Since the new year I've received a couple of notifications for comments on this blog. Funny thing was, I'd more or less forgotten it existed! So, after a bit of trial-and-error guesswork, I managed to get the right user/pass combo and here I am.
Perhaps an update is in order! Obviously I'm not visiting new churches every Sunday anymore (otherwise I'd have been writing all about it, of course). After my last post, I spent about a year attending Oasis Community Church (click here for my original impressions), about which I'll probably write another post, hopefully soon. After that I began attending CMU (Canadian Mennonite University), at which point I kind of dropped off of the church-going map; instead I attended CMU's chapel services and participated in a fellowship group, so for a while CMU became my church.
This past year I spent a solid five months abroad in Europe, living in France while my girlfriend studied at the Universite d'Avignon. While there I didn't attend church regularly, but I had the phenomenal opportunity to spend a week in Taize, which is a monastic community that hosts week-long retreats, primarily for youth. It was an amazing week, which I described in some detail on my other blog.
Finally, to the present. Once again I find myself at that stage where I'd very much like to find a church. But not only that, I strongly feel the need to become part of a vibrant, active faith community. I haven't quite decided where I'm going to start; chances are I'll go back and read some of my old posts, and maybe try a few new churches over the next couple of months. I'll also be talking to some of my friends (those few church-goers), to see where they've made their home.
Long story short, hopefully I'll begin posting here again.
Until next time!
-Brock
Monday, July 29, 2013
Sunday, May 2, 2010
Waverley Fellowship Baptist Church
Sunday May 2, 2010, 10:00 am
Waverley Fellowship Baptist Church, 2171 Waverley St.
I'm going to apologize if any of this is incoherent, I had a bit of a late night and an early morning. No double vision to report yet. I pass Waverley Baptist every time I go to the University of Manitoba, but I never checked it out until now. It's a big building with a huge stage inside (only the right half was actually used during the service) and quite possibly the comfiest chairs ever.
I was greeted twice walking in and handed a visitor card to fill out (free pen!) Then I headed into the sanctuary. There was actually a decent mix of the young and the old, and maybe 150 people there. The pre-service announcements (including a plug for the wonderful "Love Winnipeg" program) seemed to take forever, though it might have just seemed that way since as I mentioned it was taking an inordinate amount of energy to concentrate and not fall asleep.
A small worship band (guitar, bongos, piano, 2 singers) led some nice music to start the service and then Rev. Mark took the stage. The message this morning seemed pretty long and at times repetitive, but the gist of it was actually kind of neat. He talked about the Jewish "Shema," Deuteronomy 6:4-9 which talks about putting God first "when you lie down and when you rise." It is the original staement of "Love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might," and was recited fastidiously by Jews in Jesus' time. Mark talked about these ideas for a bit and then concluded by noting that Jesus does something unprecedented: he adds to the single greatest commandment in the law when he says "you shall love your neighbor as yourself" (Matt. 22:39). Thus not only does he express the weight of his two commandments, he also displays the fact that he is God by amending God's law. It was an interesting message.
The offering went around, the worship band played a couple more songs and we took communion before Mark came back onstage and wished us well for the week. I had to hurry out because I felt a nap fast approaching, but I must say I did feel welcomed there. People sat near me with no hesitation and there were empty seats elsewhere. All in all a nice, unremarkable church but one that I might be tempted to learn more about.
http://www.mywaverley.com/
Waverley Fellowship Baptist Church, 2171 Waverley St.
I'm going to apologize if any of this is incoherent, I had a bit of a late night and an early morning. No double vision to report yet. I pass Waverley Baptist every time I go to the University of Manitoba, but I never checked it out until now. It's a big building with a huge stage inside (only the right half was actually used during the service) and quite possibly the comfiest chairs ever.
I was greeted twice walking in and handed a visitor card to fill out (free pen!) Then I headed into the sanctuary. There was actually a decent mix of the young and the old, and maybe 150 people there. The pre-service announcements (including a plug for the wonderful "Love Winnipeg" program) seemed to take forever, though it might have just seemed that way since as I mentioned it was taking an inordinate amount of energy to concentrate and not fall asleep.
A small worship band (guitar, bongos, piano, 2 singers) led some nice music to start the service and then Rev. Mark took the stage. The message this morning seemed pretty long and at times repetitive, but the gist of it was actually kind of neat. He talked about the Jewish "Shema," Deuteronomy 6:4-9 which talks about putting God first "when you lie down and when you rise." It is the original staement of "Love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might," and was recited fastidiously by Jews in Jesus' time. Mark talked about these ideas for a bit and then concluded by noting that Jesus does something unprecedented: he adds to the single greatest commandment in the law when he says "you shall love your neighbor as yourself" (Matt. 22:39). Thus not only does he express the weight of his two commandments, he also displays the fact that he is God by amending God's law. It was an interesting message.
