Category: New Vision Notes

Thur Mar 10 2022

1. The Sunday before us is PIE Sunday!
2. (It is also the Second Sunday of Lent.)
3. PIE Sunday is the closest Sunday to March 14 – in a decimal approximation, the totally irrational number Pi: 3.14
4. As an Affirming ministry of the United Church we celebrate the “peace beyond all understanding” of God through affirming our commitment to being Public, Intentional and Explicit (PIE) in ministry.
5. Our Affirmation of Inclusion: We affirm the inclusion of people of every ability, income level, age, race, family type, gender identity and sexual orientation in the ministry, leadership and life of this congregation. We celebrate the gifts and graces of all.
6. 2022 PIE theme is: “a slice for everyone.”
7. Pandemic capacity limits have been lifted in Ontario. Each organization in the Province, however, must have a safety plan. New Vision will continue to require masks and screening on entrance to our in-person worship gatherings, and those present will maintain 2 metre distance between each person/household to permit in-person singing among those present. This means our capacity limit for the time being continues to be 25 persons.
8. New Vision Virtual Worship is experiential, participatory, image-rich and collective, just like worship in person at New Vision! Join us on Sunday mornings 10:30 am week to week during the Covid-19 emergency by clicking here. If you want to put the link someplace easy to find each week, here it is: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/782292511. Please share it with others and invite them to a “different” kind of time on Zoom from the usual.
9. You can also call in to the gathering on the telephone. Call 1 647 374 4685, then, when prompted, input the Meeting ID 782 292 511 followed by the # sign. Ignore the prompts for Participant ID and Password. You are in when the recorded voice says, “You are in the meeting.” If you can only connect by video on your computer with no audio, you can use the phone connection for audio and the computer connection for visual.

Hope to see you Sunday again, or for the first time –

Rev Ian

Fri March 4 2022

1. The Sunday before us is the first Sunday of Lent. We will be celebrating communion too because this Sunday is also the first Sunday of the month.
2. Pandemic capacity limits have been lifted in Ontario. Each organization in the Province, however, must have a safety plan. New Vision will continue to require masks and screening on entrance to our in-person worship gatherings, and those present must maintain 2 metre distance between each person/household. On one hand, this means our capacity limit for the time being continues to be 25 persons, on the other, we are now able safely to have in-person singing among those present, because they are maintaining the 2 metre distance that remains the recommended distance between individuals for singing.
3. For your amusement: The United Church of Canada has caught the “New Vision” buzz: Here is the “United Church of Canada New Vision Statement”
4. This evening at 8:30 pm: Everyone Gets A Slice! Affirming Panel: Looking at the LGBTQIA2S+ acronym, which represents an endless diversity of identities and expressions, we acknowledge that some of the people who are represented by these letters often tend to get left out or underserved. Our guest panelists share their stories and expertise to invite us to consider which folks we may not have included in our Affirming programming and educational efforts and take strides to remedy that. Zoom registration required. Come meet these amazing leaders and be inspired!
5. New Vision Virtual Worship is experiential, participatory, image-rich and collective, just like worship in person at New Vision! Join us on Sunday mornings 10:30 am week to week during the Covid-19 emergency by clicking here. If you want to put the link someplace easy to find each week, here it is: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/782292511. Please share it with others and invite them to a “different” kind of time on Zoom from the usual.
6. You can also call in to the gathering on the telephone toll free. Call 1 647 374 4685, then, when prompted, input the Meeting ID 782 292 511 followed by the # sign. Ignore the prompts for Participant ID and Password. You are in when the recorded voice says, “You are in the meeting.” If you can only connect by video on your computer with no audio, you can use the phone connection for audio and the computer connection for visual.

Hope to see you Sunday again, or for the first time –

Rev Ian

Thur Feb 24 2022

1. We will begin in-person worship together at 24 Main W. again commencing this Sunday February 27 with the usual attention to social distancing, vaccination and masking. Our person limit will be 25 people.
2. It seems that the currently subsiding omicron variant is not being replaced by any new Covid variant as threatening — we could be able fully to gather as a community again in worship in-person by Easter!
3. We will keep you posted.
4. We are saddened by the death of Helen Howard-Lock, Pippa’s mom and Erick’s mother-in-law, and Josh and Jacob’s grandmother, who became known to many at New Vision as “Sunshine” during our pandemic Sunday virtual worship gatherings. A loving obituary by her family is to be found here on the Kitching, Steepe and Ludwig Funeral Home (Waterdown) website. Visitation is Friday 3 pm – 5 pm at the funeral home and the funeral service will be held at St. James Anglican Church in Dundas at 1 pm Saturday. Pandemic gathering restrictions remain in place, so, to attend the visitation or funeral, please sign up on the funeral home website.
5. On Tuesday The Hamilton Spectator published one of the fruits of our Intercultural Relationship Currency Project — a letter to editor I wrote this past week. Since the Spec has a paywall, I’ll post the letter here:

City hall racism

Regarding ‘End systemic racism at city hall’ (Feb. 14): I laud the clarity and urgency of the writer’s observations with respect to what “went down” at the Feb. 3 Audit Committee meeting of City Council. The newly hired Executive Director of the Hamilton Anti-Racism Resource Centre (HARRC), Lyndon George, encouragingly created space in response to Coun. Ferguson’s evident contempt for the various forms of criticism of the city and others demonstrated during the pandemic by activists in marginalized communities in Hamilton. George stated in response to Councillor Ferguson that collaboration across the many individuals and groups who continually experience racism is an important part of HARRC’s mandate, as is entering into the difficult and important conversations about social justice and intercultural experience with all authorities. I hope Mr. George includes New Vision United Church and other faith communities among these authorities, for there is no doubt faith communities across all cultures exercise a certain kind of civic authority in the community. But if that is not in his mandate, certainly I heard him in his remarks plan to address the Hamilton council in its secular authority. The difficult and important conversations he anticipates, in my experience, lead to joy and to better and more productive relationships.

Rev. Dr. Ian B. Sloan, New Vision United Church

1. New Vision Virtual Worship is experiential, participatory, image-rich and collective, just like worship in person at New Vision! Join us on Sunday mornings 10:30 am week to week during the Covid-19 emergency by clicking here. If you want to put the link someplace easy to find each week, here it is: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/782292511. Please share it with others and invite them to a “different” kind of time on Zoom from the usual.
2. You can also call in to the gathering on the telephone toll free. Call 1 647 374 4685, then, when prompted, input the Meeting ID 782 292 511 followed by the # sign. Ignore the prompts for Participant ID and Password. You are in when the recorded voice says, “You are in the meeting.” If you can only connect by video on your computer with no audio, you can use the phone connection for audio and the computer connection for visual.

Hope to see you Sunday again, or for the first time –

Rev Ian

Fri Feb 11 2022

1. Tomorrow evening, Friday, Feb 18, 8:30pm ET: Queer Virtue, consider partaking of an evening with Rev. Liz Edman . A special one-night-only event where affirming connections will chat with Rev. Liz Edman, activist, agitator, priest, and author of the book “Queer Virtue.” She will give us some key insights on what she has discovered in her work and how the elements of “queer virtue” can challenge us to rupture false binaries, to “queer” lines that pit people against one another.
2. Tomorrow evening as well the African Canadian Caribbean Association (ACCA) is presenting a Black History Month Celebration as part of Winterfest: from 6-8 pm at Auchmar, 88 Fennell Ave W. and includes live performances by Mosa McNeilly, Aisha Nicholson, Klyde Broox and Narret Jamais. Free, with free parking at St. Joseph’s West 5^th campus hospital campus.
3. Some Oscar Wilde wit for freedom convoys:
5. Many thanks to all who participated in the celebration of the past year’s work and planning for the year ahead at last Sunday’s annual meeting 2022 – New Vision’s eighth!
6. We will begin in-person worship together at 24 Main W. again commencing next Sunday February 27 with the usual attention to social distancing, vaccination and masking. Our person limit will be 25 people.
7. It seems that the currently subsiding omicron variant is not being replaced by any new Covid variant as threatening — we could be able fully to gather as a community again in worship in-person for Easter!
8. We will keep you posted.
9. Some Black History Month news if you didn’t see this link last week: https://www.insauga.com/one-stop-shop-for-hamilton-black-history-launches-feb-1/
10. New Vision Virtual Worship is experiential, participatory, image-rich and collective, just like worship in person at New Vision! Join us on Sunday mornings 10:30 am week to week during the Covid-19 emergency by clicking here. If you want to put the link someplace easy to find each week, here it is: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/782292511. Please share it with others and invite them to a “different” kind of time on Zoom from the usual.
11. You can also call in to the gathering on the telephone toll free. Call 1 647 374 4685, then, when prompted, input the Meeting ID 782 292 511 followed by the # sign. Ignore the prompts for Participant ID and Password. You are in when the recorded voice says, “You are in the meeting.” If you can only connect by video on your computer with no audio, you can use the phone connection for audio and the computer connection for visual.

