New Vision Notes |
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Thursday July 31, 2025 Welcome to a new edition of New Vision Notes! We are grateful to be reaching you each week. This Sunday is the Eighth Sunday after Pentecost. Our worship (with communion) will be led Rev. Diane, Rev. Dr. Miriam, and other Dynamic folks from our New Vision community. Rev. Diane invites you to read the Book of Esther in the Old Testament before Sunday’s worship service, if you can, as she will preach on this book. PRIDE AT THE PIER is taking place at Pier 4 Park in Hamilton
When: Next Friday, August 8
5:00 to 8 pm
Saturday, August 9
11:00 am to 7 pm
General Council to Present Apology to 2S and LGBTQIA+ Communities on August 8 A special worship service to offer a living apology to 2S and LGBTQIA+ communities. The service will be held at Knox United Church, 506 4 St. SW, Calgary, Alberta at 11 am ET (9 am MT), on Friday, August 8. The service is open to anyone who would like to attend in person; it will also be available on Zoom, with live interpretation in English and French. The road has not been smooth, and the church has not always accepted 2S and LGBTQIA+ people. The living apology is one way to acknowledge the many shortcomings and the harm the church has caused, while also continuing to build toward a world of radical love and affirming people of all identities. For more information and to register for the service on Zoom click here: https://united-church.ca/news/general-council-present-apology-2s-and-lgbtqia-communities-august-8 In preparation for the 2S LGBTQ+ United Church Apology on August 8, 2025, please consider watching this 45 minute Iridesce Theatre Presentation in three acts. All the words of the script have emerged from the Iridesce Project, and are the memories and words of Iridesce participants. It was presented at General Council 43 in 2018.
The play starts just before our 1988 vote to welcome gay and lesbian people in membership and eligibility for ministry in our church. The play respectfully dramatizes some of the struggles and challenges some in our church faced around this vote. The play continues by sharing how communities of faith, church members and leaders were affected. Through engaging scenes, the play then explores the ongoing struggle that some allies and LGBTQ2+ ministers, students, lay people and youth continue to face in our United Church communities of faith. We leave as people of hope, hearing compassionate responses and ideas about forming a living apology. We ask: how we can celebrate 1988 while we heal the wounds of the past that we, as church, share.
Iridesce: The Living Apology Project is a joint project of Affirm United/S’affirmer Ensemble and The United Church of Canada. It is funded by Mission & Service.
Affirm United is a proud partner of the United Church of Canada for the support of all gender identities and sexual orientations. A new project, called “Reaffirm,” is conducting a phone and in-person survey of people who have faced religious trauma for Two-Spirit and LGBTQ+ individuals. They will be creating resources for communities of faith with resources based off this project. There is a QR code on the bulletin board at the back of the Lower Hall for you to scan for more information, or you may visit the links below: Survey for story collecting: https://forms.gle/HWg3NzTfq9fcFU778
Website: https://affirmunited.ause.ca
One of the first “united” churches in the world, The United Church of Canada is rooted in Deep Spirituality, Bold Discipleship, and Daring Justice. Since its inception, the church has been the first for many milestones as the first mainstream church in Canada to ordain women and 2SLGBTQIA+ peoples. We are committed to reconciliation and Indigenous justice and to becoming an anti-racist church. For more information, or to subscribe to weekly updates, see: https://100unitedyears.ca
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. Together, let’s celebrate the gifts and graces of all! |
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