June 1, 2009 Leonard Cohen points a way forward for the church

THERE ARE 6,000 of us gathered in this sterile gray sports arena. We are mostly in our 50s. We are drawn here to listen to a 74-year-old singer who has been part of our lives for the past 30 years.

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February 1, 2009 Praying with the stereo on, especially listening to Jarrett

SOMETIMES I PRAY with the stereo on. I suspect many readers might imagine that I’m referring either to sacred music or to that peculiar genre of ambient “music for meditation” so popular with massage therapists. I’m referring to neither.

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October 1, 2008 A Tale of God’s Will — New Orleans, the first time

I have never been to New Orleans, but I have known loss.  I have never had to confront what it might mean to have my city, my neighbourhood, my home, washed under an unstoppable wall of water, but I have known sadness of the...

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October 1, 2007 Complex rebel puts her faith in music

When I heard that the pop musician Sinéad O’Connor had released an album called Theology, it took me right back to my university days, when I used to comb through the lyrics of my rock records, searching for signs that at least a...

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September 4, 2007 Winning hymn inspired by Algoma diocese’s motto

Anglican musician Jane Best was a winner in a recent hymn competition centered on an unusual area – songs for congregation unaccompanied by instruments or choir.Pepperdine University, based in Malibu, Calif., chose to focus on...

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September 4, 2007 Church music institute offers new concert program

Canada’s venerable Summer Institute of Church Music is branching out into the rest of the year with a new program aimed at developing an individual congregation’s musical life – an engaging, humorous evening that is both seminar...

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July 25, 2007 Winning hymn focused on congregation

Anglican musician Jane Best was a winner last June in a hymn competition centered on an unusual area – songs for congregation unaccompanied by instruments or choir.In the world of church music, the big shots are usually the...

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March 1, 2007 Awards honour ‘second comeback’ by folk musician

Penny Lang, a parishioner at St. Andrew’s church, Pender Harbour, B.C., was named best solo artist and her new CD, Stone+Sand+Sea+Sky, won best album (contemporary) at the recent Canadian Folk Music Awards.These awards were a...

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March 1, 2007 Musicians sing songs of faith

Two recent CD releases provide different, yet equally rewarding, approaches to faith. The venerable Canadian Brass quintet, formed in 1970, brings its joyful, brilliant sound to People of Faith, 12 selections of sacred music that...

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December 1, 2006 Calgary church band’s CD wins Christian music award

Christmas Presence, a CD produced by the Holy Trinity Church Band in Calgary, won a Covenant Music Award on Oct. 27 for best seasonal album of the year. Together with other band members, Anthony Packwood, worship leader at Holy...

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