Category: New Vision Notes

Fri Aug 6 2021

1. Everyone is welcome to the New Vision partnership ‘Summer State of Mind’ ice cream social from 1-3 pm on Saturday Aug 14.
2. We’ll have an ice-cream truck and free ice cream treats for everyone thanks to our property redevelopment friends. We’ll set up our New Vision booth in the parking lot to reintroduce ourselves to our neighbours, and share with them who we are now since we centred our gathered life on the MacNab campus. We’ll say hello to everyone who drops by.
3. Ward 3 Councillor Nrinder Nann plans to drop by and would be delighted to get to know you in person. As you will recall, Nrinder was our 7^th anniversary speaker and spoke movingly to us on the theme of community development work that starts from ‘seeing no stranger.’
4. We’re spreading the word in the neighbourhood by boosting posts on our social media channels. If you see one of our Facebook posts about the event, please share it with others and let them know what we’re up to! The electronic image to the right is an image of a bookmark that we will be hand delivering to about 400 homes near our Holton campus in the next week.
5. Please feel free to join us in-person on our MacNab campus (24 Main W) for our Sunday morning worship now. We have determined that under the Step 3 rules we can have up to 25 people in-person at our worship gatherings now. Martine joined us at the piano this last Sunday. If you feel ready to venture out to join the 10 or so who were able to be together in-person last Sunday, please come join us. We will be following all the prescribed protocols for Step 3, including no congregational singing, hand-washing, face-masks, 2 metre physical distancing and screening questions on arrival.
6. Is New Vision encouraging you to come to the in-person gathering? Encouraging you to continue to join in virtually? We are encouraging you to do both! If more than 25 show up for our in-person gathering, we have an overflow room set up with the zoom meeting digitally projected on a screen there.
7. We are able to hold a social time after the worship gathering. We plan to have cookies and cold drinks again this Sunday.
8. Entrance will be through the Youth Centre entrance on MacNab Street. If you have any symptoms of illness, please plan not to attend in person on Sunday morning.
9. If you have not yet been vaccinated, or have yet to get your second vaccination, please consider doing so. Vaccination has clear health benefits for us all as part of the community. It will make attendance at in-person gatherings more safe for all in attendance.
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 1 855 703 8985, 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 July 29 2021

1. We are going to do some friendly community engagement with neighbours on our Holton campus on Saturday, August 14 from 1-3 pm. We’ll have an ice-cream truck, ice cream treats for everyone, some of our property redevelopment partner friends, and our New Vision booth to reintroduce ourselves to our neighbours, share with them who we are now and what we are doing on our MacNab campus. We’ll get to know anyone who drops by and ask them for their thoughts on what we might do in the neighbourhood now that we are beginning to get our feet under us. Everyone is welcome. The ice cream is a treat. Our Ward 3 Councillor Nrinder Nann plans to drop by.
2. The African Caribbean Canadian Association celebrates Emancipation Day this Sunday August 1 at 2 pm.  Please register via this link or visit us at www.accahamilton.com
3. Please feel free to join us in-person on our MacNab campus (24 Main W) for our Sunday morning worship now. We have determined that under the Step 3 rules we can have up to 25 people in-person at our worship gatherings now. Martine joined us at the piano this last Sunday. If you feel ready to venture out to join the 10 or so who were able to be together in-person last Sunday, please come join us. We will be following all the prescribed protocols for Step 3, including no congregational singing, hand-washing, face-masks, 2 metre physical distancing and screening questions on arrival.
4. Is New Vision encouraging you to come to the in-person gathering? Encouraging you to continue to join in virtually? We are encouraging you to do both! If more than 25 show up for our in-person gathering, we have an overflow room set up with the zoom meeting digitally projected on a screen there. We’ll adapt as circumstances change.
5. We are able to hold a social time after the worship gathering. We plan to have cookies and cold drinks again this Sunday.
6. Entrance will be through the Youth Centre entrance on MacNab Street. If you have any symptoms of illness, please plan not to attend in person on Sunday morning.
7. If you have not yet been vaccinated, or have yet to get your second vaccination, please consider doing so. Vaccination has clear health benefits for us all as part of the community. It will make attendance at in-person gatherings more safe for all in attendance.
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 1 855 703 8985, 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 July 21 2021

