New Vision Notes for Thursday March 6, 2025

Welcome to a new edition of New Vision Notes! We are grateful to be reaching you each week. This coming Sunday we mark the First Sunday in Lent. Our worship will be led by Deb, Dan, Judith, and other fantastic folks from our New Vision Community.

New Vision needs to do some repair work on the building exterior! For everyone’s safety, some parts of the sidewalk around our building are now closed. Please continue to use the accessible door on the corner of Main and MacNab (close to our illuminated sign).

This Saturday evening, don’t forget to set your clocks ahead one hour! Daylight Savings Time is upon us once more!

Right now in Alberta, a small town’s government is threatening to close and relocate a library that is known as a safe haven of social justice and diversity. In response we intend to mail paper hearts with messages of love, hope, and solidarity to the folks at the Valleyview Municipal Library. We will have the hearts in our worship space until March 16th, so you may take a moment to share your messages of love. To learn more about this ‘shadow war on libraries’, please check out this informative article from Fifth Estate: https://www.cbc.ca/newsinteractives/features/a-shadow-war-on-libraries

PIE Day is March 14, a time to celebrate the full inclusion of Two Spirit and LGBTQIA+ people in communities of faith and beyond, across Canada.

The theme for PIE Day 2025 is “Sing Out Proud”! With Two Spirit and LGBTQIA+ rights under threat, it’s more important than ever to show your support. Join Moderator Carmen Lansdowne as we highlight the incredible affirming work happening across the United Church and lift our voices in song. Discover the inspiring submissions from the PIE Day song contest and find ways to take action. Visit PieDay.ca and Affirmunited.Ause.ca to learn more.

The Ecumenical Week of Guided Prayer and Spiritual Exploration will be held March 16 to 22, online or in person. The Week of Guided Prayer and Spiritual Exploration is an opportunity to enrich your spiritual life and deepen your relationship with God. We hope you can join us.
Information and registration online at www.guidedprayer.ca until March 9.

It Didn’t Start on October 7: Zionism and its Victims: United Network for Justice and Peace in Palestine and Israel is presenting a series of one-hour illustrated talks that trace Zionist / Israeli efforts to take the land of historic Palestine, dispossess the Palestinian inhabitants, and deny them fundamental human rights and self determination. Each talk is 60 minutes followed by 30 minutes of Q/A and discussion. The talks are introductory and non-academic and are suitable for anyone who wants to learn more. No prior knowledge of the history of Palestine / Israel is necessary. The talks were originally given at an Islamic Centre in BC in 2024. To register, please visit https://tinyurl.com/zy9k73kn

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.