Benjamin Britten conducting a rehearsal for the opening of the Snape Maltings Concert Hall in June 1967, with Anita Lasker-Wallfisch the second cellist on the right. Photograph: Hans Wild/Britten Pears Arts Three months after Bergen-Belsen was liberated, Britten and Yehudi Menuhin performed there. Survivor and cellist Anita Lasker-Wallfisch was ‘transfixed’ – as she told the... Continue Reading →
A retired bishop told me recently that “when you retire, the church forgets you.” While blunt, I think they may have a point. Writing in UK Church Times: “Retirement: The Church of England depends on retired clergy, 19 June 2026, Bishop Colin Fletcher argues that “much more needs to be done to nurture clergy retirees.”... Continue Reading →
Democrats must take on America's oligarchs. Here's how - By Robert Reich on Substack - Jun 23, 2026 Friends, The last time Americans faced such overwhelming evidence that the monied interests were screwing them over was the Great Crash of 1929 and ensuing Great Depression, resulting in the presidency of Franklin D. Roosevelt, starting in... Continue Reading →
[Ken Gray] I do wonder how Trump lives with all his failures. Of course, I know. He simply creates more disasters elsewhere hoping we will forget the present trauma. Well we don’t and we won’t. And with the new mess created by his “restoration” of Washington’s reflecting pool we have a marvellous opportunity for a... Continue Reading →
Not everyone has their own personal Dictionary of Quotations, myself included. It is time, however, to rectify that omission. I love hunting down quotations, for sermons, articles, or blogs. So often, others can say things better than I can. So I will use their words, with attribution. I remember buying my first Oxford Dictionary of... Continue Reading →
[Ken Gray] As I continue my own healing and reconciliation journey both in church and in community I was so pleased to stumble across a Facebook post from critically acclaimed and award-winning mezzo-soprano Marian Newman. As I preside today at an Anglican service here in Summerland honouring Indigenous Peoples Day I will share some of... Continue Reading →
Reposted from Facebook I've often thought about what it truly takes to be Michelle Obama. To stand in the most scrutinized spotlight in the world, absorb hatred and cruel criticisms (that would seriously break most of us), and somehow still show up every single day with grace, purpose, and dignity. Or Melinda Gates, who's rebuilding... Continue Reading →
Bob Blackmore — Texada’s master storyteller has spun his last yarnBy Isabelle Southcott in Powell River Living, February 2009With thanks to fellow dog park companion, Dena Wilson He was an adventurer, a bushman, a marksman, a photographer, a journalist and a master storyteller. He wasn’t motivated by money but rather by a burning desire to... Continue Reading →
I still miss Chris Lind, very much. Aged 61, he died far too soon during his time as director of the Sorrento Retreat and Conference Centre. Decades earlier he was my ethics professor at the Saskatoon Theological Union. Later we served together on the General Synod EcoJustice Committee. Finally, when I was in Kamloops we... Continue Reading →
On Saturday, June 13, 2026 Summerland United Church with St. Stephen Anglican Church hosted the first ever PRIDE parade in our little town. Sure, such events have been a regular feature on the coast since the 1990s. They have also become a staple event in larger centres in the BC interior such as Kamloops and... Continue Reading →
Take Note - Reflections on life, music, politics, retirement and more by Ken Gray 