Wow this summer flew by so quickly! Our New Direction community enjoyed connecting with regular Gatherings, BBQ’s, film screenings, and a live performance play this summer. Our wonderful team of contributors for our arts initiative, The Space Between, offered poetry, stories, and photography. We participated in panel discussions and interviews. We spoke at camp and preached in churches. We joined national leaders for discussion. We filmed a new resource for congregations. We welcomed new staff members.  

In this newsletter we want to share some of the incredible stories that emerged from all of this activity. And we want to invite you to look forward with us to the amazing opportunities in front of us.

And while it is great to share all of this excitement with you, we never want to lose sight of the deeper reality.  Events, connections, new opportunities – every single activity of New Direction is connected to our desire to nurture safe and spacious places for sexual minority people to explore and grow in their faith in Jesus Christ. We long for Jesus to be glorified through our relational ministry with LGBTQ+ friends and through our service to the church. We are animated by the good news that Jesus has accomplished the work of reconciliation and given it to creation as a free gift of his grace. The freedom, the joy, the love that we experience in our community comes through the humble confidence that Jesus has made a way for us to be right with God!

There are many people in our community who are struggling with various challenges: mental health, living situations, employment, isolation, shame, and fear. We want to stand up to these challenges, offering light in these dark places, by serving one another, sharing with one another, helping one another. What a joy to see people in our community imagining new possibilities to share resources, to come along-side, to lighten the load.  This is the good news of the gospel being lived out in tangible form. This is Christ’s life in us.

Shalom,

‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’ ~ Matthew 25:34-36

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RE2014 will be our 9th annual friend-fund-raising event for New Direction. RE is an evening with lots of stories, laughter, food, and conversation. It is the perfect opportunity to introduce new friends to the amazing community God is building through New Direction. 

This year we will be holding multiple events in different geographic locales in Ontario:

(Look for a Relevant Engagement in London, ON early in 2015). For more details and to RSVP check out our events page. We look forward to seeing you!

Imagine four people in a van visiting 11 cities over three weeks. The New Direction staff are planning a Generous Spaciousness Tour from Toronto all the way to the west coast and back! In many of the cities we are planning two events: a public Generous Spaciousness Conversation evening and a half-day Leaders Connection. Every church, in every region, needs to be reflecting on how to navigate faithful mission and ministry with sexual minority people. Our prayer is that the New Direction team, through sharing stories, presenting generous spaciousness, and catalyzing conversation, will be able to serve many churches across Canada (and even a few in the U.S.).

Look for your city on the November calendar of our events page. We will be posting confirmed venues and if you don’t see something for your city yet, email us with your ideas: info@newdirection.ca

We covet your prayers as we prepare for this tour!

 

a special prayer of blessing at the toronto gathering
 

In June of 2012 a small group of friends of New Direction met to brainstorm and pray about the possibility of a regular gathering. The dream was a safe and spacious place for followers of Jesus who felt marginalized or limited in the church. A place where lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and questioning folks could connect with other friends and allies. A place where Jesus would be central and where love for Christ would transcend other differences or uncertainties. 

That September a small group began to gather the second and fourth Wednesdays of the month in someone’s home. The group quickly grew out of the home space and moved to a church in downtown Toronto. In January of 2014, a new group began in the Mississauga/Oakville area. This group meets in a home on the first and third Wednesdays of the month and has also continued to grow. These small communities have been enriched by the annual retreats that New Direction has hosted the last two years. The next Generous Spaciousness Retreat will be March 5 – 8, 2015.

Now that Beth Carlson-Malena is in place as our new Director of Community, we are looking forward to launching new gathering groups.  Each group is an organic, unique experienced based on the people God draws together.  While the structure is flexible, the priorities continue to be worshipping Jesus together, sharing and praying for each other, and having robust discussion that respects the core values of generous spaciousness:  humility, hospitality, mutuality, and justice.

We are currently looking at the Durham area and the Hamilton region for potential new launches.  If you are interested in connecting with these groups, please email beth@newdirection.ca. You can also contact Beth if you’d like to see something start in your own city.



 

With thanks to all who contributed to our IndieGoGo campaign, we are pleased to announce that we have released our fifth video project!  Many churches find themselves in the tension of theological diversity on matters of sexuality, accountability to denominations, relationships with LGBTQ people, and a desire to engage in effective mission in their local context.  The position of, “The Bible says its sin – end of discussion” isn’t reflective of their community – and – the position of, “To each his own” also fails to represent the convictions and values of the community.  Somewhere between these extremes they are seeking to be faithful to the call to share good news with all people and to the authority of Scripture.  This new resource brings together five pastors who have taken the risk to wade into the midst of these tensions.  In the video, they share lessons learned, best practices, and mistakes to avoid.  Each pastor comes from a unique context – and this conversation is sure to illumine and inspire other congregations.  The digital download of this resource is now available in our online store!


a behind the scenes shot of the conversation