1. Our Holton campus property redevelopment partner United Property Resource Corporation is bringing an ice-cream truck to our Holton campus parking lot on Saturday, August 14 from 1-3 pm to do some friendly neighbourhood engagement over the three options under study at the moment and for us to reintroduce ourselves to our neighbours and share with them who we are now and what we are doing on our MacNab campus and get to know them. I hope you can come!
2. The African Caribbean Canadian Association celebrates Emancipation Day on Sunday August 1 at 2 pm.  Please register via this link or visit us at www.accahamilton.com
3. Please feel free to join us in-person on our MacNab campus (24 Main W) for our Sunday morning worship now. We have determined that under the Step 3 rules we can have up to 25 people in-person at our worship gatherings now. Martine joined us at the piano this last Sunday. If you feel ready to venture out to join the 10 or so who were able to be together in-person last Sunday, please come join us. We will be following all the prescribed protocols for Step 3, including no congregational singing, hand-washing, face-masks, 2 metre physical distancing and screening questions on arrival.
4. We are able to hold a social time after the worship gathering. We plan to have cookies and cold drinks this Sunday.
5. Entrance will be through the Youth Centre entrance on MacNab Street. If you have any symptoms of illness, please plan not to attend in person on Sunday morning.
6. If you have not yet been vaccinated, or have yet to get your second vaccination, please consider doing so. Vaccination has clear health benefits for us all as part of the community. It will make attendance at in-person gatherings more safe for all in attendance.
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 1 855 703 8985, 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 July 16 2021

1. Thanks to everyone who stuck around last Sunday for the New Vision town hall respecting how we live New Vision on our Holton campus and its neighbourhood . Your input is being compiled and will be going to New Vision’s Church Council meeting this coming Tuesday. They’ll keep everyone informed and updated on the various pieces at play and be looking for your help in the days, weeks and months ahead.
2. This Sunday, July 18^th, marks our first Sunday in the Province’s Step 3 easing of pandemic gathering restrictions. We have determined that under the new rules we can have up to 25 people in-person at our worship gatherings now. If you feel ready to venture out to join the 10 or so who were able to be together in-person last Sunday, please come join us. We will be following all the prescribed protocols for Step 3, including no congregational singing, hand-washing, face-masks, 2 metre physical distancing and screening questions on arrival.
3. Under the Step 3 rules, we are able to hold a social time after the gathering for everyone who is in-person at the worship gathering, since our 25 person capacity for the lower hall is the same limit as the 25 person limit on indoor social gatherings. Again, physical distancing rules will be in effect.
4. Entrance will continue to be through the Youth Centre entrance on MacNab Street. If you have any symptoms of illness, please plan not to attend in person on Sunday morning.
5. If you have not yet been vaccinated, or have yet to get your second vaccination, please consider doing so. Vaccination has clear health benefits for us all as part of the community. It will make attendance at in-person gatherings more safe for all in attendance.
6. 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.
7. You can also call in to the gathering on the telephone toll free. Call 1 855 703 8985, 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 July 8 2021

1. I delegated this afternoon to the City of Hamilton’s Emergency and Community Services Committee to speak in support Councillor Maureen Wilson’s motion to have Egerton Ryerson’s name removed from the Ryerson Recreation Centre in Ward 1. You can read my speaking notes and the questions I was asked by Councillors and my answers here. I addressed Councillor Wilson’s motion as an ordered minister in the faith tradition in which Egerton Ryerson was a minister. I did so as a representative of the United Church of Canada responding to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission calls to the churches.
2. Good news: this Sunday, July 11^th will be our first Sunday with in-person participation in our virtual worship since last year.  In addition to myself and two volunteers, we may have up to 8 participants in our lower hall at one time for our worship gathering.
3. As soon as the gathering ends, however, the rules for social gatherings immediately come into force. In Step 2 no more than 5 people can gather together at once. For this reason we will not be holding an after-worship-gathering social time in person for the time being.
4. Entrance will be through the Youth Centre entrance on MacNab Street. If you have any symptoms of illness, please plan not to attend in person on Sunday morning.
5. If you have not yet been vaccinated, or have yet to get your second vaccination, please consider doing so. Vaccination has clear health benefits for us all as part of the community. It will make attendance at in-person gatherings more safe for all in attendance.
6. Following our worship gathering this Sunday we will have an internal community of faith town hall about our Holton campus redevelopment. We will make use of material presented at the June 10 townhalls for the community and talk more about our own engagement in redeveloping the New Vision United Church Holton Ave. S. campus.
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 1 855 703 8985, 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 June 30 2021

