Reposted from Sylvia Olsen’s blog here Dr. Sylvia Olsen is an author, story-teller, knitting designer, housing specialist and teacher, Sylvia Olsen is an eclectic mix of her creative and academic pursuits. Her books have received numerous awards and nominations and many are Canadian best sellers. Her knitting designs have received attention across Canada and the... Continue Reading →
The elders that surround us
The Very. Rev. Ken Gray, All Saints tide 2025 -- This article first appeared in the November issue of TOPIC, the Newspaper of the Anglican Diocese of New Westminster, Vancouver BC Canada As we remember saints, sinners, and all souls together through the triduum of Halloween, All Saints, and All Souls let me also honour... Continue Reading →
Remembering “All My Relations”
[Disclaimer. You will never get me in a sweat lodge. The heat and the smoke would do me in. I know a number of folks, mostly men, who have benefited greatly from such a practice, including the Premier of Manitoba, Waab Kinew. Beyond the lodge itself, the practice of acknowledging “all my relations” teaches us... Continue Reading →
Meet my friend Bonnie
I met Bonnie a little over a year ago up on the hill at the Summerland Ornamental Gardens on the grounds of the Summerland Research Station. Dressed in jeans and a green shirt her small frame belied her confident energy; she was buzzing around like a Queen Bee (an adult, mated female that lives in... Continue Reading →
Buck nails it in Game 5 – An appreciation of Sportsnet’s Dan and Buck
On what may be in the final game in the 2025 World Series today, and at the end of a remarkable season for the Toronto Blue Jays I am glad to share the appreciation below from the Toronto Sun’s Mike Ganter. AIRWAVES: Blue Jays broadcaster Buck Martinez defies the odds and the adages calling Game... Continue Reading →
An alien in the household of God
Readers of my blog may recall my appreciation for the ministry of the late Dean of Canterbury, the Very Rev. Robert Willis. Dean Willis was gay and in long term relationship with his life partner, Fletcher, with whom he lived in the deanery for decades. To those near him he was open about his relationship.... Continue Reading →
William Morris and St. Stephen Anglican Church, Summerland
An old bridal tale goes: Something old,something new,something borrowed,something blue . . . In a different tone and context, the good book reminds us: No one sews a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old cloak; otherwise, the patch pulls away from it, the new from the old, and a worse tear is made. (Mark... Continue Reading →
Marjorie Taylor Greene — Conversion, or coercion OR Confessions of a Grade-A grifter
I can't believe it either, but Marjorie Taylor Greene is starting to make sense, Rex Huppke in USA today Greene bucked the president and her own party in an interview and advocated for health care subsidies and the release of the Epstein files, while accurately stating that Trump has not lowered prices. President Donald Trump... Continue Reading →
It seems like blasphemy here in the land of wines and vines
No amount of alcohol is safe, at least for dementia risk, study finds. Even a drink or two a day isn’t risk-free, a new study suggests. By Richard Sima in the Washington Post For years, the common wisdom and science was that a little bit of alcohol wasn’t bad — and even beneficial — for... Continue Reading →
THANKSGIVING SERMON 2025
A sermon for the combined congregations of St. Stephen Anglican Church and Summerland United Church at the Stone Church in Summerland -- Thanksgiving Sunday, October 12, 2025 -- The Very Rev. Ken Gray It’s a familiar scenario to all of us. We walk into a grocery store, or a car dealership, or into one of... Continue Reading →