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I was at a gathering yesterday where someone in his thirties said to me, “Oh, you are the church with those amazing quotes on your sign.” When I shared this with our custodian Luke he laughed and said he’d been out by the sign one day recently and a woman was taking a photo of it with her smart phone. She wondered if she was in the way or if it was okay to take a photo. Luke assured her she was not in the way and a photo was fine.

I put a new quote up on the sign today.  I think is appropriate to Lent for New Vision.

Why is “Growth is an Abstraction” an appropriate sign for Lent at New Vision? Well, part of the reason is the person whom the quote is attributed to – Brian McLaren. Brian McLaren is an evangelical in the United States who is interested in and sees a convergence happening between evangelical and main-line Christians over some pretty fundamentally important things – like the environment, like what Jesus really meant people to understand about God, like the diversity of God’s creation.

From the main-line point of view, a lot of evangelical thinking is based on the notion of “growth.” You’ve always got to be growing. So when you hear an evangelical point out that growth is an “abstraction” you are hearing a pretty distinct and unusual evangelical voice.

So that’s one thing. But the other thing, the more critical thing, is that this pithy phrase “growth is an abstraction” tells it like it is for Christians. The world we live in is one which includes growth and decay, birth, and death, justice, and crucifixions.  We don’t need growth. We believe in Christ, crucified. It’s enough to keep ourselves repeating that.

You might say that’s what it is all about.

See you Sunday ~ for second Sunday of Lent worship, potluck lunch, and New Vision’s fourth annual meeting ever.

Rev. Ian

Jazz Vespers and Black History — Poetry of Harlem Renaissance poet Langston Hughes selected by Rev. Ian Sloan, with jazz  band Cara Matthew, vocals, Adrean Farrugia, piano, Bob Brough, sax, and Clark Johnston, bass. In our Music Hall. This Sun Feb 18 4:30 pm. Simple and delicious supper. Pay what you may for music and meal.

In the morning at worship this Sunday more about what God is up to in the neighbourhood, and how we can join in. Plus the usual great stuff.

See you Sunday ~

Rev. Ian

You are making some really great stuff happen in Hamilton, New Vision.

If it were not for you, there would not be the prospect of more rental housing in the neighbourhood of our St. Giles property.

Because of you, Hamilton is looking forward to a mid-sized live music venue around 1000 seats for the first time in a generation.

Because of you, a Syrian newcomer family brought to Canada by the Canadian government can look forward to some of their extended family coming to be with them here in Hamilton.

These are just a few examples of the really great stuff you are making happen.

See you Sunday, for more ~

Rev. Ian

We had more participants in our Thursday Outreach Program yesterday than we often do. Usually more people participate toward the end of the month than at the beginning, but the bump yesterday was noticeable.

The Music Hall initiative is continuing to develop. We now have in hand the program strategy report we commissioned ERA Architects to do for us. Our next step is drill down to find a feasible business model for our social enterprise that we like, followed by a business plan for it. We’ll take the plan out into the community to seek partners to do business with us.

The Jazz Vespers that are taking place once a month in The Music Hall are helping to get the space known in the community. The vespers are enjoyable and inspiring. They are followed by a simple and delicious meal! Thanks to everyone who is making these events happen. The next one is on Sunday, February 18 at 4:30 pm.

I am taking a week of vacation next week so the next Notes you see will be in a couple of weeks.

See you Sunday ~

Rev. Ian

Thanks to everyone able to attend the Iridesce: the Living Apology Project workshop this past Sunday afternoon at New Vision. 21 started the workshop and a few had to leave before its end because of other commitments. Stories were told and gathered. To see some of ours, and others, you can visit the iridesce website.

This Sunday late in the afternoon come join a band of jazz players in The Music Hall with Rev. Ian Sloan for Jazz Vespers: A New England Winter’s Day. Ashley St. Pierre, vocals, Adrean Farrugia, piano, Mike Malone, trumpet and Clark Johnston, acoustic bass, vibe with poetry and meditations from New England poets Richard Wilbur, Robert Frost, Wallace Stevens and Emily Dickinson. Simple and delicious meal following. Pay what you may for music and meal. It will be a lovely way to be in the dusk on a late January day.

