Reflections on the heritage, life & work of faith communities in Ottawa & Eastern Ontario
The Reverend Canon George Kwari of the Church of St. Barnabas, Apostle and Martyr invited me to attend a special evening liturgy on September 11, 2026 in memory of the late King Oyo of Tooro, a regional kingdom within Uganda. On August 27, King Oyo died of cancer. He was just 34 years old. Diplomats…
On May 9, more than 530 people filled the pews of Christ Church Cathedral for a grand liturgy and a momentous occasion. The Venerable Kathryn Otley, the first female Anglican Bishop of Ottawa, was ordained and installed before a sea of clergy and parishioners from across the vast swath of the Diocese, and witnessed by…
Over 200 people attended a lecture by Anishinaabe writer, editor, professor and activist Niigaan Sinclair at St. Joseph’s Church in downtown Ottawa on March 5. Entitled “The Top Five Struggles of the Reconciliation Journey for the Church and Indigenous Peoples Following the 2021 Papal Apology,” the lecture was the first of an annual series of…
A portrait of St. Paul towered over the clergy and laity that gathered at de Mazenod Chapel on January 22 for an ecumenical liturgy marking the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity in Ottawa. Hosted by Saint Paul University’s Pastoral Services and the Christian Council of the Capital Area, the liturgy — which drew around…
The dedicated and talented St. Joseph’s Parish Choir at 174 Wilbrod Street, led by Jamie Loback, Director of Music and Liturgy, hosted the annual St. Joseph’s Parish Festival of Lessons and Carols on Sunday, December 21, in support of the St. Joe’s Supper Table community meal programme and food bank. The service, elevated by music…
Jesus Christ is the light of the world, Reverend Geoffrey Chapman said as he opened the candle-lit Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols at St. Matthew’s Church in the Glebe. A light no darkness can extinguish, the congregation responded. The Anglican church, filled to capacity, was illuminated by row upon row of the faithful standing…
I arrived at the candle-lit Church of St. Bartholomew on the evening of December 7 to experience the richness of Advent, the liturgical season sometimes forgotten or unceremoniously truncated in the hurry to celebrate Christmas. This Anglican community in New Edinburgh — founded in 1867 and with the church dating back to 1868 — has…
The Cameron Highlanders of Ottawa, the Macdonald Highland Dancers, the Governor General’s Foot Guards Quartet and the Ceilidh Band joined forces to bring a taste of Scotland to St. Giles Presbyterian Church in the Glebe on Friday, December 5. It was all in support of the Centretown Community Food Centre, a ministry of the Centretown…
St. Cecilia, the patron saint of musicians, and the martyr’s feast day served as an opportunity for a choral Evensong featuring Matthew Larkin’s Caelis Academy Ensemble. The Evensong service on November 22 was also a coming together of Catholic and Anglican traditions. Fr. Doug Hayman, Rector of the Church of the Annunciation of the Blessed…
God doesn’t forget us, even when we forget Him. These words are not about a loss of faith; they acknowledge the quiet suffering of those struggling with Alzheimer’s, dementia and other forms of memory loss. It was the first time I ever heard a hymn speak so explicitly and movingly to those losing their ability…