The Gospel Refugees

Friday, March 2nd, 2012 - Grand River Unitarian Congregation - Kitchener, Ontario

A description by member Jay Moore:


      What is going on when a group of secular humanist men get together to sing a capella Gospel music? That's a tough question to answer.  The answers vary from person to person but for some of us, it's a  nostalgic visit to our distant pasts. Certainly, for all of us, it's a great social get-together for a bunch of guys.

      "We are about ten men from Grand River Unitarian Congregation in Kitchener, Ontario, who had a good time one afternoon at a church picnic and decided to get together to do it again. For those of us who had come from evangelical and conservative Christianity, the songs were familiar and the fun and the energy of these songs were infectious. We have sung at a number of events at our Unitarian      church and, recently, we offered a workshop at our Unitarian Winter Retreat.

      How can we sing songs with a conservative Christian theology that none of us (or our usual audience) accept? Well, the world is full of different theological beliefs and many of us see them as      metaphorical. This is just one more. We can relate to the passion and the comfort these songs have provided for many people for many years. And some of us enjoy remembering the passion and the      comfort in our own lives, once upon a time."