St. George’s United Church is pleased to announce the date of its fourth afternoon Vespers program on Sunday, June 24 at 4 p.m.
Vespers is a collaboration between local artists and St. George’s to bring together local musical talent and spiritual reflection for the benefit of the Valley community.
Charles Wells is a well-known local talent, having been a full-time professional musician and entertainer since 1975. He has constantly sought to diversify his grasp of musical genres from folk in the 60’s to country, blues, R&B, rock and roll, and then swinging back to his roots in the last decade by adding Celtic idioms.
In recent years he has teamed up to write songs with Tracy Lee Canil stylistically from psychedelic folk rock to Celtic. This Sunday, she along with Keenan Weis on percussion will accompany Wells, along with pianist Philip Nowe.
It will be a diverse musical lineup from diverse musical genres, all with the themes of introspection, rejuvenation, love, and hope of new beginnings. The event will be hosted by Pastor Rev. Ryan Slifka, who will tie together the universal themes with spiritual reflection.
The term “vespers” is an ancient Latin term for regular evening prayer. Rev. Ryan Slifka, pastor of St. George’s says the “church sees events like this as integral to its purpose as a faith community to use the resources it’s been given as a common space to foster connection and encourage spiritual and artistic vitality for the benefit of the Comox Valley.”
He also adds that the church is “constantly on the lookout for new artistic collaborations, whether fine art, music or otherwise, to highlight local talent.”
Admission is by donation, with all proceeds going to the artists. There will also be refreshments to follow, and an opportunity to meet our musicians.