1. Good news: we are targeting Sunday July 11^th as our first Sunday again with in-person participation in our virtual worship. For guidance on attending in-person worship in Step 2, the City of Toronto has prepared and issued this excellent resource.
2. We will have an internal community of faith town hall about our Holton campus redevelopment on Sunday July 11^th following our worship gathering. It will be modeled on the community engagement town halls held Thursday, June 10. We will have an opportunity to ask questions and make suggestions. Our development partner has updated the Holton campus website with results from the town halls.
3. The opportunity for United Church re-engagement and new engagement with the neighbourhood around our Holton campus is being presented to us by our development partner UPRC and community feedback from the June 10 townhalls.
4. We marked Indigenous Day of Prayer in our worship this past Sunday. Some have asked for a copy of the prayer that Cater prayed, “Memorial Prayer for Children of This Land.” You can find it here.
5. Tomorrow, July 1, marks the Confederation of Canada. We are invited as people of faith to reflect on what Confederation means to us. It is an occasion to recognize that Indigenous Peoples are the original peoples—and the founding peoples—of Canada, and that today, many cultures make up the fabric of the Canadian identity.
6. 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.
7. You can also call in to the gathering on the telephone toll free. Call 1 855 703 8985, 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 June 24 2021

1. Following up on the great news I shared last week that Caremongerers Hamilton has metamorphosed into Roots to Justice – consolidating the work they initiated during the pandemic and reframing it for a continuing future of mutual aid networks in Hamilton: they have commenced deliveries of pre-made kits and are looking for delivery drivers. Here is the sign-up link.   Pre-packing is done in our MacNab campus lower hall and pick up for deliveries in the east alley.
2. Liz Hirst is interested in a peer-support charitable knitting and crochet group. She does a lot of knitting and crochet, and could see a group meeting for a few hours, once or twice a month at first to advance the group’s knowledge of knitting and crochet techniques and to produce projects for charities that members care about. To help her gauge interest and take next steps, please go to this link and fill out the survey she has prepared!
3. We will have an internal community of faith town hall about our Holton campus redevelopment sometime in the near future. It will be modeled on the community engagement town halls held Thursday, June 10. We will have an opportunity to ask questions and make suggestions. Info and updates on the project can be found here.
4. An opportunity for United Church re-engagement and new engagement with the neighbourhood around our Holton campus is being suggested to us by our development partner UPRC. They will be looking for our feedback on this in the days and weeks ahead.
5. Last Sunday, June 20^th, Ward 3 Councillor Nrinder Nann spoke as our guest at our anniversary worship gathering. Several of us have asked for the publication details of the book from which she quoted: See No Stranger: A Memoir and Manifesto of Revolutionary Love by Valarie Kaur. Here it a link to the author’s website.
6. Get your popcorn and bevvy ready to join with our United Church friends to share a moving and timely film on June 26 at 7 pm. Saturday Night at the Movies for Pride Month and National Indigenous Heritage Month features Fire Song. Description: Shane, a gay Anishnabe teenager living in Northern Ontario, struggles to support his family after his sister commits suicide. If he fails, he will be forced to choose between keeping the family home or saving his future. ** Rating is 14 +. The movie deals with potentially upsetting themes, including suicide and rape, which may be triggering. Foul language is also included in the film. ** Join  the party here: https://zoom.us/j/94668919407?pwd=T0huMC84MmFNdVlUa3cwNlFvK0ZGUT09
7. We will be marking Indigenous Day of Prayer in our worship this Sunday, with a thematic focus on right relationship, truth and reconciliation.
8. With June being both Pride month and National Indigenous Heritage Month, the United Church of Canada is presenting a webinar called “Two-Spirit People: A Part of our Circle and our Teachings” on Monday, June 28 at 7 pm. Follow this link to register. It is free – brought to us by The UCC’s Mission and Service Fund.
9. Good news: we are targeting Sunday July 11^th as our first Sunday with in-person participation in our virtual worship. I will have more info on how we are going to do this next week.
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 1 855 703 8985, 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 June 16 2021