The offering went around, the worship band played a couple more songs and we took communion before Mark came back onstage and wished us well for the week. I had to hurry out because I felt a nap fast approaching, but I must say I did feel welcomed there. People sat near me with no hesitation and there were empty seats elsewhere. All in all a nice, unremarkable church but one that I might be tempted to learn more about.
http://www.mywaverley.com/
Sunday, April 25, 2010
The Table
Sunday April 25, 2010 10:30 am
The Table (Inside The Academy); 437 Stradbrook ave.
After my adventures through South Africa and a whole whack of fascinating and diverse churches, I was fairly secure in the notion that there was nothing left in Winnipeg capable of surprising me. God in His wisdom decided that wasn't an acceptable state of affairs.
Enter The Table. When I heard that there was a church held inside The Academy I didn't believe it. The Academy is a longstanding bar and eatery that recently moved into larger accommodations in Winnipeg's hip Osborne Village. Walking up there was no signage indicating that there was a church there, and I lingered at the door until I could follow somebody in.
A handful of people were milling around in the empty restaurant having coffee and dainties and if it wasn't for the logo projected on the wall of the stage, I would've thought it was The Academy any morning of the week. The moment I walked in I was warmly greeted and by the five minute mark I think I'd been introduced to just about everybody in the place. I met the pastor, who invited me to talk sometime, and chatted with people about my year and the church's history (though I didn't find out where they stand theologically).
The service began with a sort of gong-bowl calling people to worship. Some people stood in the open area in front of the stage, some sat on the bar stools around the periphery and some in the restaurant area in the back. It was a kind of informal church I'd never seen before. People still had their coffee cups and someone went around with refills periodically. A fellow with a guitar and a female singer led the music for the service.
Let's talk about the music, because that's what I like to do. Throughout the service there were a couple of worship songs I recognized, a converted hymn and a modified Taize chant that accompanied communion (which was open to everyone). Of course if I was having trouble before figuring out what this church is about, after seeing the diversity of music I was lost (but certainly not in a bad way. I loved it).
A guest speaker (I've forgotten his name) did the sermon. The first few minutes were spent expanding on the concept of water and I really had no idea where he was going. Then he started talking about the woman at the well (John 4) and it kind of made sense, since Jesus used a metaphor of living water. Then the speaker said a whole bunch of things that I really, really liked. Direct quote: "So Jesus knows all of my shit, and it's a good thing? ...Yes." He said that when the Samaritan woman went to her village and presented the fact that Jesus knew everything about her - including her sordid past - as a good thing, it serves to show us that yes, Jesus knows all of our shit and still loves us. There are two sides to Jesus, he said, that can indeed coexist: the holy side and the honest side. I've got to say that this resonated with me.
He ended the sermon talking about how we use placebos for the "living water" of Jesus; how things like consumerism and substance abuse can be tied back to a deep need for fulfillment and love, replacements for the love of God. He also said, however, that Jesus Himself is often used as a placebo: we assume that Jesus will make everything in our lives good, a "five-minute fix," when instead life is a journey that consists of good and bad. Jesus is not here to make everything fine. He's going to do that later. He's here right now to walk with us on our journey, through whatever may come.
Anyway. Excepting the beginning, one of the best sermons I've heard. At the end the speaker led a prayer exercise, playing some music and water images and inviting us up to the front to place a stone in a jug of water, the stone representing a placebo or something bad that we need to bring to God and get rid of. I really, really like that kind of experimental worship and prayer.
I talked to some more people at the end of the service, got invited to a barbecue (but had to decline) and left feeling really good. I'll definitely be going back, hopefully in about a month. I forgot to mention, the congregation was about thirty people and very diverse. The bulk of it was younger (20s to early 30s) couples with a few older folks thrown in. One child under the age of 18. What a cool morning.
http://www.thetablewinnipeg.com/The_Table/Home.html
The Table (Inside The Academy); 437 Stradbrook ave.
After my adventures through South Africa and a whole whack of fascinating and diverse churches, I was fairly secure in the notion that there was nothing left in Winnipeg capable of surprising me. God in His wisdom decided that wasn't an acceptable state of affairs.
Enter The Table. When I heard that there was a church held inside The Academy I didn't believe it. The Academy is a longstanding bar and eatery that recently moved into larger accommodations in Winnipeg's hip Osborne Village. Walking up there was no signage indicating that there was a church there, and I lingered at the door until I could follow somebody in.
A handful of people were milling around in the empty restaurant having coffee and dainties and if it wasn't for the logo projected on the wall of the stage, I would've thought it was The Academy any morning of the week. The moment I walked in I was warmly greeted and by the five minute mark I think I'd been introduced to just about everybody in the place. I met the pastor, who invited me to talk sometime, and chatted with people about my year and the church's history (though I didn't find out where they stand theologically).
