A sermon preached on Palm Sunday, March 24, 2024 by the Ken Gray at St. Stephen Anglican Church in Summerland BC Today is a day of texts and stories, one of the longest set of lections in our three-year lectionary cycle. Consequently today is not a day for long sermons so I will be as... Continue Reading →
A new season for the calendar of the church? I hope so
Ecumenical participants gathered in Assisi--others joined online Today’s blog provides a brief overview of Anglican engagement with the global Season of Creation (Sept 1 – Oct 4, The Feast Day of St. Francis). This text was presented by Dr. Rachel Mash, secretary of the Anglican Communion Environmental Network (a post I held from 2005-2018) on... Continue Reading →
On righteous indignation
A SERMON FOR THE 3RD SUNDAY IN LENTSunday, March 3rd 2024St. Saviour Church, Penticton BCThe Very Rev. Ken Gray I feel so righteous in my indignation today. And I am not alone, for today’s Gospel text takes into the heart of the temple of Jesus' day, where we see our Lord acting in a similar... Continue Reading →
Creating Homefulness in Summerland
Another in our “Life in our little town” series I was expecting a battle as I took my place in the viewers gallery of the District of Summerland council chambers a couple of nights ago. Someone told someone who then told me that NIMBYism was again exploding in our little town. (Don’t get me going... Continue Reading →
The baby is born, so what next?
Rev. Alecia Greenfield, priest, activist, artist will host a launch in Vancouver on Sunday, April 21 -- details soon An update on my little book project -- Partnership as Mission READER RESPONSE This is a such a well written book, creatively addressing a most vital, if not the most vital issue for those of us... Continue Reading →
The Good News Story
Reprinted from Richard Rohr's Daily Meditations -- From the Center for Action and Contemplation -- Read online here This Daily Meditation explores the “seven stories” inspired by Brian McLaren and Gareth Higgins’s e-book The Seventh Story. Father Richard describes how the gospel offers us a new story: If we’re honest, culture forms us much more than... Continue Reading →
Anything to declare? The Hawkins Cheezies story
This post has been corrected from an earlier version. Only in Canada you say? That used to refer to Red Rose Tea, whose Canadian brand touted a quality tea product, superior to the favoured English varieties, but only available in Canada. Well move over Red Rose Tea because you now have another exclusively Canadian contender,... Continue Reading →
This fiction is not fiction — A review of The Ministry for the Future: A Novel by Kim Stanley Robinson
“This is the best book I have ever read.” These are not my words but those of a Berkley liturgical scholar who reads and publishes on Christian worship. Her unexpected outburst concerned Kim Stanley Robinson’s The Ministry for the Future: A Novel (Orbit, 2020). Described on the cover by American novelist Jonathan Lathem as “the... Continue Reading →
Remembering the Martyrs—in a season of immense happiness
Commemoration of St. Thomas of Canterbury, d. 29 December 1170 In a beautiful liturgy at Canterbury Cathedral, the mother church of the Anglican Communion, St. Thomas, Martyr was remembered as an inspiration to those who suffer for their faith in our own day. Historically, Thomas Becket, also known as Saint Thomas of Canterbury, served as... Continue Reading →
Christmas Cards 2023
A version of this material will form my 2023 Christmas Eve Sermon at St. Stephen’s, Summerland. 7 p.m. is you’re in the hood. Everyone likes receiving Christmas cards—at least most people do. See my comments elsewhere. For many, the traditional Christmas card is now replaced by the annual newsletter—my own tend to go on a... Continue Reading →