Reflections on the heritage, life & work of faith communities in Ottawa and Eastern Ontario
In Canada, Anglican churches are at the forefront of choral training. Their embrace of sacred music enhances the liturgical experience. The same can be said of Episcopalian communities south of the border. On May 17, Trinity Episcopal Church in Watertown, NY — 200 kilometres southwest of Ottawa — hosted a concert featuring sacred classics for…
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…
I arrived at the Anglo-Catholic Church of St. Barnabas, Apostle and Martyr on the cusp of dusk. The sounds of the robust parish choir rehearsing from the organ loft filled the church, while the herbal scent of incense from the morning liturgies lingered in the nave. And on April 19, the evening sun lingered too….
The Venerable Kathryn Otley will be installed as the Anglican Bishop of Ottawa on May 9, 2026. She is the first woman elected to lead the Diocese of Ottawa, which has a history stretching back to 1896. I interviewed Bishop-elect Otley on March 20. We spoke about her experience in parish ministry — most recently…
On the Fourth Sunday of Lent, March 15, I visited a friendly little Anglican congregation at 24 Sandridge Road in Manor Park. The 40 parishioners in attendance for the 10:00 AM Holy Eucharist included a wonderfully “churched” dog who calmly visited parishioners in the pews before the service and attentively sat through the liturgy. St….
St. Paul’s Anglican Church in Kanata is a bright, crisp and modern house of worship built in 2004 as the third church to be constructed on this site. The traditionally-designed cruciform church is a reminder of two prior Anglican houses of worship that stood here, the first built in 1874 and the second in 1937….
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…
Anglicanism encompasses a rich diversity of liturgical expression. My visit to Trinity Anglican Church in Old Ottawa South on All Saints Sunday served as a good example of this. On November 2, I attended Trinity’s 4:00 pm service — a contemporary liturgy featuring praise and worship music, as well as opportunities to connect with others…
The lyricism and aesthetic qualities of the Anglo-Catholic tradition, as seen in song and prayer alike, were on glorious display at the Church of St. Barnabas during Evensong on Sunday, October 19. Evensong — and the Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament that followed — was an immersive experience at this downtown Ottawa church. The sense…