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When the world seems to gave gone “plumb crazy,” Christians may wonder how they keep singing God’s song. The answer, according to Bishop Michael Curry is focus on what birds do: “they keep singing not because they expect an answer, but because they have a song to sing.” Bishop Curry made the statement May 29 at a kickoff event for the Diocese of New Westminster’s bi-annual Mission Conference.

The kickoff event, held at Christ Church Cathedral, was a festive prayer service driven by uplifting music provided by various parish choirs in the diocese, including among others, the Cathedral choir, the choir from St John’s, Shaughnessey, and the choir from the Church of South India church plant. About 200 people attended the event, intended to set the tone and energy for the Mission Conference the following day.

Bishop Curry said just as the bird that sings because it has a song rather than because it wants a reply, Christians need to keep singing “God’s song” despite the challenges the world presents. He cited the recent microphone malfunction at an NHL playoff game between the Buffalo Sabres and Boston Bruins where the crowd took over singing the Canadian anthem when the singer’s microphone failed. Curry said this was a moment of unity and an example of what happens when we “keep singing our song,” regardless of what else might be happening in the world that seems to push against the values of our song. Buffalo Sabres fans stepped in and sang the anthem, showing unity and goodwill, despite the current political climate trying to pit the two nations against each other.

On May 30 Bishop Curry gave the keynote address at the Mission Conference, which took place at the Synod Office. During his talk he outlined “what Jesus came to earth to show us,” which he said is “how to be a human family.” He laid out all the moments in scripture when God tried to show humanity “how to be a human family,” beginning with Adam and Eve, Moses and so on. Each time though, humans misunderstood the message. Bishop Curry said finally God decided, “I’m gonna have to come down there myself and show you! Merry Christmas!”

It was the presence of Jesus among humanity and his teaching that finally got the message through - even if things didn’t end well for Jesus. Bishop Curry reminded attendees about the Sermon on the Mount and it’s list of beatitudes. Those, he said, were explicit instructions from Jesus on how to be in this world. He pointed out that the same Gospel book which introduces us to the sermon on the mount also starts with the geneology of Jesus. In the Gospel of Matthew the geneology starts at Abraham and moves forward, and presumably it is possible to continue forward after Jesus - laying the foundation for the understanding that we are all one human family.

The mission of Christians and Anglicans today is to continue the work of being one human family, the family of God.

If you missed the Sing Without Ceasing kick off event, or want to revisit it, you can watch it HERE.

See more photos from Mission Conference and Sing Without Ceasing, HERE and HERE.

 

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PHOTO: Bishop Michael Curry addresses attendees at Mission Conference 2026. The keynote address was held at St. John's, Shaughnessey.