A sermon for the congregation of St. Stephen, Summerland Anglican ChurchSunday, November 17th 2024The Very Rev. Ken Gray During the 1970s while a student at the University of Calgary my friend, Rod, was a men’s residence supervisor. In those days, bomb threats were common on Canadian university campuses. One day Rod received a call advising... Continue Reading →
Rage + joy need each other
With thanks to Kamloops follower, Carol Edwards here’s a great piece from The Thread, with Jenny Smith - Please read the original post complete with a few poignant poems. Nov 14, 2024 Jenny Smith writes: “Gentle readers, I’m sending you deep love this day. For whatever your body is holding. I’m currently hanging out at... Continue Reading →
I plan to attend Remembrance Day ceremonies tomorrow
In small towns like ours here in Summerland, throughout most of Canada Remembrance Day observance is a major event. Shortly before 11:00 tomorrow downtown at the Memorial Park cenotaph literally hundreds of folks of all ages will brave rain, wind, or occasionally snow, all bundled up to join the parade or watch from the sidelines—veterans,... Continue Reading →
Finding our proper place — An ancient scene revisited
Walter Brueggemann is one of the foremost interpreters of the Old Testament of our day. As an American Christian educator he reflects here a day after the recent US federal election. He turns to Holy Scripture and to the prophet Elijah In the wake of the 2024 presidential election and its acute disappointment for many,... Continue Reading →
Resistance
Thanks Jim Hodgson for sharing stories of those who are shaping a response to the incoming Trump administration. I encourage readers to read Jim’s blog in full; I share only extracts below. You are right — the time for grumbling and finger-pointing is over; it is time to develop a response to a new US... Continue Reading →
A Letter to the Church
Letter from Presiding Bishop Sean Rowe on the U.S. presidential election / Bishop Rowe is the recently installed Presiding Bishop of The Episcopal Church (USA and affiliated territories) Issued November 6, 2024 / Reprinted from here Dear People of God in The Episcopal Church, Early this morning, we learned that President Trump has been elected... Continue Reading →
Now is not the time to be afraid of the dark
Two responses to the 2024 elections From Jennifer Henry, United Church of Canada national staff and former director of KIROS Ecumenical Justice Initiative (shared Wednesday November 6) I don't have any place in my head or heart for pundits or analysts today. Certainly no place for "I told you so's" or "who cares anyway." I... Continue Reading →
And in other news — Wisdom for today from the late Justice Murray Sinclair
The Hon. Justice Murray Sinclair died Monday November 4, 2024. My own acknowledgement is here. Written in 2021 here are some of Justice Sinclair’s words. His inspiration continues . . . If you know your Creation story, Then you know from where you have come And you know where you are going And what you... Continue Reading →
There are some good people left – Some very good people
Author Wendell Berry, a Kentucky native who turned 90 years old on 8/5/24, studied at Stanford University, visited Tuscany for a year as a Guggenheim fellow, and then taught at New York University for two years. An invitation to teach at the University of Kentucky, however, carried him back home. He bought a farm near... Continue Reading →
We’ve only just begun — On Blindness
Twenty-Third Sunday after Pentecost [Proper 30] (Sunday, October 27th, 2024)A SERMON for the congregation of St. Stephen, Summerland BCThe Very Rev. Ken Gray ON (MY) BLINDNESS When I consider how my light is spent,  Ere half my days, in this dark world and wide,  And that one Talent which is death to hide  Lodged with... Continue Reading →