The service began with a sort of gong-bowl calling people to worship. Some people stood in the open area in front of the stage, some sat on the bar stools around the periphery and some in the restaurant area in the back. It was a kind of informal church I'd never seen before. People still had their coffee cups and someone went around with refills periodically. A fellow with a guitar and a female singer led the music for the service.
Let's talk about the music, because that's what I like to do. Throughout the service there were a couple of worship songs I recognized, a converted hymn and a modified Taize chant that accompanied communion (which was open to everyone). Of course if I was having trouble before figuring out what this church is about, after seeing the diversity of music I was lost (but certainly not in a bad way. I loved it).
A guest speaker (I've forgotten his name) did the sermon. The first few minutes were spent expanding on the concept of water and I really had no idea where he was going. Then he started talking about the woman at the well (John 4) and it kind of made sense, since Jesus used a metaphor of living water. Then the speaker said a whole bunch of things that I really, really liked. Direct quote: "So Jesus knows all of my shit, and it's a good thing? ...Yes." He said that when the Samaritan woman went to her village and presented the fact that Jesus knew everything about her - including her sordid past - as a good thing, it serves to show us that yes, Jesus knows all of our shit and still loves us. There are two sides to Jesus, he said, that can indeed coexist: the holy side and the honest side. I've got to say that this resonated with me.
He ended the sermon talking about how we use placebos for the "living water" of Jesus; how things like consumerism and substance abuse can be tied back to a deep need for fulfillment and love, replacements for the love of God. He also said, however, that Jesus Himself is often used as a placebo: we assume that Jesus will make everything in our lives good, a "five-minute fix," when instead life is a journey that consists of good and bad. Jesus is not here to make everything fine. He's going to do that later. He's here right now to walk with us on our journey, through whatever may come.
Anyway. Excepting the beginning, one of the best sermons I've heard. At the end the speaker led a prayer exercise, playing some music and water images and inviting us up to the front to place a stone in a jug of water, the stone representing a placebo or something bad that we need to bring to God and get rid of. I really, really like that kind of experimental worship and prayer.
I talked to some more people at the end of the service, got invited to a barbecue (but had to decline) and left feeling really good. I'll definitely be going back, hopefully in about a month. I forgot to mention, the congregation was about thirty people and very diverse. The bulk of it was younger (20s to early 30s) couples with a few older folks thrown in. One child under the age of 18. What a cool morning.
http://www.thetablewinnipeg.com/The_Table/Home.html
Saturday, April 24, 2010
The Madcap Returns
Hey all
You may have noticed I've been a bit silent lately. For good reason, I promise you: I just returned from a 3-month trip to South Africa with the Outtatown discipleship school based out of Winnipeg's CMU. It was an absolutely phenomenal experience.
Anyhow, since I've still yet to find a home church I'll still be attending different churches, and I figure why not keep up with my posting too. I'm definitely more on the lookout for a home church than I was before, perhaps evidenced by the fact that I repeated two churches (though I didn't blog about them) over the Christmas holidays: Bethel Mennonite and Oasis.
Anyhow, I'm looking forward to getting back into the swing of things and exploring more of the faith communities Winnipeg has to offer. I saw some pretty cool worship in Africa; a gospel church in a city called Soweto officially set my record for longest service, clocking at 3 and a half hours (and we left early). It was also one of the coolest services I've ever been to: so much singing and praising, and a spirit of joy in worship that I've never found anywhere else.
I wrote some notes in my journal whenever we went to church in SA, so I might compile them later into a post of their own.
Continuing on the journey,
-Brock
You may have noticed I've been a bit silent lately. For good reason, I promise you: I just returned from a 3-month trip to South Africa with the Outtatown discipleship school based out of Winnipeg's CMU. It was an absolutely phenomenal experience.
Anyhow, since I've still yet to find a home church I'll still be attending different churches, and I figure why not keep up with my posting too. I'm definitely more on the lookout for a home church than I was before, perhaps evidenced by the fact that I repeated two churches (though I didn't blog about them) over the Christmas holidays: Bethel Mennonite and Oasis.
Anyhow, I'm looking forward to getting back into the swing of things and exploring more of the faith communities Winnipeg has to offer. I saw some pretty cool worship in Africa; a gospel church in a city called Soweto officially set my record for longest service, clocking at 3 and a half hours (and we left early). It was also one of the coolest services I've ever been to: so much singing and praising, and a spirit of joy in worship that I've never found anywhere else.
I wrote some notes in my journal whenever we went to church in SA, so I might compile them later into a post of their own.