See you for worship wherever and whenever ~

Rev. Ian

“And now we welcome the new year. Full of things that have never been.”-  Rainer Maria Rilke

I hope that you had a pleasant and deeply satisfying season of holidays. Often such deep joy wells up from places of loss, as we contemplate new life in Jesus Christ.

We begin the new year at New Vision with a Sunday gathering (January 14) to learn about and participate in the United Church of Canada’s Iridesce: The Living Apology Project. We will be engaged by Iridesce coordinator Aaron Miechkota in worship and workshop, helping us answer the question, “How welcoming has our welcome been” to the LGBTQ community? For more information see our New Vision United Church facebook event posting.

A second Jazz Vespers at New Vision takes place Sunday afternoon, January 21, at 4:30 pm. The theme is “A New England Winter’s Day” and will feature some cool yet warm jazz by some fabulous Hamilton jazz musicians and some winter poems from New England offered by Rev. Ian Sloan who will join them in our Music Hall. Simple and delicious meal after. Pay as you may for the meal and the music.

See you Sunday for our first worship gathering of the new year ~

Rev Ian

“Into this world, this demented inn in which there is absolutely no room for him at all, Christ comes uninvited.” – Thomas Merton

We will be celebrating the fourth Sunday of Advent at our morning worship on December 24. We’ll be gathering for a Christmas Eve service on Sunday evening at 7 pm. Christmas Eve is an all ages gathering, with communion.

See you Sunday ~

Rev Ian

Our service of Remembrance and Hope takes place on Tuesday, Dec 19 at 7 pm in our usual worship space. The service is also known as Blue Christmas to bring home that sadness can be front and centre at this time of year and attending sadness with gentle care can be one of the best things we can do.

This Saturday we are gathering together from 9 to 11 am to start the conversation about New Vision as a social enterprise. We will be fortified by breakfast at 9 am, and aided when we begin at 9:30 am by Rev. David Jagger. David comes to us from the General Council offices. He has been working behind the scenes with us on developing The Music Hall. We’ll have our workshop in the church hall, and you will be able to enter through the usual door in for worship at the corner of Main W and MacNab. You are welcome if you have not yet signed up, though it would be helpful for you to reply to this email to sign up if you haven’t already. This will help with numbers for breakfast.

A week this Saturday is the JR Digs Acoustic Christmas Concert. See the general shape of the evening by checking out JR’s facebook page. He has asked me to make a call for 6-8 volunteers from New Vision to help the 500 or so people feel at home with us in our building. You can reply to this email to sign up.

Jazz Vespers at Christmas last Sunday struck a chord in the jazz community and among some of you. We are planning another one for Sunday, January 21 at 4:30 pm.

Sunday is Advent 3. Our poinsettias will be here. We need drivers to take the ones we are giving to our mobility-challenged folks during the week ahead. Everyone else can pick up their poinsettias after the morning worship service on Christmas Eve, the Sunday following this one.

See you Sunday ~

Rev. Ian

This is an early Friday evening edition of New Vision Notes, done in haste before I head out for the evening.

This is the in-between week —  the end of one year in Christ, the beginning of another. Sunday coming is the First Sunday of Advent.

We’ll have the wreath in our circle and we’ll be lighting the candle of hope.

It has been a week for me of exploring and laying foundations for New Vision presence in social media. We now have a New Vision United Church facebook page. You can click on the link and like the page, and join the New Vision Community Group if you haven’t done so already. Sometime ago we set up a Twitter account @newvisionunited, but in the last week I’ve taken on making it a part of our reaching out into the community and being part of the community.

Join the wider community for Jazz Vespers at Christmas in our Music Hall on Sunday, December 10 at 4:30 pm. Our Sunday choir and I will join in with JUNO award winning Sophia Perlman and Adrean Farrugia, who bring Darcy Hepner on the sax and Clark Johnston on the acoustic bass. For a primer on Jazz Vespers, read this article in Hamilton Musician on our event. New Vision folks and friends are preparing a simple meal for afterwards that we’ll cover with a special collection during the Vespers.

This Sunday we are going to be engaged by the Social Enterprise Advisory Group after worship and a congregation lunch on how we can move the Music Hall initiative forward.

See you Sunday ~

Rev Ian