Fri Feb 3 2023
- This Sunday is the 5th Sunday after Epiphany and the first Sunday of the month. We’ll be launching Black History month and celebrating communion.
- As a special United In Learning event, join Affirm United and Affirming Connections to learn about the malicious misinformation campaign and threats that have been launched against the drag and 2SLGBTQ+ communities across Canada – and what you can do. Our panelists will address some of the dangerous myths circulating around drag, trans and other queer identities; look at recent Canadian online and in-person instances of anti 2SLGBTQ+ hate, some of which include Christian groups; and explain how these connect to wider hate, racist, and extremist movements. They will also share some ideas on what you and your community of faith can do to bring a faithful public response in your context. Registration through the United in Learning portal is free and required. Wednesday, February 15 8:00pm ET.
- You may remember that New Vision hosted a drag story-time before the pandemic in the Music Hall, organized by the Rainbow Collective. Here’s a photo.
- Several of us attended the Status for All rally for migrant worker citizenship rights in the Art Gallery of Hamilton forecourt Monday, Jan 23rd. The rally then demonstrated in front of the nearby hotel in which the federal cabinet was holding a winter retreat.
- The United Church is part of an ecumenical coalition supporting the regularization of migrant worker participation in Canadian society. You can read a letter from September 2022 to the Prime Minister of Canada from the coalition here. https://united-church.ca/news/ecumenical-partners-call-justice-migrant-workers
- Watch for more ways you can contribute to advocacy to have the federal government keep its promise to legislate pathways to permanent residency for migrant workers in this space.
- The 2023 Annual Meeting is scheduled for February 26th, the first Sunday of Lent. Please place this on your calendar and come attend in person if you can!
- Speaking of Lent, for those of you making plans for the Lenten season, both the printand the ebook versions of the 2023 United Church Lenten devotional, Good Courage: Daily Reflections on Hope are now available! Good Courage offers honest testimonies from people who have had the courage to follow their hearts, to hope against hope, and to faithfully work toward a better world. In this new book, you will find inspiring examples of practical and courageous hope in the midst of despair that deepen your spiritual experience of resurrection and new life. Edited by the Rev. Alydia Smith, this new Lenten devotional includes daily scripture, reflections, study questions, and prayers for individuals or groups. When you purchase the softcover edition of Good Courage, use code PLANAHEAD to receive one free 2023 Canadian Church Calendar! (Note: You must have both Good Courage and the 2023 Canadian Church Calendar added to your cart for the discount to apply to your order.) Offer valid while supplies last.
- With contagious COVID sub-variants still spreading in Hamilton, we encourage you to get the fourth vaccination now available to all adults. We will continue our current in-person gathering approach: i) we will form the circle again in the lower hall, distancing the seats by a metre for the time being. ii) people may join the circle if they are willing to wear a mask.
- The reason for the masks is that we will allow ourselves to sing, and masking reduces the distance air we expel travels with the increased effort singing.
- 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.
- 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