Continuing on the journey,
-Brock
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
"Adore" at Glad Tidings Pentecostal
Sunday Nov. 15, 2009 6:30 pm
"Adore" at Glad Tidings Pentecostal Church, 1800 Quadra St. Victoria BC
Pastor Andy Moore
So I found myself in Victoria this past Sunday, a beautiful city for anyone wondering. "Adore" is a youth-based evening offshoot of the Glad Tidings Pentecostal Church in Victoria BC. The building looks potentially old-fashioned from the outside, but inside for "Adore" it's transformed, with four jumbo-screens, a coffee center and lots of information centers. And little mini-bibles all over the place.
My first thoughts were "holy shit, this church has a mascot," and in fact it has not one, but two giant "child" mascots who lead the kids off to children's time or Sunday school or whatever you choose to call it. It was something I've absolutely never seen before.
This church probably had about 2-300 people and bar none the largest population of youth I've seen in any church. Makes sense, since the program was started with youth in mind. There were a few families and even a couple of older folk out, but the youth were dominant.
The service started with about 20 minutes of songs from the worship band. The band played well; the singers were both a bit lacking but they were enthusiastic in their worship. My only question mark was that the worship band had a "look," all wearing the same style of low-neck t-shirt et cetera. I'll leave that one without comment, just saying that my eyebrows raised a bit.
After that there was an offering, and I always love it when they encourage the visitors not to feel pressured to give, which I think is extremely considerate and often overlooked in churches who seem to assume that the congregation all knows what's going on.
Then Pastor Andy took the stage. He was what I have now come to consider the "norm" for the hip, young pastor: silk shirt, designer jeans, gelled hair. It almost feels like a new pastor stereotype is being formed: we all have the image of the old-time pastor in black with the white collar, or the older fellow in a suit. Now we have the guy with the styled hair in a dress shirt.
He spoke well, if a tad frenetically, continuing the established theme of "Text Me," in which the church is taking a look at the Bible. Pastor Andy talked today about the reliability of the Bible. He pulled out a few interesting statistics (the chances of Jesus having fulfilled all of the prophesys that he did are approximately 100,000,000,000,000,000 to 1), analyzed the Bible according to a system for evaluating the historical accuracy of academic texts and even talked about archaeology and the Bible. It was interesting stuff; not terribly in-depth or scientifically solid (understandable given the time constraints) but it was thought-provoking, so I think it did its job.
Pastor Andy prayed and the worship band played a couple more songs to end the evening. I did enjoy myself and I enjoyed the pastor's message and the absolute influx of youth. I always find a certain amount of ego inherent in these band-and-jumbotron-based churches and this one had it in particular. But it also had literally over a hundred youth.
Hm.
http://adorevictoria.blogspot.com/
"Adore" at Glad Tidings Pentecostal Church, 1800 Quadra St. Victoria BC
Pastor Andy Moore
So I found myself in Victoria this past Sunday, a beautiful city for anyone wondering. "Adore" is a youth-based evening offshoot of the Glad Tidings Pentecostal Church in Victoria BC. The building looks potentially old-fashioned from the outside, but inside for "Adore" it's transformed, with four jumbo-screens, a coffee center and lots of information centers. And little mini-bibles all over the place.
My first thoughts were "holy shit, this church has a mascot," and in fact it has not one, but two giant "child" mascots who lead the kids off to children's time or Sunday school or whatever you choose to call it. It was something I've absolutely never seen before.
This church probably had about 2-300 people and bar none the largest population of youth I've seen in any church. Makes sense, since the program was started with youth in mind. There were a few families and even a couple of older folk out, but the youth were dominant.
The service started with about 20 minutes of songs from the worship band. The band played well; the singers were both a bit lacking but they were enthusiastic in their worship. My only question mark was that the worship band had a "look," all wearing the same style of low-neck t-shirt et cetera. I'll leave that one without comment, just saying that my eyebrows raised a bit.
After that there was an offering, and I always love it when they encourage the visitors not to feel pressured to give, which I think is extremely considerate and often overlooked in churches who seem to assume that the congregation all knows what's going on.
Then Pastor Andy took the stage. He was what I have now come to consider the "norm" for the hip, young pastor: silk shirt, designer jeans, gelled hair. It almost feels like a new pastor stereotype is being formed: we all have the image of the old-time pastor in black with the white collar, or the older fellow in a suit. Now we have the guy with the styled hair in a dress shirt.
He spoke well, if a tad frenetically, continuing the established theme of "Text Me," in which the church is taking a look at the Bible. Pastor Andy talked today about the reliability of the Bible. He pulled out a few interesting statistics (the chances of Jesus having fulfilled all of the prophesys that he did are approximately 100,000,000,000,000,000 to 1), analyzed the Bible according to a system for evaluating the historical accuracy of academic texts and even talked about archaeology and the Bible. It was interesting stuff; not terribly in-depth or scientifically solid (understandable given the time constraints) but it was thought-provoking, so I think it did its job.
