Music & Meditation September 2021

Music and Meditation at MacKay (Tuesday evenings in September at 7:00 pm ET)

Meditative practices are essential ingredients as we live with change in life. One of the terms that gets used frequently these days is ‘hybrid’ to describe how we live in this time of continual transitions.

At MacKay, we continue to foster spiritual practices through worship, community action, art and recreation. Our Tuesday evening (7-8 pm) Music & Meditation events draw upon music, poetry and silence as we all seek to deepen contemplative practices and communal connections.

Since 2018, Rev. Peter Woods and friends have been creating meditative times as part of MacKay United Church’s community offerings. Even through the most isolated stages of the pandemic, MacKay sustained this gentle time and space for quiet music and contemplation, moving from in-person to online. Along the way, we’ve learned so much about creating an online presence, while still longing to be able to open the doors of the beautiful sanctuary once again. 

In September, these evenings will return weekly for the whole month, and will be presented in a hybrid fashion (online, with the possibility of limited in-person participation if health protocols allow). Each Tuesday, Peter Woods (saxophone) and Carolyn Sutherland (voice/poetry) will host the hour with an assortment of local musicians: Tim Jackson, Lu Frattaroli, Roddy Ellias, Nick Schofield, Yolande Laroche.

The poetry is contemplative, and the music is spacious. Participants are freely invited to enjoy the hour and welcomed to cultivate their own personal spirituality in this reflective setting. It is our hope that the church will be able to open its doors throughout the Autumn, but we have also come to appreciate the immediacy and accessibility of online events. Hybrid may well describe our social practices, but it may come to describe our spiritual practices as well. Change was and is and will continue to be a constant: music and meditation can speak to that reality with compassion and creativity.

Please join us :

Sept. 7, 14, 21, 28. 7:00 pm

MacKay United Church

39 Dufferin Rd

Office: 613-749-8727

mackayunited.ca