1. I am really pleased to share with you that Caremongerers Hamilton has metamorphosed into Roots to Justice – consolidating the work they initiated during the pandemic and reframing it to support and develop mutual aid networks across Hamilton. You can learn more about Roots to Justice here. Roots to Justice will continue the Caremongerer use of our lower hall for storage and for packing their deliveries to about 100 families a week.
2. Learn more about our Holton campus redevelopment project here. You can offer feedback on the work to date to our redevelopment partner the United Property Resource Corporation on the 85holtonave.com webpage. Deadline for this comment period is this Friday, June 18. If you have not commented yet, please take a few minutes to do so — your comment will help move the project along.
3. We will have an internal community of faith town hall with UPRC sometime in the near future. It will be modeled on the community engagement town halls held last Thursday, June 10. We will have an opportunity to ask questions and make suggestions.
4. Ward 3 Councillor Nrinder Nann has accepted our invitation to come speak as our guest at our worship gathering this Sunday, June 20^th, New Vision’s 7^th anniversary. We will also be marking Indigenous Day of Prayer in our worship this Sunday, with an eye to a more thematic focus on right relationship, truth, and reconciliation on Sunday June 27.
5. Get your popcorn and bevvy ready to join with our United Church friends to share a moving and timely film on June 26 at 7 pm. Saturday Night at the Movies for Pride Month and National Indigenous Heritage Month features Fire Song. Description: Shane, a gay Anishnabe teenager living in Northern Ontario, struggles to support his family after his sister commits suicide. If he fails, he will be forced to choose between keeping the family home or saving his future. ** Rating is 14 +. The movie deals with potentially upsetting themes, including suicide and rape, which may be triggering. Foul language is also included in the film. ** Join the movie night at https://zoom.us/j/94668919407?pwd=T0huMC84MmFNdVlUa3cwNlFvK0ZGUT09
6. With June being both Pride month and National Indigenous Heritage Month, the United Church of Canada is presenting a webinar called “Two-Spirit People: A Part of our Circle and our Teachings” on Monday, June 28 at 7 pm. Follow this link to register. It is free – brought to us by The UCC’s Mission and Service Fund.
7. We look forward in the weeks ahead to good progress in lowering the incident levels of COVID-19 infection so that the movement and gathering restrictions will be progressively relaxed. At present we are targeting Sunday July 11^th as our first Sunday with in-person participation in our virtual worship.
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 1 855 703 8985, 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

Thurs June 10 2021

1. To begin the notes this week, I invite you to take the time to read this post by The United Church of Canada: “United Church condemns attack on Muslim family in London ON.”
2. The second of the town halls by our Holton campus property redevelopment partner the United Property Resource Corporation will take place from 6 pm to 7:30 pm this evening. To attend the town hall simply go to the website https://www.85holtonave.com/ just before 6 pm and click on the link that takes you into the meeting. There is no requirement to register. I was at the afternoon town hall and can attest that it is an excellent event. You can offer questions and comments during the town hall and then, with the feedback form on the 85holtonave.com webpage. Click on the “contact” tab on the right side of the tab menu at the top of the webpage to be taken to the form.
3. The three site studies being presented and discussed have been released. You can find an overview of them here.
4. This Sunday, June 13, we will bear witness as a community to St. Andrew’s United Church on the mountain becoming an Affirming Ministry.  Dixon Challoner will be presenting their Affirming Ministry certificate to them. We all will be attending by gathering virtually at our usual time of 10:30 am in our virtual worship gathering on Zoom to take in their live stream service together.
5. Correction: St. Andrew’s was not begun with help from the former St. Giles congregation as I stated in last week’s notes. Melrose United helped St. Andrew’s start. St. Giles helped Emmanuel United Church on Upper Ottawa start. Not so close a connection as I thought between St. Giles and St. Andrew’s – those Scottish saints will do it to you every time.
6. Sunday June 20^th is our 7^th anniversary. Ward 3 Councillor Nrinder Nann has accepted our invitation to come speak as our guest at our worship gathering on that Sunday. Other pieces are in preparation, particularly around the day as the National Indigenous Day of Prayer.
7. With June being both Pride month and National Indigenous Heritage Month, the United Church of Canada is presenting a webinar called “Two-Spirit People: A Part of our Circle and our Teachings” on Monday, June 28 at 7 pm. Follow this link to register. It is free – brought to us by The UCC’s Mission and Service Fund.
8. This is the time of year Wesley gears up for Case for Kids, Wesley Urban Ministries largest annual fundraiser. In fact, this year marks 30 years for this event! Normally we’re all together at Bayfront Park, but just like last year, Case for Kids will be a June virtual campaign, and we’re being asked for our help in spreading the word and helping to make this year’s event a smash success for Wesley’s children and youth programs.
9. Here’s the video for this year’s Case for Kids: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZDRf__l7Ixs
10. Here is the webpage for the 2021 Case for Kids: http://www.wesley.ca/caseforkids2021.
11. We look forward in the weeks ahead to good progress in lowering the incident levels of COVID-19 infection so that the movement and gathering restrictions will be progressively relaxed. At this time I am sad to say this still means that New Vision folks without access to Zoom will have to wait for a while more to participate in person at 24 Main W in our Zoom worship gathering on Sundays. But we are getting close! I know those gathering on Zoom keenly miss those who have been gathering in person. I am looking forward to the day we can meet again in person, and I am sad that this is the second Easter we will not be able to gather in person as a Christian faith community.
12. 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.
13. You can also call in to the gathering on the telephone toll free. Call 1 855 703 8985, 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