Pastor Andy prayed and the worship band played a couple more songs to end the evening. I did enjoy myself and I enjoyed the pastor's message and the absolute influx of youth. I always find a certain amount of ego inherent in these band-and-jumbotron-based churches and this one had it in particular. But it also had literally over a hundred youth.
Hm.
http://adorevictoria.blogspot.com/
Sunday, November 1, 2009
Bakerview Mennonite Brethren Church
Sunday Nov. 1, 2009 11:15 am
Bakerview Mennonite Brethren Church, 2285 Clearbrook Rd. Abbotsford BC
Pastors Ray Harris and Dianne Bowker
The next stage of my adventure this year has taken me out west to BC. We managed to head out to church this morning; one of our group leaders chose Bakerview Mennonite Brethren and I'm really glad he did. It was a really enjoyable service.
A note about Bakerview that I think is really cool: they actually have three different services. They have a traditional service earlier in the morning, and then a 'contemporary' service and a liturgical service just after. In this way they offer three different approaches to worship all in the same building and at the same time. Though I could see how this would divide the church community-wise, I think it's a great way of approaching the divide between services appealing to younger, middle-aged and elderly congregants. And if you want something different one Sunday, you can just go to a different kind of service.
I attended the liturgical service, was greeted warmly as I walked in and was handed a veritable novel of liturgy, a 48-page program of service that holds the current record as longest bulletin in my filing cabinet. Since the contemporary service is held in the sanctuary at the same time, the liturgical service is held in the multipurpose gymnasium, with stacking chairs arranged around a stage. The centerpiece of the stage is a large cross made simply with un-milled logs. The interesting thing is that they actually had 'blood' painted on the cross where Jesus' hands, feet and back would have been. A bit macabre, perhaps, but nonetheless a powerful message of Jesus leaving death behind.
There were about 200 people there, mostly grey-haired but with a smattering of youth and a couple of families. The service followed the bulletin exactly, with responsive readings, prayers and scripture and hymns and sung responses accompanied fantastically by a choir, organ, piano, violin, trombone and flute. We took communion and Pastor Ray Harris did a phenomenally brief sermon on the morning's Gospel reading (John 11:32-44, wherein Jesus raises Lazarus from the dead).
And during the offering, out of nowhere, a couple played a fantastic duo piano rendition of "Oh When the Saints." It was actually amazing. I'd like a recording of it, it was so good. Anyhow, the service ended with a sending and this time I actually stayed for lunch afterward (a first, I think, for me in this church-visiting odyssey). I really enjoyed that too.
Considering the reputation MB churches sometimes have and that it was a liturgical service, I really enjoyed myself today. I've been a bit church deprived on this trip, so I always love getting out to church on Sunday morning. Till next time!
http://www.bakerview.org/
Bakerview Mennonite Brethren Church, 2285 Clearbrook Rd. Abbotsford BC
Pastors Ray Harris and Dianne Bowker
The next stage of my adventure this year has taken me out west to BC. We managed to head out to church this morning; one of our group leaders chose Bakerview Mennonite Brethren and I'm really glad he did. It was a really enjoyable service.
A note about Bakerview that I think is really cool: they actually have three different services. They have a traditional service earlier in the morning, and then a 'contemporary' service and a liturgical service just after. In this way they offer three different approaches to worship all in the same building and at the same time. Though I could see how this would divide the church community-wise, I think it's a great way of approaching the divide between services appealing to younger, middle-aged and elderly congregants. And if you want something different one Sunday, you can just go to a different kind of service.
I attended the liturgical service, was greeted warmly as I walked in and was handed a veritable novel of liturgy, a 48-page program of service that holds the current record as longest bulletin in my filing cabinet. Since the contemporary service is held in the sanctuary at the same time, the liturgical service is held in the multipurpose gymnasium, with stacking chairs arranged around a stage. The centerpiece of the stage is a large cross made simply with un-milled logs. The interesting thing is that they actually had 'blood' painted on the cross where Jesus' hands, feet and back would have been. A bit macabre, perhaps, but nonetheless a powerful message of Jesus leaving death behind.
There were about 200 people there, mostly grey-haired but with a smattering of youth and a couple of families. The service followed the bulletin exactly, with responsive readings, prayers and scripture and hymns and sung responses accompanied fantastically by a choir, organ, piano, violin, trombone and flute. We took communion and Pastor Ray Harris did a phenomenally brief sermon on the morning's Gospel reading (John 11:32-44, wherein Jesus raises Lazarus from the dead).