Hope to see you Sunday again, or for the first time –

Rev Ian

Fri Feb 11 2022

1. New Vision’s 2022 Annual Meeting will be virtually held again this year following worship this Sunday, Feb 13. The 2021 Annual Report is available electronically through the New Vision website as it was last year. It was issued and published on Threshold Partner and friends page on our website on Monday, February 7.
2. We’ll have a short all-purpose break after worship and invite you to provision yourself with lunch so we can begin the meeting roughly 15 minutes after our gathering for worship concludes.
3. We will begin in-person worship together at 24 Main W. again commencing Sunday February 27 with the usual attention to social distancing, vaccination and masking. Our person limit will be 25 people.
4. It may be too early to express optimism, but if the current subsiding of the omicron variant is not replaced by any new Covid variant as threatening, we could be able fully to gather as a community again in worship in-person for Easter.
5. This is a warm thought on a winter’s day.
6. Some Black History Month news: https://www.insauga.com/one-stop-shop-for-hamilton-black-history-launches-feb-1/
7. The African Canadian Caribbean Association (ACCA) is presenting a Black History Month Celebration during Winterfest. It occurs on Feb 18 from 6-8 pm at Auchmar, 88 Fennell Ave W. It includes live performances by Mosa McNeilly, Aisha Nicholson, Klyde Broox and Narret Jamais. Free. Parking in the St. Joseph’s West 5th parking lot as well as good transit service to the location.
8. New Vision Virtual Worship is experiential, participatory, image-rich and collective, just like worship in person at New Vision! Join us on Sunday mornings 10:30 am week to week during the Covid-19 emergency by clicking here. If you want to put the link someplace easy to find each week, here it is: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/782292511. Please share it with others and invite them to a “different” kind of time on Zoom from the usual.
9. You can also call in to the gathering on the telephone toll free. Call 1 647 374 4685, then, when prompted, input the Meeting ID 782 292 511 followed by the # sign. Ignore the prompts for Participant ID and Password. You are in when the recorded voice says, “You are in the meeting.” If you can only connect by video on your computer with no audio, you can use the phone connection for audio and the computer connection for visual.

Hope to see you Sunday again, or for the first time –

Rev Ian

Thur Feb 3 2022

1. New Vision Notes fell into a January hibernation after the Day of Epiphany, Jan 6, the date of The Notes’ last issue.
2. Here they are again, not quite groundhog day, but close.
3. We will begin in-person worship together at 24 Main W. again commencing Sunday February 27 with the usual attention to social distancing, vaccination and masking. Our person limit will be 25 people.
4. It seems too early to express optimism, but if the current subsiding of the omicron variant is not replaced by any new Covid variant as threatening, we could be able fully to gather as a community again in worship in-person for Easter.
5. This is a warm thought on a winter’s day.
6. Our 2022 Annual Meeting will be virtually held again this year following worship on Sunday Feb 13. The 2021 Annual Report will be available electronically through the New Vision website as it was last year. I am expecting that it will be issued and published on Sunday, February 6 – lots of time for you to read and celebrate and ponder ~
7. New Vision Virtual Worship is experiential, participatory, image-rich and collective, just like worship in person at New Vision! Join us on Sunday mornings 10:30 am week to week during the Covid-19 emergency by clicking here. If you want to put the link someplace easy to find each week, here it is: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/782292511. Please share it with others and invite them to a “different” kind of time on Zoom from the usual.
8. You can also call in to the gathering on the telephone toll free. Call 1 647 374 4685, then, when prompted, input the Meeting ID 782 292 511 followed by the # sign. Ignore the prompts for Participant ID and Password. You are in when the recorded voice says, “You are in the meeting.” If you can only connect by video on your computer with no audio, you can use the phone connection for audio and the computer connection for visual.

Hope to see you Sunday again, or for the first time –

Rev Ian

Thur Jan 6 2022

1. Today is Epiphany. The season of Christmas ended yesterday (12 days including Christmas Day).
2. I hope you found and took such opportunities as were given you to share joy, love and hope this Christmastide.
3. Epiphany recognizes the homage the wise ones from the east gave to Jesus in Bethlehem at his birth.
4. Epiphany outside of this Christian use of the word is “a usually sudden manifestation or perception of the essential nature or meaning of something.”
5. I think the sudden perception of who Jesus actually is is an epiphany in this non-religious sense too.
6. To everyone who responded to the New Vision Christmas Appeal, much gratitude.
7. Omicron: since the most reasonable thing for us to do with Omicron coronavirus variant of concern now spreading in our community is to reduce our contact with each other outside our households we have decided to gather for worship virtually only until Hamilton Public Health guidance suggests otherwise. Sundays going forward from Boxing Day, Sunday Dec 26, will be virtual only gatherings until further notice.
8. New Vision Virtual Worship is experiential, participatory, image-rich and collective, just like worship in person at New Vision! Join us on Sunday mornings 10:30 am week to week during the Covid-19 emergency by clicking here. If you want to put the link someplace easy to find each week, here it is: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/782292511. Please share it with others and invite them to a “different” kind of time on Zoom from the usual.
9. You can also call in to the gathering on the telephone toll free. Call 1 647 374 4685, then, when prompted, input the Meeting ID 782 292 511 followed by the # sign. Ignore the prompts for Participant ID and Password. You are in when the recorded voice says, “You are in the meeting.” If you can only connect by video on your computer with no audio, you can use the phone connection for audio and the computer connection for visual.

