New Vision Notes for Thursday October 16, 2025

Welcome to a new edition of New Vision Notes! We are grateful to be reaching you each week. This Sunday is The 19th Sunday After Pentecost (World Food Sunday). Our service will be led by Natasha, Dixon and some other nice folks from our New Vision Community.

Worship will be in the Music Hall, starting this Sunday! Seun has made a helpful poster that explains how to get to the worship space:

You may have heard talk of a new sponsorship recently. It’s official! Our Council passed a motion at the end of July to privately sponsor our friend Sulah, the director of the Nature Network in Kenya. He has had to move away from the NN shelter to ensure his safety. We are currently getting the paperwork ready and are now raising money for this project so we can submit a sponsorship application to the UCC in the next few weeks.

Fundraising will happen in two stages. Stage 1: Our goal is to reach $10,000 in fund-raising by the time we send off his application in a few weeks. Stage 2 will continue until late 2026, when we will continue to fundraise to reach another $7000. Lots of prayers needed! Along with donations of any size.

If you feel so moved and are able to contribute to the sponsorship, please consider sending a tax-deductible donation to NVUC, ear-marked “Sponsorship” in a note or on a cheque.

Questions? Please ask a member of the Refugee Sponsorship Committee: Karen, Jen, Diane, Miriam, Dixon, Helen, and Yusi.

The 40 Days of Engagement on Anti-Racism have just begun. As always, though, you can participate at any time of year. Together, we will learn, pray and reflect on actions we can take as a faith community. Our Minute for Mission on Sunday will talk more about this meaningful time.

An important Immigration and Citizenship Petition is now available for everyone to sign. It’s goals are to:

1. Create dedicated and expedited immigration pathways for LGBTQ+ individuals who face systemic discrimination, loss of rights, or threats to safety in their countries of residence;

2. Expand the use of humanitarian and compassionate grounds in immigration decisions where LGBTQ+ rights are under direct attack; and

3. Publicly reaffirm Canada’s role as a safe haven for LGBTQ+ people worldwide, ensuring that Canadian immigration policy reflects this commitment

As an Affirming congregation, we hope all citizens and Permanent Residents will support this petition: https://www.ourcommons.ca/petitions/en/Petition/Details?Petition=e-6864

New members will be received on November 2! A new set of membership classes will start in the new year. Please stay tuned for more information later this year!

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.