Category: New Vision Notes

As Lent broadens out into Holy Week so our own life stories converge for a moment with the passion of Jesus. One of the ways that we enable this convergence is through letting ourselves go into the passion story this Sunday coming. The Word will not be broken open this Sunday: the telling of the passion of Jesus will break upon us as it will; as it does, indeed, each year of our lives, full of love, full of hope.

Stick around after worship on Sunday for a pay-as-you-may community meal of turkey or ham and all the trimmings.

There is an interesting documentary being screened for free at the Art Gallery next Wednesday evening at 7 pm: The Pass System describes an illegal system of keeping indigenous persons on their reserves in Canada that was in place for more than 60 years from 1885. Segregation in Canada.

We will be holding our footwashing, commemoration of the last supper of Jesus and the disciples, followed by “worship in the shadows” next Thursday at 7 pm in the upper narthex.

On Good Friday consider joining the ecumenical Stations of the Cross Walk for Social Justice for a few hours in the afternoon. It begins at 2 pm at New Vision, wends its way through the downtown to First-Pilgrim Church, and concludes with soup and buns at First-Pilgrim, courtesy of Dismas Fellowship.

See you Sunday ~

Rev. Ian

We’re going to sing “My Love Colours Outside the Lines” this Sunday, and it seems like a good title for this edition of New Vision Notes, as I hope you’ll see…

1. We are launching the Threshold Partnership in the weeks ahead. New Vision decided at its annual meeting in February to call those who choose to belong to New Vision “Threshold Partners.” That’s because we’re at a threshold – always opening out to the unknown and the only imagined, and because we’re a new congregation too, beginning something new.  Partners’ inaugural commitment the partnership of New Vision United Church will be at worship on May 7.
2. Big news this week is that we are going to do the week-long morning Summer Camp again this summer. The dates are Mon July 17 through Fri July 21. What’s big about the news is that we are going to hold it at the Mission Services building on Wentworth between Cannon and Barton! After prayerful deliberation, we believe we are being led to this location to join God there, in that neighbourhood. We’ll be asking for volunteers in the weeks ahead to help get the word out and to help with the camp during camp week. The theme this year is “Hero Central.”
3. The United Church is nothing if not democratic in its ways. One proof is that from time to time congregations are asked to vote on matters that affect the very identity of the whole church from coast to coast to coast. We have three of these votes ahead of us as a congregation as we head into April and early May. Indeed, one of the first tasks of the new Threshold Partnership is to vote on these three questions on May 7 at a congregational meeting after worship. More later.
4. This Sunday we’re holding a drumming workshop after the hospitality time after worship. Everyone can drum, and the workshop leaders will be providing the drums. So plan to attend. Everyone is welcome. Invite friends to come, even if they can’t make our worship service.

New Vision colours outside the lines ~

See you Sunday ~

Rev. Ian

Anticipating the drumming workshop after worship on April 2! It’s an opportunity for all to engage in our communal Lenten practice of curiosity and playfulness. Our workshop leaders will be handing out a hand drum to everyone, and will have everyone playing in rhythm together within the first 5 minutes, even if they have never touched a drum before. There is much about the spiritual and drumming incorporated into the program. I hope you will attend!

Last night a handful of New Vision folk attended the interfaith prayer service Blessings of Co-Existence held at Beth Jacob Synagogue on Aberdeen. It was a remarkable coming together of people to apply their faith to the well-being of the whole Hamilton community. Leadership was offered by First Nations folk, Jews, Muslims and Christians. We were reminded by City Councilor Aidan Johnson that the Hamilton Protocol for Transgender and Gender-Nonconforming Persons makes Hamilton a world leader in the area of putting into practice their rights.

As Easter and Holy Week approach I invite you to consider attending the Hamilton Liberation Seder. Organized by the Jewish Liberation Theology Institute, it will be held on Tuesday, April 11 in the New Vision Hall.  The event celebrates and invokes freedom for all peoples in Palestine-Israel. For more info about the event and tickets follow this link: http://jelithin.ca/seder-2017-hamilton.html

The band sits in this Sunday, and following our hospitality time after worship, there will be an updating meeting for our Syrian families refugee project.

See you Sunday!

Rev. Ian

On this day before St. Patrick’s Day, a quote from Irish poet W.B. Yeats, who, perhaps speaking about the saint, said: “Being Irish, he had an abiding sense of tragedy, which sustained him through temporary periods of joy.“

I guess one could call this the luck of the Irish…

We’re gathering together activities to bring us to Easter Day. On Sunday April 2 you are invited to join in a drumming workshop after our post-worship time of hospitality. The drumming workshop is part of our initiative to expand our congregational “sound envelop.” The workshop will be led by Tribal Thunder www.tribalthunder.com. They will bring enough drums for everyone. There are more than enough spots for us to invite friends. Everyone can drum; everyone is welcome!

The following Sunday is Palm and Passion Sunday. Perhaps we’ll have some drumming for our palm procession coming out of the drumming workshop the previous Sunday. We’ll share a community meal after worship. It will be pay-as-you-may.

Maundy Thursday we will have our footwashing and communion in the upper narthex at 7 pm. This worship reflects on Jesus’ command to “love one another as I have loved you.”

Good Friday we walk the downtown social justice stations of the cross walk. The walk through the downtown begins at 2 pm at New Vision.

And then it is Easter.

See you Sunday!

