Cheryl and Bruce Harding are recording artists and worship leaders from the Vancouver area in British Columbia, Canada. Their eclectic musical style melds a liberal theology of healing and understanding with an evangelical, spirit-filled passion for congregational singing. Through their music and ministry with congregations and church gatherings across Canada and beyond they inspire people to sing with spirit and conviction.
When they are home, Bruce serves a Contractor for Music Ministry at Crossroads United Church in North Delta BC, and Cheryl and Bruce provide music leadership for Living Interfaith Sanctuary in Vancouver, BC. Bruce also plays with a variety of talented artists in the Vancouver area creating intercultural music, in particular with Indian Standard Time, a North Indian classical music fusion ensemble, and he serves as a faculty member at the Naad Arts Centre in Surrey BC.
Bruce has a PhD in the development of hymn tune repertoire in The United Church of Canada. You can download a copy of his dissertation from the National Library of Canada. He has co-authored two monographs on the history of worship and music in the United Church and its parent denominations, the Methodist, Presbyterian and Congregational churches in Canada. These monographs, written by Bruce with his father, Thomas Harding, have already proven to be valuable tools for those who wish to understand our liturgical history in order to better chart a course for the future. For more information on hymns and church music history, visit Bruce’s Canadian Hymnology Resource page.
Bruce is also past co-chair and a current member of the executive of Music United, the United Church of Canada Association of Musicians, and was the Managing Editor for More Voices, the supplement to the current United Church of Canada hymn book, Voices United (1996). Bruce also currently serves as Music Editor for Worship United, the new online music and worship portal for The United Church of Canada (project currently in development).