A SERMON for the congregation of St. Stephen, Summerland, Sunday, April 19th, 2026, the Third Sunday of Easter by the Very Rev. Ken Gray Willie Nelson said it, and sang it, best: On the road againGoin' places that I've never beenSeein' things that I may never see againI can't wait to get on the road... Continue Reading →
โGod does not listen to the prayers of those who wage warโ Pope Leo XIV
How the first American pope is reclaiming Christian values from the Trump administration By Christopher Lamb at CNN Flying to Algeria at the start of his landmark tour of Africa on Monday, Pope Leo had a choice. He could ignore Donald Trumpโs extraordinary overnight social media tirade against him, or he could tackle it head... Continue Reading →
Claims about Easter, Beauty, and the Institutional Church
Ikonostasis, Orthodox Monastery, Birchdale on Kootenay Lake BC - David Burrows photo Extract from an interview in Sundayโs 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 worldโs most formidable and provocative theological minds. He is an Eastern... Continue Reading →
Jesus is risen โ So what?
Photo Credit: ScottProject Photography/Kamloops Tourism, Kamloops BC A sermon for the congregation of St. Saviour, Penticton on the Second Sunday of Easter Sunday, April 12th, 2026 by the Very Rev. Ken Gray I know itโs not the traditional, formal Easter greeting many of you prefer: โThe Lord is risen / He is risen indeed; Hallelujah.โ... Continue Reading →
Resurrection allows us to see the world with a long view
Re-posted from the Centre for Action and Contemplation (CAC) first published on April 9, 2026 Theologian Paula Gooder describes how Jesusโs resurrection would have been interpreted as a sign that the end timesโof justice, mercy, and loveโhad begun: To a lot of Jews living at the time of Jesus, believing that a resurrection had happened... Continue Reading →
Good news travels fast
A sermon for the congregation of St. Saviour Anglican Church, Penticton BC on Easter Sunday, April 5, 2026 by the Very Rev. Ken Gray Have you ever played that game, typically during summer holidays sitting around the campfire by the lake, or at a summer camp, where someone starts a rumour which is passed from... Continue Reading →
A new name for Good Friday?
A sermon for the United and Anglican congregations in Summerland BC on Good Friday, 2026 by the Very Rev. Ken Gray We need a new name for today, for what is โgoodโ about Good Friday? By definition, โGood Friday, also known as Holy Friday, Great Friday, or Friday of the Passion of the Lord, is... Continue Reading →
LAST SUPPER – The art of Maundy Thursday
A sermon for the congregation of St. Saviour, Penticton, Maundy Thursday, April 2, 2025 by the Very Rev. Ken Gray โI donโt think itโs appropriate at all! Please donโt use this image,โ snapped a member of one of my former parishes. (Not Summerland I might add.) My critic referred to a setup photograph created at... Continue Reading →
Such excellent sermon feedback
From Andrew DeCourt on Facebook who writes: I usually script my sermons. I do this to be precise, respect time, and keep a record of what Iโve said. But yesterday morning, I felt nudged to call an audible. I switched my sermon text an hour before church and preached directly from my heart without any... Continue Reading →
Time to Celebrate โ Jesus, the Way
Willow branches are our palms this year - could be hard to make into crosses? A sermon for the congregation of St. Stephen, Summerland, on Palm Sunday, March 29, 2026 by the Very Rev. Ken Gray I begin with an extract from a 2024 sermon preached at St. Paulโs Cathedral, London, UK, by then, recently... Continue Reading →