Rev. Ian

“Riches I heed not, nor vain empty praise, thou my inheritance, now and always,” goes the Irish traditional hymn “Be Thou My Vision.” It’s a wonderful hymn to sing in Lent, a Lent this year in which we hope to cultivate curiosity and playfulness and to fast from things that prevent us.

This past week New Vision was on the watchtower, so to speak: somewhere around 15 of us from New Vision and our allies were at City Hall on Monday morning in support of the City’s new Transgender and Gender Non-conforming Protocol. Dixon Challoner and I were part of the 11 member United Church delegation that addressed the committee, and Dixon was one of two of us who spoke (see the photo). His focus was on the need for resources, milestones, and effort to make the Protocol a living part of the life of the city. City Council passed the Protocol unanimously on Wednesday.

Those of us who were there on Monday, however, heard some very dehumanizing delegations against the protocol. I invite folks to join a small circle after worship on Sunday to debrief and address the hurtfulness of those speakers.

Sunday is our turn at the Wesley Centre to make and serve Sunday dinner. Thanks to all who have donated to purchase the food to prepare, and all those who will be coming out to help put it all together and serve. Sometimes there can be as many as 200 at this dinners.

See you Sunday at worship ~

Rev Ian

Very short notice, but the event has been organized very quickly:

dare to love: We Remember Pulse – tonight 7-9 pm at NGen Youth Centre. “An evening of remembrance, featuring local speakers, musicians and performers from Hamilton’s LGBTQ communities.”

Tuesday evening about 35 people gathered in the New Vision sanctuary for a vigil of grief and hope addressing the hate crime murder of LGBTQ people in the Pulse nightclub in Orlando Florida last Saturday evening. We connected and grieved as a community. We acknowledged fear and we affirmed hope. We sang “We Shall Overcome” and “We are a Gentle, Angry People.” We lit candles for each of the 49 killed.

This weekend is our second anniversary weekend! On Saturday evening our pay-as-you-may dinner and show commences at 6 pm. We look forward to hearing leading local black activist Evelyn Myrie address us at our anniversary service Sunday morning.

Pride Sunday this year is Sunday June 26. As we’ve done in the past, we will combine Pride with our Welcome Summer BBQ.

I’d like to draw your attention to World Refugee Day. It occurs on June 20. For some time prior to the year 2000, many African countries celebrated Africa Refugee Day on June 20 each year. Beginning in 2001 the UN invited the world to begin to celebrate an annual World Refugee Day on June 20.

New Vision will mark World Refugee Day this year with something on its outdoor sign.

The photo is of Syrian refugees in the summer of 2015.

I’ll leave you with this thought: “Refugees are people like anyone else, like you and me. They led ordinary lives before becoming displaced, and their biggest dream is to be able to live normally again. On this World Refugee Day, let us recall our common humanity, celebrate tolerance and diversity and open our hearts to refugees everywhere.” — Ban Ki-moon, General Secretary, United Nations

Grace and peace,

Rev. Ian

Okay, it likely won’t happen again soon, my writing New Vision notes on my birthday, so I’ll tell you – today is my birthday.

The nice thing about an early June birthday in this part of the world is that the day is usually not too cold, not too warm, and often enough, sunny.

Like today.

This past Friday in the New Vision sanctuary a community benefit concert was held for Syrian refugee youth – a big welcome from Hamilton to them. It was an impressive playbill of local and internationally acclaimed talent – from Terra Lightfoot to The National. When The National came on at about 10:20 pm there were 800 people in the building. Below is a photo of three of the Arkells singing and playing. The original plan was for Max Kerman, the Arkell lead singer, to sing a few songs alone, but it turned out some of the others decided to join him.

It was fun to watch these bands make sense of playing in a church. You’ll appreciate that most of the time most of them play in little bars here and there around the country and the continent: except, perhaps, for The National.  Terra Lightfoot wondered what “church rock” might sound like, since she was no expert.

The benefit raised about $60,000 to go toward creating opportunities for participation by Syrian refugee youth in local youth sports and activities.

This Sunday coming, June 12, some of us (but not me, for obvious reasons) will be travelling to Barton Stone United Church for their regular Sunday morning service to join them in the celebration of their becoming the second Affirming congregation in our city.

The “field trip” to Barton Stone on Sunday has necessitated a change in plans for our annual Pride service. We have moved it to Sunday, June 26.

Monday between 12 noon and 1 pm, you might head over to city hall for the annual Pride and Trans-rights flag raising ceremony. Hamilton’s Pride week is June 11 through June 19. There’s one major Pride event planned this year: “Pride on the Pier,” on Saturday June 18. New Vision will have a booth. I’ll share more about that next week.

Plans are well in hand for our anniversary celebrations the weekend of June 18-19. Saturday evening, June 18, New Vision is having an anniversary party – a pay as you may  roast beef dinner followed by entertainment and (it’s been whispered) even dancing. Our yet-to-be-named band is playing a set!

Sunday, Hamilton black activist Evelyn Myrie will be guest reflector at our service at 10:30 am. Evelyn has been working with us on our “deepening understanding for intercultural ministry” initiative to help us to forge authentic intercultural relationships with others in the downtown community. This will be a not-to-be-missed opportunity to be inspired by the possibilities of New Vision.

Peace and grace,

Rev Ian

 

 

 

 

Summer Day Camp July 25-26 2016