Communications

The United Church of Canada:

𝗖𝗔𝗡𝗧𝗔𝗧𝗘 𝗗𝗢𝗠𝗜𝗡𝗢.

Sing to the Lord.

I have been thinking a lot today about paths.

About the strange ways lives cross one another long before we have any idea where those paths are leading.

My father-in-law, 𝗗𝗿. 𝗙𝗿𝗲𝗱 𝗞𝗶𝗺𝗯𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝗚𝗿𝗮𝗵𝗮𝗺, went home today.

Fred was my first music teacher.

So, in a very real sense, 𝗵𝗲 𝗶𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗯𝗹𝗮𝗺𝗲 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗰𝗮𝗺𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗳𝘁𝗲𝗿.

The music. The writing. The strange songs. The belief that music can carry ideas farther than words ever could.

And then, just to make the story even stranger, I eventually married his daughter — the girl I first met when she was 10 and I was 8.

Talk about paths.

Our families were intertwined in ways I don’t think any of us fully appreciated at the time.

Two preachers. Two church musicians and teachers..

Fred studied music with the kind of seriousness with which my own father studied philosophy. He earned his doctorate in Liturgical Theology at Drew University, where his path crossed with my mother’s. His scholarship focused on nineteenth-century Methodist hymnody — but Fred didn’t simply study sacred music.

He spent his life 𝗹𝗶𝘃𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗶𝘁.

He served for fourteen years as Worship and Music Officer for The United Church of Canada. He helped shape 𝘝𝘰𝘪𝘤𝘦𝘴 𝘜𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘦𝘥. He helped develop the Revised Common Lectionary. He taught generations of ministers and musicians. At Emmanuel College at the University of Toronto, he founded Canada’s first Master of Sacred Music program.

He wrote hymn tunes.

He played organs.

He directed choirs.

He taught people how to sing.

And for more than half a century, in sanctuaries, classrooms and workshops across Canada and beyond, Fred helped preserve and pass forward a culture and tradition of worship through music.

But the part of Fred’s story that means the most to me isn’t written in his professional biography.

It is written in the life of his daughter.

Twenty years ago, Fred’s liver failed.

There was a chance the transplant wouldn’t work. Even if it did, there were no guarantees about how much time it would buy.

Jessica became a living organ donor and gave part of herself so her father could live.

It worked.

And the years they weren’t sure he would have became 𝘁𝘄𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘆 𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝘆𝗲𝗮𝗿𝘀.

Twenty years of music.

Twenty years of family.

Twenty years of fellowship.

Twenty years of faithful stewardship.

An entire additional chapter of a life devoted to teaching other people how to sing.

And somehow, I was in Toronto when it happened.

I remember that long night twenty years ago. Fred was terribly sick, and we didn’t know what was going to happen. I sat with him and played the music he loved, trying to keep him with us long enough to reach the surgery that might save his life.

He made it.

Last week, by another one of those strange turns of the path, 𝗜 𝘄𝗮𝘀 𝗶𝗻 𝗧𝗼𝗿𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗼 𝗮𝗴𝗮𝗶𝗻.

I was there facilitating an LCIF training, and I was fortunate enough to get to the hospital to see Fred.

This time, I knew.

There wasn’t going to be another surgery.

There wasn’t another twenty years waiting on the other side of this one.

Fred was slipping away.

So I did the only thing I knew to do.

𝗜 𝗽𝗹𝗮𝘆𝗲𝗱 𝗵𝗶𝗺 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗺𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗰 𝗵𝗲 𝗹𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗱.

And for a little while, it brought him back to consciousness.

Twenty years later, almost to the moment in the great arc of a life, I found myself doing the same thing again.

Only this time I made him a promise.

𝗜 𝘁𝗼𝗹𝗱 𝗵𝗶𝗺 𝗜 𝘄𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 𝗴𝗲𝘁 𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗱𝗮𝘂𝗴𝗵𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗯𝗮𝗰𝗸 𝘁𝗼 𝗵𝗶𝗺 𝗯𝗲𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗶𝘁 𝘄𝗮𝘀 𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗲 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗵𝗶𝗺 𝘁𝗼 𝗴𝗼 𝗵𝗼𝗺𝗲.

This morning, I put Jess on a plane.

She made it.

She got to the hospital in time.

And before Fred left this world, his daughter sat with him and sang him some songs.

𝗛𝗲 𝘄𝗮𝗶𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝘄𝗵𝗼 𝗵𝗮𝗱 𝗴𝗶𝘃𝗲𝗻 𝗵𝗶𝗺 𝗹𝗶𝗳𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗲 𝗯𝗮𝗰𝗸.