And during the offering, out of nowhere, a couple played a fantastic duo piano rendition of "Oh When the Saints." It was actually amazing. I'd like a recording of it, it was so good. Anyhow, the service ended with a sending and this time I actually stayed for lunch afterward (a first, I think, for me in this church-visiting odyssey). I really enjoyed that too.
Considering the reputation MB churches sometimes have and that it was a liturgical service, I really enjoyed myself today. I've been a bit church deprived on this trip, so I always love getting out to church on Sunday morning. Till next time!
http://www.bakerview.org/
Thursday, October 15, 2009
Bayview Evangelical Free Church
Sunday Oct. 4, 2009 10:45 am
Bayview Evangelical Free Church, South Colonization Road at Colville Rd. Sound Beach, Gimli MB
Guest Pastor Mark Westman
So for a second time this year the Outtatown program led us to a church for the Sunday service. Gimli is about an hour outside of my home city of Winnipeg; we’ve been staying at a place called Camp Arnes about twenty minutes from there. Bayview is a little church, fairly out of the way, and when we trouped in about 30 strong we just about doubled the congregation.
There was a worship band playing when we walked in and despite our overwhelming numbers we were greeted warmly. The congregation was mostly middle-aged with a smattering of young adults and youth, the building small with stacking chairs set out around a pulpit, with a stage off to the side for the band. When everyone was settled there were a few announcements and then the congregation stood and joined the band in singing three songs.
The offertory was then taken. After that the floor was opened up for prayer and praise requests and that actually took quite a while; lots of people in that little church know folks experiencing some pretty hard times. The story of a twenty year old with terminal cancer messed me up. The speaker prayed at length for everyone involved before introducing his son, Mark Westman, to do the sermon.
On first impression Mark didn’t seem to be much of a speaker. He had a nasal voice and tended to read from his notes too much rather than speak. But he infused a good amount of humour into his sermon, actually a really excellent one about concepts of unity within a church community. He talked about overcoming small differences and loving and caring for everyone.
The service ended with prayer, communion and a blessing. It ended up being a really long service, not necessarily a bad thing, just saying. Just as we’d been welcomed earlier people were very friendly to our large group after the service. I found it to be a really enjoyable service in a nice little Gimli church
http://bayviewchurch.com/
Bayview Evangelical Free Church, South Colonization Road at Colville Rd. Sound Beach, Gimli MB
Guest Pastor Mark Westman
So for a second time this year the Outtatown program led us to a church for the Sunday service. Gimli is about an hour outside of my home city of Winnipeg; we’ve been staying at a place called Camp Arnes about twenty minutes from there. Bayview is a little church, fairly out of the way, and when we trouped in about 30 strong we just about doubled the congregation.
There was a worship band playing when we walked in and despite our overwhelming numbers we were greeted warmly. The congregation was mostly middle-aged with a smattering of young adults and youth, the building small with stacking chairs set out around a pulpit, with a stage off to the side for the band. When everyone was settled there were a few announcements and then the congregation stood and joined the band in singing three songs.
The offertory was then taken. After that the floor was opened up for prayer and praise requests and that actually took quite a while; lots of people in that little church know folks experiencing some pretty hard times. The story of a twenty year old with terminal cancer messed me up. The speaker prayed at length for everyone involved before introducing his son, Mark Westman, to do the sermon.
On first impression Mark didn’t seem to be much of a speaker. He had a nasal voice and tended to read from his notes too much rather than speak. But he infused a good amount of humour into his sermon, actually a really excellent one about concepts of unity within a church community. He talked about overcoming small differences and loving and caring for everyone.
The service ended with prayer, communion and a blessing. It ended up being a really long service, not necessarily a bad thing, just saying. Just as we’d been welcomed earlier people were very friendly to our large group after the service. I found it to be a really enjoyable service in a nice little Gimli church
http://bayviewchurch.com/
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
Winnipeg Centre Vineyard
Sept. 27, 2009 10:00 am
Winnipeg Centre Vineyard, 782 Main St. Winnipeg
Pastor Nathan Rieger
Greetings from Outtatown! As part of our program this week we were in Winnipeg for an urban plunge. We stayed at the Vineyard church and naturally attended their Sunday service. The Vineyard is located right on Main street in an old factory building, in the North End. The building is fantastic, literally a converted factory where the bottom floor is the church. The upper floors host "Flatlanders," a housing centre for people at risk of homelessness.
The congregation was very diverse. There were about 30 Outtatown people there, so we ballooned the numbers. Probably a bit over 100 people there. There were a lot of young people and children as well as middle-aged and older. Some of the people were obviously either homeless or very down on their luck. Others were people from more fortunate walks of life who had found a community they enjoyed. Everyone came ready to worship.
The service started with the volunteer worship band playing several songs. The words were flashed on the back wall with a projector. The entire time the band was playing, to the left of them (actually getting about equal stage space) the children (and a few adults) danced around waving flags and streamers. It was such a free, energetic expression of worship and I honestly have never seen anything like it.