Hope to see you Sunday again, or for the first time –

Rev Ian

Wed Dec 22 2021

1. Soon Christmas! 3 sleeps.
2. 3 sleeps.
3. Christmas Eve: We will be gathering virtually only for our Christmas Eve service Friday evening at 7 pm.  Come join us for the story, and for communion, and for singing. Bring a candle to light as part of your participation.
4. Worshipping virtually on Christmas Eve is a change of plans since I last wrote on account of the COVID-19 Omicron Variant of Concern. I am sorry.
5. Our Christmas Eve gathering will be at the same zoom link as our Sunday morning gatherings. See below.
6. Omicron: since the most reasonable thing for us to do with Omicron coronavirus variant of concern now spreading in our community is to reduce our contact with each other outside our households we have decided to gather for worship virtually only until guidance improves from Hamilton Public Health. Sundays going forward from Boxing Day, Sunday Dec 26, will be virtual only gatherings until further notice.
7. New Vision’s Annual Christmas Appeal is in full swing. If you would like to receive Church Council Chair Dixon Challoner’s Christmas Greetings, let me know here and I will have it sent out to you. To those who have responded to the Appeal, many, many thanks. New Vision is a strong witness to the love of Jesus in the world.
8. New Vision Virtual Worship is experiential, participatory, image-rich and collective, just like worship in person at New Vision! Join us on Sunday mornings 10:30 am week to week during the Covid-19 emergency by clicking here. If you want to put the link someplace easy to find each week, here it is: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/782292511. Please share it with others and invite them to a “different” kind of time on Zoom from the usual.
9. You can also call in to the gathering on the telephone toll free. Call 1 647 374 4685, then, when prompted, input the Meeting ID 782 292 511 followed by the # sign. Ignore the prompts for Participant ID and Password. You are in when the recorded voice says, “You are in the meeting.” If you can only connect by video on your computer with no audio, you can use the phone connection for audio and the computer connection for visual.

Hope to see you Friday evening – or Sunday, or both!

Merry Christmas to you ~

Rev Ian

Thur Dec 16 2021

1. Advent! And soon Christmas! This Sunday is our fourth of four Advent Sundays: purging the old waiting for God to bring the new to us.
2. The most reasonable thing for us to do with the Omicron coronavirus variant of concern now spreading in our community is to reduce our contact with each other outside our households. Those who have yet to receive a third vaccination are strongly encouraged not to attend our in-person Sunday worship gatherings until many more Hamiltonians and Canadian residents have received the third jab. I will be leading worship virtually on Sunday.
3. New Vision’s Annual Christmas Appeal is in full swing. If you would like to receive Church Council Chair Dixon Challoner’s Christmas Greetings, let me know here and I will have it sent out to you. To those who have responded to the Appeal, many, many thanks. New Vision is a strong witness to the love of Jesus in the world.
4. We will hold our Christmas Eve service this year in a hybrid in-person and online way at 7 pm Christmas Eve. I ask you, however, to keep an eye out for any public health guidance that might further restrict our in-person gatherings more than the current restrictions – 25 people maximum and social distancing between us. If you have any symptoms of illness, please plan not to our worship gatherings in person: come virtually!
5. New Vision Virtual Worship is experiential, participatory, image-rich and collective, just like worship in person at New Vision! Join us on Sunday mornings 10:30 am week to week during the Covid-19 emergency by clicking here. If you want to put the link someplace easy to find each week, here it is: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/782292511. Please share it with others and invite them to a “different” kind of time on Zoom from the usual.
6. You can also call in to the gathering on the telephone toll free. Call 1 647 374 4685, then, when prompted, input the Meeting ID 782 292 511 followed by the # sign. Ignore the prompts for Participant ID and Password. You are in when the recorded voice says, “You are in the meeting.” If you can only connect by video on your computer with no audio, you can use the phone connection for audio and the computer connection for visual.

Hope to see you Sunday ~ again, or for the first time ~

Rev Ian