And then he went home.

There is something about that which I don’t think I will ever be able to put completely into words.

Maybe Fred could have.

Or maybe he would have known that this is precisely why God gave us music.

Because sometimes words aren’t enough.

There is an old instruction that Fred knew better than almost anyone:

𝗖𝗮𝗻𝘁𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗗𝗼𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗼.

Sing to the Lord.

Not simply when life is easy.

Sing when we celebrate.

Sing when we worship.

Sing when we are afraid.

Sing when someone needs to find their way back to us.

And when the time comes, sing when we have to help someone find their way home.

Fred spent a lifetime teaching people that sacred music is more than notes printed on a page. His professional legacy is extraordinary: professor of church music, liturgist, organist, scholar, hymn writer, teacher and servant of the Church. His contributions to Canadian worship will quite literally continue to be sung by people who never knew his name.

But I knew his name.

I knew him as Fred.

My first music teacher.

My father-in-law.

The father of the woman I love.

And the man who, whether he intended to or not, set me walking down a path that eventually became a very large part of my life.

There’s an old saying that a woman marries a man like her father.

Fred Graham and I could hardly have been more different.

But maybe Jess did.

Because underneath all those differences, Fred and I understood one very important thing:

𝗦𝗼𝗺𝗲𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗲𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗯𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝗱𝗼 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗴𝗶𝗳𝘁𝘀 𝗚𝗼𝗱 𝗴𝗶𝘃𝗲𝘀 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗶𝘀 𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗺 𝗯𝗮𝗰𝗸 𝘁𝗼 𝗛𝗶𝗺.

Jess will be in Canada for a while helping her family, making arrangements and doing all the difficult things that follow a loss like this. She is deeply sorry that she won’t be able to see her Lion family in Memphis, but I know she also knows that all of you understand exactly where she needs to be.

And if you have a moment, please send her a message.

One of the greatest things about this strange worldwide family we call Lions is that when one of us hurts, there are people scattered across the world willing to reach across the distance and remind us that we aren’t standing there alone.

Let’s show her just how enormous that family really is.

And somewhere, I imagine there is an organ with considerably more stops than any sensible person actually needs.

I hope Fred has already found it.

𝗖𝗮𝗻𝘁𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗗𝗼𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗼 𝗰𝗮𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗰𝘂𝗺 𝗻𝗼𝘃𝘂𝗺.

Sing to the Lord a new song.

Rest well, Fred.

𝗔𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗸 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘁𝗲𝗮𝗰𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗺𝗲 𝗵𝗼𝘄 𝘁𝗼 𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗴.

July 02, 2026

We are the Hands of Christ

Dear Friends in Christ,

Grace and Peace to you from Bethany United Church.

I am writing to you today with a heart full of gratitude. Over the years, your faithful support has allowed our church to be the hands and feet of Christ. Together, we have provided a Ministry of Word, Sacrament and Pastoral Care to our families since 1766.

As we look toward the months ahead, though, it becomes necessary for us to also look at our financial resources to ensure we can keep doing this vital work. Like many, our church faces an aging and declining membership, rising costs, few active volunteers with the ability to fundraise, and at present, we are working hard to balance our budget to sustain the life and work of our congregation. Before summer, for example, we have had to transfer $11,000.00 from our reserves to balance our books. And so, at this time, we need everyone’s help to recoup these reserves, and move forward in a financially feasible manner. That is, a commitment to stewardship in terms of time, talents, and resources (ie. givings).

I invite you to prayerfully consider what you can give further to regularly support our shared mission as the future of our church is in all of our hands. Christian giving, remember, is about deciding what portion of your blessings you can share to further God’s work.

To help you understand where we find ourselves financially at the moment, it may be helpful to know that, according to one’s ability to give, we need a minimum of $20.00 per week annually from every United Church identified giver, family, and adherent. This assumes, of course, that those who are presently giving above this amount continue to do so.

You can make your offering during our Sunday service, by mailing or dropping it to the church office, setting up a secure, recurring donation using PAR(ie. Pre-Authorized Remittance) or by EMT’ing: bethanyunitedchurch@yahoo.ca

Thank-you for your generosity, your prayers, and your commitment to our church family. Together, we are continuing to build a church that brings love, hope, and light to our families and community.

“Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this,” says the Lord Almighty, “and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it.” (Micah 3:10 NIV)

In His Service,

Rev. S. Dean Sellars

Pastoral Charge Minister

Bethany United Church, Carbonear

709-597-2229