New Vision Notes for Thursday December 5, 2024

Welcome to a new edition of New Vision Notes! We are grateful to be reaching your inbox each week. This coming Sunday is the Second Sunday of Advent! Our worship will be led by Dan, Deb, and other fabulous folks from our New Vision Community.

***Change in Entry Door Location !***

Fire: At 3:30am yesterday, a fire was started in a window grate in the alley outside of the Yellow Room. The fire spread to the foundation and the area under the window began to burn. Fortunately, the Fire Department arrived within 6 minutes of the fire alarm activation, with Luke arriving to the scene shortly thereafter to provide them with access to all parts of the building. The damage was contained to the Yellow Room, and although the area smells like a campfire, Luke has turned on extraction fans to clear the odour as much as possible. Fortunately, the church is safe to use and no one was injured during this incident. Your patience is appreciated while we file an insurance claim and work begins to restore the damaged area.

On Monday December 2 at the Toronto School of Theology. Rev. Miriam successfully defended her PhD thesis entitled “A Crip Incarnational Model of Ministry,” and became the Rev. Dr. Miriam Spies! Rev. Diane was present for the defence as well as two colleagues in the PhD program. Together, they enjoyed a celebratory lunch with her committee! The convocation ceremony will happen at Emmanuel College in May 2025. She is away attending General Council meetings in Calgary as well as seeing family. And here is an excerpt from her acknowledgments:

I have much gratitude for the communities that taught and nurtured my faith, people with whom I learned how my crip body felt at home in the Christ community: Ayers’ Cliff-Magog PC, Bowman and Bethesda PC (Ancaster, ON), Jerseyville United, St. Andrew’s United (Bow Island, AB), Carlisle-Kilbride PC, Trinity St. Paul’s (Toronto, ON), and Five Oaks’ Retreat Centre (Paris, ON). I was confirmed as a member, and later, discerned my call to ministry at St. Paul’s United (Dundas, ON). As I prepared for ordination, my crip body found places to offer and grow in my leadership at St. Matthew’s United (Toronto, ON) and Three Willows United (Guelph, ON). I am grateful to the community of St. Paul’s whose imagination to appoint me as a minister afforded me the privilege of a role in welcoming God’s love and nurturing faith in the lives of children and families. While in the PhD program, I became part of a circle of leadership at New Vision United (Hamilton, ON), whom I thank for the privilege of collaborating in the sharing of God’s Word and in the presiding at Christ’s table.

It’s Advent, which means it’s time for us to participate in the annual Wesley Holiday Drive! This Sunday, December 8th is the last Sunday we will be collecting gifts for Wesley under our Christmas Tree. Some of their most requested items are:

Everyone is invited to attend a Presentation on Refugee Law for African LGBTQ Claimants which will take place in the Lower Hall this Sunday, December 8th (following worship) from 12:30 to 2:00pm. Lunch/snacks will be provided for those attending.

Christmas is a time when many are decorating, going to parties, and making merry. These things are all important, fun and good, AND some of us may find it hard to enter into the spirit of the season. Maybe we are far from our home country, have experienced the death of a beloved person or pet, are distanced or estranged from family, navigating mental or physical illness, or just doing our best to survive in the current economic and political landscape. If this is you, New Vision welcomes you at our Blue Christmas Service on Tuesday December 17th at 6:30pm, whether in-person or by Zoom (we will use the regular Sunday worship link found at the bottom of this newsletter). The service is a quiet, contemplative time of Scripture, carols, and ritual, in a space of shared grief, loss, remembrance, and hope. “Just who you are, with the way that you’re feeling, is fine. You don’t have to be anything more than who you are right now.” – Fred Rogers

This Advent, KAIROS is issuing a Call for Prayer for Palestine, inviting you to join in collective prayer every day at noon, wherever you are in the world. Together, let us lift our voices to God, seeking justice, peace, and hope for Palestine and Palestinians, especially in these extremely difficult times.

Please click here to view and save the prayer. Please consider sharing it with your personal networks and community. Through the unity of our prayers, we affirm our faith in the transformative power of God’s love, standing in solidarity with those who yearn for freedom and justice.

Our friends at Melrose United Church (86 Homewood Ave) have invited us to join them for their special Advent services. Please consider attending:

This year, Christmas eve dinner will be held after our annual Christmas Eve worship service on Tuesday, Dec. 24th. Volunteers are needed in the following roles: shopping, food prep., cooking, clean-up crew. We are also looking for a few folks to bring in cooked & prepared dishes that can be reheated well on Christmas eve. Please contact Jen Hompoth on Sunday or on Whatsapp for more details.

2025 Subscriptions for the United Church’s Broadview Magazine are now available! For only $30, you can receive this excellent publication in your mail for a full year! To subscribe, please see Arlene or leave $30 in an envelope with your name/address and “Broadview Subscription” written on it and place it in the collection plate during the offering. (If you haven’t read an issue of Broadview, there are a limited number of copies available on the table at the back of our worship space each Sunday at no cost for our community to share).

A Song of Faith – A Song of Faith, adopted in 2006, seeks to provide a verbal picture of what The United Church of Canada understands its faith to be in the historical, political, social, and theological context of the early 21st century. It is also a means of ongoing reflection and an invitation for the church to live out its convictions in relation to the world in which we live. Please click here to view (and/or download) this important literature.

Would you like to try leading a worship service? Our worship team is looking for some folks to consider leading worship. It’s a fun and meaningful way to contribute to our faith community! Please reach out to Julie or Dan to learn more about putting a service together.

Enjoy Daily scripture readings from The Revised Common Lectionary: This three-year cycle of scripture readings is used by most churches in Canada and the US. Let the Word inspire you by visiting https://lectionary.library.vanderbilt.edu/daily.php?year=B#id79

You’re invited! Join us on Sunday mornings 10:30 am week to week either in person at 24 Main St. W. or on Zoom by clicking here. The link is: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/782292511. If you’re on Facebook, you may also want to consider joining our New Vision United Community Group , where we post updates and share with one another online.