Thurs June 3 2021

1. To begin the notes this week, I invite you to take the time to read this post by the Indigenous Ministries and Justice at The United Church of Canada: “Kamloops Residential School: A Time for Mourning and Support.”
2. This Sunday June 6 we celebrate the United Church of Canada National Pride Day with a gathering led by our Affirming Committee.
3. In addition, at 2 pm on June 6th, all are invited to join “We are One, We are Many: A Celebration of the Affirming Designations of Antler River Watershed, Horseshoe Falls, and Western Ontario Waterways Regional Councils” that same day, at 2 pm. Follow this Zoom link: https://united-church.zoom.us/j/92162978931
4. New Vision and our property redevelopment partner the United Property Resource Corporation will be holding a virtual town hall gathering on June 10th in which we consult with our neighbours and the community about options for our Holton Ave. S. campus. Please plan to attend one of the two gatherings: one from noon to 1:30- pm and the other from 6 pm to 7:30 pm.
5. To attend the Holton campus townhalls simply go to this website at 12 pm or 6 pm and click on the link that takes you into the meeting. There is no requirement to register. And send out invitations to those in your circle to join in. There will be virtual polls undertaken during the meeting. This is an opportunity for us to express our commitment in public to a value-aligned redevelopment of one of our heritage campuses.
6. On Sunday June 13 we are going to bear witness as a community to St. Andrew’s United Church on the mountain being recognized as an Affirming Ministry! Dixon Challoner will be presenting their Affirming Ministry certificate to them. We all will be attending St. Andrew’s in our usual way by gathering virtually at our usual time of 10:30 am in our virtual worship gathering on Zoom to take in their live stream service together.
7. St. Andrew’s was begun as a church start-up by the former St. Giles congregation. So, in a big way, this is totally a family celebration.
8. Sunday June 20^th is our 7^th anniversary. Ward 3 Councillor Nrinder Nann has accepted our invitation to come speak as our guest at our worship gathering on that Sunday.
9. Sunday June 20 is also Indigenous Day of Prayer, the Sunday before National Indigenous Peoples Day (June 21): an opportunity to celebrate First Nations, Inuit, and Métis peoples’ values, customs, languages, and culture. We will make this celebration part of our worship gathering on June 20, and Sunday June 28.
10. With June being both Pride month and National Indigenous Heritage Month, the United Church of Canada is presenting a webinar called “Two-Spirit People: A Part of our Circle and our Teachings” on Monday, June 28 at 7 pm. Follow this link to register. It is free – brought to us by The UCC’s Mission and Service Fund.
11. This is the time of year Wesley Urban Minstries gears up for Case for Kids, Wesley’s largest annual fundraiser. In fact, this year marks 30 years for this event! Normally we’re all together at Bayfront Park, but just like last year, Case for Kids will be a June virtual campaign, and we’re being asked for our help in spreading the word and helping to make this year’s event a smash success for Wesley’s children and youth programs.
12. Here’s the video for this year’s Case for Kids:
13. Here is the webpage for the 2021 Case for Kids: .
14. We look forward in the weeks ahead to good progress in lowering the incident levels of COVID-19 infection so that the movement and gathering restrictions will be progressively relaxed. At this time I am sad to say this still means that New Vision folks without access to Zoom will have to wait for a while more to participate in person at 24 Main W in our Zoom worship gathering on Sundays. But we are getting close! I know those gathering on Zoom keenly miss those who have been gathering in person. I am looking forward to the day we can meet again in person, and I am sad that this is the second Easter we will not be able to gather in person as a Christian faith community.
15. 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.
16. You can also call in to the gathering on the telephone toll free. Call 1 855 703 8985, 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