New Vision Notes for Thursday November 20, 2025

Welcome to a new edition of New Vision Notes! We are grateful to be reaching you each week. This Sunday is Reign of Christ Sunday. Our service will be led by Erick, along with other excellent folks from our New Vision Community.

Worship will be upstairs in the Music Hall during renovations! Please enter through the door at the corner of Main and MacNab. Seun has made a helpful poster that you may download by clicking here.

Our new Accessible Viewing Room is open!! Because of our current building renovations, our current worship space is not as accessible as we would like. In response to this, we invite anyone with any mobility needs to view worship from our Accessible Viewing Room. A large-screen tv provides a clear view of the service, and there is a coffee / tea station in the room as well as the weekly Prayers of the People sheet. Enter through the red pillar doors off MacNab St. The space will be open from 10am to the conclusion of the service.

On this day, we honour those we’ve lost too soon from violence against the Trans community. The Transgender Day of Remembrance Service will be held tonight at Westdale United Church (99 North Oval, Hamilton) at 7pm. You may download the flyer by clicking here.

Our friends, À La Mode Choir will be in concert again soon! Don’t miss “Made In Canada”, featuring choral music from coast to coast! The concert will be on Saturday December 6th, 7:30pm at Melrose United Church (86 Homewood Ave), and it will feature New Vision’s very own Martine, Erick and Pippa, along with many other amazingly talented folks. Please see Pippa, Erick or Martine for tickets!

We will continue to gather items for Wesley for Christmas. These items will go to the Christmas store on December 7 and December 14. All items must be new.

Gift cards $25- Walmart grocery stores. Dollarama. Giant Tiger
Gloves and socks men, women, children
Linens : towels, sheets and blankets queen size and double
Kitchen: Microwaves. Toasters. Toaster ovens. Electric kettles. Blenders. Air friers

Rev. Dr. Miriam is willing to host a book study in the new year (Jan/Feb over Zoom). We would be reading “Serving Money, Serving God – Aligning Radical Justice, Christian Practice, and Church Life” by Sheryl Johnson. She talks about stewardship in very helpful ways… many of which fit with who/what New Vision is/wants to be.

The publisher offers a discount on 10 or more, so if we get that many interested it would be about $24 but if that’s inaccessible to you, let Miriam know!

Dates are to be set. For now, please email Miriam (miriam.spies@gmail.com) if you’re interested or speak with her about it by November 30th!

Our application to sponsor Sulah to settle in Canada has been submitted to the Refugee Program Coordinator at the UCC, and she sent it to the next Canadian authority. Thank you, everyone, for your support in getting us this far! Now we have to wait until we hear about the next step, which is that his application is forwarded to the Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) authorities overseas. But we and Sulah reached a significant milestone on the journey this week. Prayers of thankfulness and ongoing blessing are in order!

In the new year, we will continue fundraising until we reach the target amount set by the Refugee Sponsorship and Training Program (the Canadian government’s advisory agency for sponsors).

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.

Collect gently used clothing, household goods, or books and other media.
Bring it to church with you in boxes or bags on Sunday OR
Call Helen for porch pickup @ (905) 807-2319
Helen Bradley will collect the goods and store them until our Dec. 1 drop off to Value Village.
We will get paid a set price per lb. for all your donations.
All proceeds for Refugee Sponsorship Fund.
Help us reach our goal of $1500!

For more information about the FUNdrive, please click here to download the flyer. (Printed flyers are available at church)

These beautiful calendars that feature images from our United Church communities are available to order for only $10 each! Please see Arlene after worship if you would like to purchase one.

The 40 Days of Engagement on Anti-Racism event is nearing conclusion. As always, you can participate at any time of year. Together, we will learn, pray and reflect on actions we can take as a faith community.

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

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.