About

A weekly radio show which broadcasted from January to April 2014 on Canada's oldest community radio station, CFRC 101.9 FM, showcasing sound recordings from an eclectic variety of genres and musical universes, orbiting around themes of spirituality, religion, and the sacred/divine.

My Religious Positionality

I self-identify as a loosely 'postliberal'/ecumenical Christian, though one with a possibly heterodox orientation, depending on what that faith tradition means for you. Either way, my hope for the show is it exist as one that can be inclusive, non-denominational, LGBTQIA+, anti-oppressive and interfaith-focused. If you ever have concerns, never hesitate to contact me and let me know.

Show's Name

The word 'leitourgia' is the Greek word (λειτουργία) from which the English word 'liturgy' is derived. It came to take on a number of meanings over time. One of which was 'a cultic service to divinity'. In the spirit of this first definition, I am hoping to exhibit a broad gamut of aural human expressions, reaching or intending to interact with or illicit inspiration from the 'sacred' and/or 'divine'. (And in some sense, my goal is to frame the vast landscape of music as a form of 'theopoetics' -- or 'saturated phenomena' as articulated in the language of philosopher Jean-Luc Marion.)

'Leitourgia' was also used in some contexts, to refer to any other service or 'duty' to a community. In the spirit of this second definition, I am hoping this show can also be a little slice in the week where anyone in the Kingston community (and beyond) can enjoy beautiful music, and share, in a special way, another human individual's or community's meaningful and intimate experiences, spiritually or otherwise.

To learn more about the word 'leitourgia' check out this document courtesy of Duke's department of Greek, Roman, and Byzantine Studies.

Music

One of the reasons why I arrived at this elusive theme of 'spirituality' for a radio show was, I must confess, that it gave me an excuse to sneak in music from across a whole spectrum of genres and marginal sub-genres. I will try to allow selections for the show to include anything from traditional tribal and shamanic recordings to gospel standards, from experimental avant-garde work to Appalachian folk and shape note, from old Country hymns to spiritual emceeing to Carnatic ragas to post-bop to reverent Reggae jams to so-called 'sacreligious' pop to transcendental metal, and a whole lot of other sounds in between.