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By DFG

A Selection of Father Dan's Favourite Posts from over the years

The Archdeacon
Chapter 1 - Synod
Chapter 2 - Meet the Archdeacon
Chapter 3 - The Bishop
Chapter 4 - A Visit to St. Anskar’s
Chapter 5 - A Visit to St. David’s
Chapter 6 - A Stroll with Mr. Perkins
Chapter 7 - A Visit with Methuselah
Chapter 8 - The Bishop Checks In
Chapter 9 - Some Bad News for St. Osmund's
Chapter 10 - The Conclusion

Mr. Perkins - Stories of a Simple Country Parson
Birthdays

Let’s Keep Dancing - What I Have Learned about Life, Love, and Relationships from Ballroom Dancing
Feeling Like We’re Starting all over Again

Formularies of the the Faith
The Apostles' Creed

The Ministry of Healing and the Gospel of Hope
Introduction
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six

The Passion According to St Matthew
Originally presented in Lent during the Pandemic of 2020
Part I
Part II
Part III
Part IV
Part V
Part VI
Part VII
Part VIII
Part IX

The Gospel of Mark Challenge
-Introduction
-Part I
-Part II
-Part III
-Part IV
-Part V
-Part VI
-Further Reflections

Seasonal Reflections

Advent/Christmas/Epiphany
Preparing for Advent (Advent 2007)
Sleepers Wake! (Advent 2007)
Imagine (Advent 2008)
Justice and Righteousness; Comfort and Joy (Advent 2009)
The Lord Has Comforted His People (Christmas 2008)
Christ was Born for This! (Christmas 2009)
God is Not Dead, Nor Doth He Sleep (Christmas 2010)
What a Mighty Love was Thine! (Christmas 2011)
Arise, Shine! (Candlemas 2011)
People Look East (Advent 2012)
A Love Song for the World (Christmas 2012)
And is it True? (Christmas 2013)

Lent/Holy Week/Easter
Considering the Furniture of our Spiritual Lives (Lent 2009)
Slowing Down (Lent 2010)
Thou Hatest Nothing Thou Hast Made (Ash Wednesday 2011)
Darkness Cannot Overcome the Light (Holy Week 2010)
Sing My Tongue the Glorious Battle (Good Friday 2010)
The Lord is My Shepherd (Eastertide 2009)
You Are Witnesses to These Things (Eastertide 2010)
That We May Thither Ascend in Heart and Mind (Ascension 2020)

Other Occasions
On Remembrance (Remembrance Day 2007)
You Did Not Choose Me, I Chose You (St. Benedict's Day, 2010)
Hope in Bereavement - What We Can Learn from Gergory of Nyssa (St. Gregory's Day, 2010)
God Endures Unchanging On (A Reflection for the 160th Anniversary of Trinity Church, Bradford)
Living in Hope (Harvest Thanksgiving 2012)

Newspaper Columns
Unless a Grain of Wheat
A Generation Lost?

Reflections on the Anglican Tradition
On Article XXVIII
Come Down, O Love Divine
The Back Pew
Lex Orandi, Lex Credendi

Reading the Bible
Part I - The Daily Office Lectionary as a Tool
Part II - Tools, Helps, and Resources
Part III - Choosing the Right Translation

Personal Reflections
My Grandfather's Books
Even at the Grave we Make Our Song (a reflection on death)
My Grandfather’s Portrait

Reflections on the Journey
Reflections on the Journey: A Prologue
Reflections on the Journey: Part I - A Chorister Named Ron
Reflections on the Journey: Part II - Photographer's Choice and a Proprietor Named Al

Reflections on Continuing Indaba
I and Thou, and Indaba

Other Topics
On Obedience
On Empathy and Keeping an Open Mind
Why Was Peter Fishing Naked?
The Good Shepherd
On Christmas Carols in November

Canadian Churchman's Round-up (A Compendium of Thoughtful Anglican Blogs)
Churchman's Round-up #1 (June 2011)
Churchman’s Round-up #2 (2012)

Restoring a Reed Organ
Part 1 - The Gift
Part 2 - Identification
Part 3 - Resources
Part 4 - An Overview of the Instrument
Part 5 - Beginning the Disassembly
Part 6 - Removing the Upper Action

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Popular posts from this blog

Why Was Peter Fishing Naked?

By Daniel Graves

“Just after daybreak, Jesus stood on the beach; but the disciples did not know that it was Jesus. Jesus said to them, ‘Children, you have no fish, have you?’ They answered him, ‘No.’ He said to them, ‘cast the net to the right side of the boat, and you will find some.’ So they cast it, and now they were not able to haul it in because there were so many fish. That disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, ‘It is the Lord!’ When Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he put on some clothes, for he was naked, and jumped into the lake. But the other disciples came in the boat, dragging the net full of fish, for they were not far from the land, only about a hundred yards off.” (John 21:4-8) When we preach on this, the last of the Resurrection appearances in St. John’s Gospel, we rarely stop to ask the question, why was Peter fishing in the nude? After all, the story from which this short excerpt is taken contains so many wonderful images on which we might otherwise preach: the multitudinou

Restoring a Reed Organ, Part 13: Recovering the Bellows and Exhausters

By DFG

After we stripped the cloth off the reservoir and exhausters, we sanded them down so that they were nice and clean with no glue or material residue remaining The bellows had been recovered in 1905 and the restorer had left a penciled note on the inside of the reservoir. The exhausters, however, were original. They were "harmonium style", that is, with large ribs with leather hinges and leather gussets. The conventional wisdom as that novices like us should not attempt to recreate these on the first go-around. We decided we would just recover the exhausters using bellows cloth (more on that, below). We cleaned off the old ribs and sanded them down so that we could use them again in the exhausters. We then set them aside while we moved to work on the main reservoir. We rehinged the bellows board to the movable reservoir board (for some reason I didn't take any photos of that) and then while waiting for the hinge to dry w