After they'd prayed a man said a lengthy prayer before inviting Pastor Nathan Rieger to the microphone. A man I'd met before the service had immensely good things to say about Nathan so I'll admit my expectations were pretty high.
Nathan spent the first few minutes talking about how he'd really like a cup of coffee. Then he launched into his sermon in earnest and didn't notice the coffee placed before him until the end. He spoke at length about the story of Ruth and how the farm master took pity on her and was merciful. He also told a moving story about how a friend of his had risked his life to save a Sikh family from an Islamic lynch mob (and succeeded, with God's help) and talked about some of the people he works with in the North End. I found his sermon a bit disjointed, but his stories were powerful and he definitely made me think.
After he was done he prayed and the band played again, and the congregation took communion. Then we were invited to the front for prayer if we desired and the service ended.
I found the spirit in this church to be wonderful. It's a church born of inner-city mission and the people associated with it are doing no end of wonderful things for the people living here. I've had the opportunity to hear many of their stories over the past few days and they are just inspiring. I think that if God gives me the urge to serve in this city, the Vineyard will be high on my list of places to turn to for guidance.
http://winnipegcentrevineyard.com/
Winnipeg Centre Vineyard, 782 Main St. Winnipeg
Pastor Nathan Rieger
Greetings from Outtatown! As part of our program this week we were in Winnipeg for an urban plunge. We stayed at the Vineyard church and naturally attended their Sunday service. The Vineyard is located right on Main street in an old factory building, in the North End. The building is fantastic, literally a converted factory where the bottom floor is the church. The upper floors host "Flatlanders," a housing centre for people at risk of homelessness.
The congregation was very diverse. There were about 30 Outtatown people there, so we ballooned the numbers. Probably a bit over 100 people there. There were a lot of young people and children as well as middle-aged and older. Some of the people were obviously either homeless or very down on their luck. Others were people from more fortunate walks of life who had found a community they enjoyed. Everyone came ready to worship.
The service started with the volunteer worship band playing several songs. The words were flashed on the back wall with a projector. The entire time the band was playing, to the left of them (actually getting about equal stage space) the children (and a few adults) danced around waving flags and streamers. It was such a free, energetic expression of worship and I honestly have never seen anything like it.
After they'd prayed a man said a lengthy prayer before inviting Pastor Nathan Rieger to the microphone. A man I'd met before the service had immensely good things to say about Nathan so I'll admit my expectations were pretty high.
Nathan spent the first few minutes talking about how he'd really like a cup of coffee. Then he launched into his sermon in earnest and didn't notice the coffee placed before him until the end. He spoke at length about the story of Ruth and how the farm master took pity on her and was merciful. He also told a moving story about how a friend of his had risked his life to save a Sikh family from an Islamic lynch mob (and succeeded, with God's help) and talked about some of the people he works with in the North End. I found his sermon a bit disjointed, but his stories were powerful and he definitely made me think.
After he was done he prayed and the band played again, and the congregation took communion. Then we were invited to the front for prayer if we desired and the service ended.
I found the spirit in this church to be wonderful. It's a church born of inner-city mission and the people associated with it are doing no end of wonderful things for the people living here. I've had the opportunity to hear many of their stories over the past few days and they are just inspiring. I think that if God gives me the urge to serve in this city, the Vineyard will be high on my list of places to turn to for guidance.
http://winnipegcentrevineyard.com/
Sunday, August 30, 2009
Future of the Blog
So!
Obviously summer's taken me away from the blog. I just posted two new churches that I've been neglecting for months, which you'll find below. And I have come to the end of my year of visiting churches.
This coming year I'll be embarking on a program with Winnipeg's Canadian Mennonite University, entitled "Outtatown," which will take me from Winnipeg to Vancouver to South Africa and back. Needless to say, my updates will continue to be pretty spotty.
However, I must conclude that I haven't yet satisfied my need to experience new churches, and certainly haven't found a place to settle down. I fully intend to keep visiting new churches both when I'm back for the Christmas holidays and when I'm back for good in April. So naturally, the blog will stay alive.
I'm tempted to try to draw conclusions from this year, but my experiences were so myriad and often confusing that it's certainly difficult. I will say that beyond a shadow of a doubt, the vast majority of Winnipeg churches are having a terrible time attracting and keeping youth. I will also say that the vast majority of Winnipeg churches probably don't have stellar youth programs; I can't, however, comment on whether this is a cause or an effect. Probably both. Finally, I strongly believe that in order to make church accessible for youth and young adults, churches on the whole need to start mixing things up. When I don't even need a program to figure out exactly what's up next, there is a problem. Experimenting needs to be done; the status quo needs to be seriously messed with.
