Citation For The Three Cantors to Convocation of Renison College,
by The Venerable Peter Townshend, at the Founders Day Evensong & Celebration, Sunday, January 14th, 2007.

Mr. Chancellor, it is my privilege to present to you, to be installed as Honorary Senior Fellows of Renison College, all four of “The Three Cantors” namely; The Reverend Canon William Grant Cliff, The Reverend Canon David Edward George Pickett, The Very Reverend Peter Allan Wall, and their accompanist Mr. Angus John Franklin Sinclair. Individually they are gifted people with various interests and talents. Each of them have distinguished themselves in their places of employment and ministry and their contributions have been acknowledged with several honours having been bestowed upon them.

Today, Mr. Chancellor, I request on behalf of the Board of Governors, that you grant them this fellowship individually to honour them for a very special ministry of music which they share together and for which they are known collectively as “The Three Cantors”. The ministry of “The Three Cantors” is well known throughout the Anglican Church of Canada and through performances in communities from Thunder Bay, Ontario, to St. John’s, Newfoundland. The ministry has frequently crossed denominational lines as well as international boundaries, as they have performed at an Episcopal Church conference near Boston, Massachusetts.

The people of the Diocese of Huron are proud that “The Three Cantors” are rooted in Huron even though, admittedly, two of the four are currently doing very important mission work in the Diocese of Niagara. Mr. Chancellor, our desire to honour “The Three Cantors” is the result of four men, Angus, Bill, David and Peter, hearing God’s call to ministry, saying “yes”, and then allowing God’s Holy Spirit to work through them. In May of 1996 they were asked to do a benefit concert in support of a local food bank in Brantford. In response they laughed and thought that no one would come. On April 8th, 1997, “The Three Cantors” performed their first concert in Grace Church, Brantford, to a sold out audience of seven hundred and twenty-four people. In September of that year, further conversations took place and there was an agreement to do three more concerts throughout the Diocese of Huron in support of The Huron Hunger Fund/Primate’s World Relief and Development Fund. In the nearly ten years since then the number of concerts performed has climbed to one hundred and thirty-one with another dozen concerts already planned for the year 2007. There have also been many smaller but also very important events, such as in 2001 when they performed a private concert for the Canadian House of Bishops in the presence of the former Governor General, The Right Honorable Adrian Clarkson.

All of these concerts have been benefits with “The Three Cantors” receiving little if any remuneration beyond their expenses. The primary beneficiary has always been HHF/PWRDF which still receives a contribution from every concert. Over the years, many other worthy causes have also been supported.

During the past ten years “The Three Cantors” have performed several times of C.B.C. Radio and they, together, have recorded four C.D.’s, with all proceeds from their sales being given to HHF/PWRDF as well as three individual C.D.’s recorded by Angus. In 2001 “The Three Cantors” were each made a life member of The Primate’s World Relief and Development Fund in recognition of their contribution to raising funds and awareness of the ongoing work of world relief and sustainable development.

Mr. Chancellor, it is our intent to honour much more than fund-raising. “The Three Cantors” have proven themselves to be ambassadors of good will for the Church, bringing good news to the communities in which they have performed. Now, I do not intend to portray them as perfect angels. In fact, a great benefit of “The Three Cantors” has been that they have helped to present a very human face to the ministry of the priesthood. Their repertoire includes wonderful sacred music, both old and new, the best of Broadway and not so reverent (but fun) songs in which they challenge their audiences not to take themselves and the idiosyncrasies of church and its practices too seriously. The liturgical striptease quickly became a signature moment of their concerts. It was all done in good fun. “The Three Cantors” helped to uphold the church in some very dark days. In 1997 the future of The Diocese of Huron was in question as it faced the reality of a serious lawsuit concerning native residential schools. This is the climate in which the first concerts took place and, to quote Archbishop Percy O’Driscoll during an intermission at a concert at ST. James’ Church, Stratford, “This is just what the people of the Diocese need: something to feel good about!” In the midst of enjoyable, fun-filled concerts it is a common occurrence for hundreds of people to stand and sing hymns of praise to God. “The Three Cantors” have helped the people of God to enjoy and appreciate the value of being a community of faith. They, in turn, have been upheld by the support of family, friends, home parishes, hundreds of volunteers and thousands of concert supporters. “The Three Cantors” have allowed the Spirit of God to use them by taking the shared gifts of music, friendship, faith and ministry and let them grow into becoming a gift which has been shared and appreciated by the whole Church, the people of God and the communities in which they live.

Mr. Chancellor, in recognition and celebration of this gift I invite you to install;
The Reverend Canon William Grant Cliff,
The Reverend Canon David Edward George Pickett,
The Very Reverend Peter Allan Wall, and
Mr. Angus John Franklin Sinclair.
Each as an Honorary Senior Fellow of Renison College.