) Published 9:00 am Wednesday, May 27, 2026 by Olivier Laurin Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart once called the pipe organ “the king of instruments.” Considered by many to be a marvel of music and engineering, the pipe... Continue Reading →
Notes by Ken Gray: I am Looking forward to Sunday’s Pentecost service shared between St. Stephen’s Anglican Church and Summerland United Church. We share costs and facilities between us at our historic 1910 location in downtown Summerland. Now a few years into a very special relationship between our congregations, we occasionally gather together for shared... Continue Reading →
I have a long relationship with the Requiem by French composer Gabriel Faure. Unlike the bombastic operatic showpiece by Verdi, the intensely dramatic rendering by Mozart, or the massive work by Benjamin Britten, Faure’s Requiem is intimate, melodic, of small scale, and sublime. It whispers, though never shouts. Surely we all want to drift off... Continue Reading →
A sermon for the congregation of St. Saviour, Penticton, the Fifth Sunday of Easter, Sunday, May 3rd, 2026, by the Very Rev. Ken Gray JOHN 14:1-14 A few weeks ago, on the 5th Sunday in Lent, I preached on the text from John’s Gospel: “I am the resurrection and the life.” At the time I... Continue Reading →
Once again, another Jazz Vespers service looms large. Information is on the poster, but allow me to add: Justin Glibbery on pianoStefan Bienz on bassLoni Moger on guitarEric Manuel on drums The announced theme is Joyspring, (I don't expect this to be played as we don't have a trumpeter on this gig), but you never... Continue Reading →
Sermon Notes at the Closing of St.Andrews Trinity East from the Right Rev. John Watton, Bishop of the Anglican Diocese of Central Newfoundland My friends, I’ll be honest. Throughout the three dioceses in Newfoundland and across the country, we will face increased Church closings. It’s hard to talk about, let alone live through it. When... Continue Reading →
Ikonostasis, Orthodox Monastery, Birchdale on Kootenay Lake BC - David Burrows photo Extract from an interview in Sunday’s New York Times between David Bentley Hart and Peter Wehner - The complete interview is worth a careful read David Bentley Hart is one of the world’s most formidable and provocative theological minds. He is an Eastern... Continue Reading →
Take Note - Reflections on life, music, politics, retirement and more by Ken Gray 