Read this poem as you will. God's love? Our love? Simply, love. I imagine the poem below as a modern day Beatitudes, a collection of sayings that birth images of blessing and peace we receive in amidst chaos of "today." There is so much we can receive through our senses, through the very physicality of... Continue Reading →
Lynn Phillips [Ken Gray] A few days ago I expressed concern about the Church of my heritage and clerical vocation, The Anglican Church of Canada. I suggested that some days I think I should look around a bit; try a different denomination; explore different worship styles. I have always been curious about the Quakers. I... Continue Reading →
by Galumalemana Bolivia Smith As the golden rays of the sun streamed through the stained-glass windows, casting vibrant colors across the altar, and the choir sang, “All Heaven Declares the Beauty of the Risen Lord,” I felt a deep sense of connection between heaven and earth. I was reminded why, as the Choir Master of... Continue Reading →
The third in a series of Pilgrimages sponsored by the Ecclesiastical Province of BC/Yukon in collaboration with the Parish of Kokanee in the Anglican Diocese of Kootenay From September 14th to 18th 2026 St. Mark’s in Kaslo will host a week-long gathering of pilgrims from across the province for prayer and worship, shared meals, fellowship,... Continue Reading →
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 →