Restoring a Reed Organ: Part 3 - Resources

By Daniel Graves

Last time, I promised a post on the resources that we would be using to restore our Mason and Hamlin reed organ. I got a little behind on that and we have now begun work on the organ, so here is a little “catch-up” post with the promised information. One of the gurus of reed organs was the late Robert Gellerman. Gellerman has a very useful book entitled, The American Reed Organ and Harmonium , which not only gives instruction on reed organ restoration, but includes a detailed history of the American reed organ. He also has a detailed chapter on tuning, as well as designs for organ benches, stop face fonts, and much more. Gellerman also is the compiler of the Reed Organ Atlas , which is a directory of reed organ manufacturers, where they were located, and known serial numbers by years. It is a very helpful resource for identifying and dating the old reed organ in the church basement or in the attic of the proverbial “Aunt Maude.” A book that seems to stir much contr

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Neither High nor Low

Simply a Churchman

About Father Dan
Father Dan's Fiction
Dead Sea Scrolls Course
Favourite Posts
Prayers for Healing Book
Richard Hooker Clergy Seminar

Contributors

DFG
Daniel Graves

Popular posts from this blog

Why Was Peter Fishing Naked?

By Daniel Graves

“Just after daybreak, Jesus stood on the beach; but the disciples did not know that it was Jesus. Jesus said to them, ‘Children, you have no fish, have you?’ They answered him, ‘No.’ He said to them, ‘cast the net to the right side of the boat, and you will find some.’ So they cast it, and now they were not able to haul it in because there were so many fish. That disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, ‘It is the Lord!’ When Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he put on some clothes, for he was naked, and jumped into the lake. But the other disciples came in the boat, dragging the net full of fish, for they were not far from the land, only about a hundred yards off.” (John 21:4-8) When we preach on this, the last of the Resurrection appearances in St. John’s Gospel, we rarely stop to ask the question, why was Peter fishing in the nude? After all, the story from which this short excerpt is taken contains so many wonderful images on which we might otherwise preach: the multitudinou

Restoring a Reed Organ, Part 13: Recovering the Bellows and Exhausters

By DFG

After we stripped the cloth off the reservoir and exhausters, we sanded them down so that they were nice and clean with no glue or material residue remaining The bellows had been recovered in 1905 and the restorer had left a penciled note on the inside of the reservoir. The exhausters, however, were original. They were "harmonium style", that is, with large ribs with leather hinges and leather gussets. The conventional wisdom as that novices like us should not attempt to recreate these on the first go-around. We decided we would just recover the exhausters using bellows cloth (more on that, below). We cleaned off the old ribs and sanded them down so that we could use them again in the exhausters. We then set them aside while we moved to work on the main reservoir. We rehinged the bellows board to the movable reservoir board (for some reason I didn't take any photos of that) and then while waiting for the hinge to dry w

A Dominion Reed Organ Diversion

By DFG

St. Thomas' Anglican Church, Ullswater/Bent River Ontario About fifteen minutes east of Rosseau, Ontario, on Dee Bank Road, just off of Hwy 141, sits a little Anglican Church that has long been a favourite of mine, St. Thomas' Anglican Church Ullswater/Bent River. It is part of the parish of St. Stephen, which includes St. Thomas' Church, Orrville (my parents' home church), Church of the Redeemer, Rosseau, St. Thomas' Church, Ullswater/Bent River, and Christ Church, Windermere. I first encountered St. Thomas' Ullswater/Bent River during my time as a Divinity student. I spent two wonderful summers with the rector, my good friend, the Rev. C. Peter Simmons, and each Sunday we did the circuit of three of the four churches. During that time I had the opportunity to preach at this wonderful church and since ordination have presided at the altar on numerous occasions. This church is a delightful, small country church with a Sunday summer attendance of

Restoring a Reed Organ - Part 2: Identification

By Daniel Graves

Restoring a Reed Organ – Part 2: Identifying the Instrument As I mentioned in Part 1, when Bill Bartram showed me the Mason and Hamlin reed organ now in our possession, and offered it to me, I knew less than next to nothing about reed organs. I didn’t even know enough to photograph it properly to begin to research it. I took a couple of photographs with my blackberry, with its less than adequate camera, and began to do some research. As the instrument is now at my dad’s, and I won’t be there until this weekend, these are the only photos I have at present. I have since learned that it is imperative to photograph every step of the restoration, making note of where every part of the action, every screw, and every little part goes. Many of the amateur restorers whose websites can easily be found have excellent photo-journals of their efforts. So, the first step was to find out something about the instrument and I set about that task with the few photos that I had. Now I

God is not Dead nor doth he Sleep - A Reflection for Christmas, 2010

By Daniel Graves

In 1861, the poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, following the tragic death of his wife and the outbreak of the American Civil War wrote a poem entitled “Christmas Bells,” which has come down to us as the carol, “I heard the Bells on Christmas Day.” It tells of a man who hears the bells ringing Christmas morning, but the tragedy of his life has made him deaf to the Good News and glad tidings they proclaim: “Then in despair I bowed my head; ‘There is no peace on Earth,’ I said, “For hate is strong and mocks the song of peace on earth good will to men.” For many, these words will resonate. For each of us there will be moments and events, both in our personal lives and in the world at large, that seem to rob us of our hope, and rob us of our joy. For many, a loss that occurred around Christmas time makes this season all the more difficult. Yet, the remarkable Good News that rings out into the brokenness of our world and the brokenness of our dreams is the news of a God that willfully chooses

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