Thanks for reading,
-Brock
Obviously summer's taken me away from the blog. I just posted two new churches that I've been neglecting for months, which you'll find below. And I have come to the end of my year of visiting churches.
This coming year I'll be embarking on a program with Winnipeg's Canadian Mennonite University, entitled "Outtatown," which will take me from Winnipeg to Vancouver to South Africa and back. Needless to say, my updates will continue to be pretty spotty.
However, I must conclude that I haven't yet satisfied my need to experience new churches, and certainly haven't found a place to settle down. I fully intend to keep visiting new churches both when I'm back for the Christmas holidays and when I'm back for good in April. So naturally, the blog will stay alive.
I'm tempted to try to draw conclusions from this year, but my experiences were so myriad and often confusing that it's certainly difficult. I will say that beyond a shadow of a doubt, the vast majority of Winnipeg churches are having a terrible time attracting and keeping youth. I will also say that the vast majority of Winnipeg churches probably don't have stellar youth programs; I can't, however, comment on whether this is a cause or an effect. Probably both. Finally, I strongly believe that in order to make church accessible for youth and young adults, churches on the whole need to start mixing things up. When I don't even need a program to figure out exactly what's up next, there is a problem. Experimenting needs to be done; the status quo needs to be seriously messed with.
Thanks for reading,
-Brock
Oasis Community Church
June 28, 2009 10:30 am
Oasis Community Church, 505 Oakdale Dr. Winnipeg
Pastor Dustin Funk
I'd been meaning to get to Oasis for a while, intrigued because the website proudly advertises that they meet in the gymnasium of Charleswood School. I figured this would be a small gathering, a few dozen cash-strapped congregants who wanted to meet quietly together in the gym.
I was really, really wrong.
There were parking attendants. There were free information CDs for all first-time visitors. The gymnasium was transformed, rows of chairs facing a giant stage with two jumbotrons and a full light show. Without comparison, this church had the highest ratio of youth:everyone else that I've ever witnessed in a Winnipeg church.
Impressive, I thought. The service started off with music from the band, which was really solid. Both the male and female singers had a good set of pipes, and neither was trying to be particularly "pop-y," which is excellent. There was a baptism which was actually held outside and televised on the screens, preceded by taped confessions of faith from all those being baptised.
Pastor Funk then continued a series of sermons entitled "Reveal," in which he interprets the meaning behind scripture passages. Today he tackled The Lord's Prayer. I've personally heard a lot of interpretation of The Lord's Prayer, and I can't say Pastor Funk really said anything I haven't heard before, with a couple of exceptions. He noted that the final section, "for yours is the kingdom, the power and the glory, forever and ever, amen," was historically not actually taught by Jesus but added in later because someone didn't like to end the prayer with "and deliver us from evil." Interesting stuff.
Pastor Funk was a good, approachable speaker and I got the chance to shake his hand on the way out. The service ended with more music and a prayer. I would be at all surprised to find myself back at Oasis in the future, if for no other reason than to make some connections with the overwhelming number of youth.
http://www.oasiscc.ca/
Oasis Community Church, 505 Oakdale Dr. Winnipeg
Pastor Dustin Funk
I'd been meaning to get to Oasis for a while, intrigued because the website proudly advertises that they meet in the gymnasium of Charleswood School. I figured this would be a small gathering, a few dozen cash-strapped congregants who wanted to meet quietly together in the gym.
I was really, really wrong.
There were parking attendants. There were free information CDs for all first-time visitors. The gymnasium was transformed, rows of chairs facing a giant stage with two jumbotrons and a full light show. Without comparison, this church had the highest ratio of youth:everyone else that I've ever witnessed in a Winnipeg church.
Impressive, I thought. The service started off with music from the band, which was really solid. Both the male and female singers had a good set of pipes, and neither was trying to be particularly "pop-y," which is excellent. There was a baptism which was actually held outside and televised on the screens, preceded by taped confessions of faith from all those being baptised.
Pastor Funk then continued a series of sermons entitled "Reveal," in which he interprets the meaning behind scripture passages. Today he tackled The Lord's Prayer. I've personally heard a lot of interpretation of The Lord's Prayer, and I can't say Pastor Funk really said anything I haven't heard before, with a couple of exceptions. He noted that the final section, "for yours is the kingdom, the power and the glory, forever and ever, amen," was historically not actually taught by Jesus but added in later because someone didn't like to end the prayer with "and deliver us from evil." Interesting stuff.
Pastor Funk was a good, approachable speaker and I got the chance to shake his hand on the way out. The service ended with more music and a prayer. I would be at all surprised to find myself back at Oasis in the future, if for no other reason than to make some connections with the overwhelming number of youth.
http://www.oasiscc.ca/
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