November 23, 2008 10:30 am
Westminster United Church, 745 Westminster Ave. Winnipeg
Reverend Robert Campbell
I've wanted for a long time to visit Westminster United. I've performed inside on many occasions but never actually been there for a service. In case you're not familiar with it, it's a huge stone building built to the good 'ol traditional specifications. Huge inside, a wall of pipe organ and a balcony. It's really a great building.
This visit was also interesting for me because I'm from the United Church, so I was curious to see how this service compared. It was also my first time in a United Church since I started this project. I headed in, was welcomed by a greeter and joined about 200 people in the sanctuary. By my estimate the average age was probably sixty. Far be it from me to sound cynical (okay, maybe a little), but it's beyond me why the United Church can't seem to hang onto its youth population. Same problem at my old church. Same problem everywhere, it seems.
The service started with a skillful organ prelude performed beautifully by Don Menzies. The service itself was no-frills and fairly nondescript; I didn't need the bulletin to know what was coming next. The choir was excellent; tenor Martin Wilson sang a great solo from Mendelssohn's Elijah and the rest of the choir was equally excellent.
Then there was the sermon. Ah, the sermon. I don't know why, but I seem to have a nose for heading to churches on their "we need money" days. Same thing happened at St. Margaret's in October. The United Church calls it "Stewardship Sunday." As far as the money sermon goes, there's a pretty general format that most preachers follow. It seemed as though Rev. Campbell was deviating from the norm a bit, exploring themes of ownership in our lives and comparing the big scale to the small. Then the word "tithing" showed up and it all went downhill...
Sorry. I'm a tad cynical when it comes to cash.
Anyhow. After the service I was warmly invited into the back of the (did I mention it's huge?) church, but naturally I had to race off to work. Grrr. I would definitely go back to Westminster, particularly on a non-"Stewardship Sunday" day. The people I did meet were nice, but seriously, if this church wants to survive it needs to attract some younger folk.
http://www.westminsterchurchwinnipeg.ca/index.htm
Sunday, November 23, 2008
Sunday, November 9, 2008
St. John Brebeuf Parish
November 9, 2008 9:30 am
St John Brebeuf Parish (Roman Catholic), 1707 John Brebeuf Pl. Winnipeg
Pastor Monsignor David Ward Jamieson (?)
The last time I attended a Roman Catholic service was at St. Ignatius, in Winnipeg, probably close to four years ago. Nonetheless, I went into this service with an idea of what to expect. By the time I walked out all of my predispositions had been tossed right out the window.
I always like to talk a bit about the building first, and it would be a shame to deviate given what an architectural masterpiece this church is. To put it simply, it's... round. Circular. Attractive brick, interesting 'swirl' layout, great alcoves and a really nice, roomy, modern feel. Also cool, there are artful stone plaques decorating one wall symbolizing the stations of the cross. I was impressed and excited from the moment I walked in.
You must forgive me for my (now, obviously unfair) bias, but I was genuinely surprised to see a band in a Roman Catholic church. Two guitars, hand drums, keyboards and a small chorus prominently and ably led the musical portion of the worship. Not a whole lot of participation from the audience.
As for the service itself, it was no deviation from any worship format with scripture readings and a sermon relating Jesus' "temple" allegory to materialism, presented decently by a man whom I assume was Pastor Jamieson. A small but significant (for me) note, Pastor Jamieson was careful to welcome any visitors to the service. Made me feel good. The service was music-heavy, which was fine with me! And the kneeling blocks were padded, though seldom used (compared to the Anglican Church last time).
St. John Brebeuf's service really had the feel of contemporary mixed with traditional, old mixed with new. This is a format that many more churches should be looking into. I don't mean replacing every choir with a band; I love choirs! I just mean exploring different means of getting God's message across, some little deviation from the norm. In this case it's evidently working. The 9:30 service was packed with a great mix of young and old, lots of families and youngsters but also a healthy older population, and there was still an 11:00 service to come.
I was very disappointed that I had to rush off right afterwards, as I'd been hoping to chat with some of the parishoners. Regardless, this was certainly an experience, and I would be very interested to go back over the course of a few weeks and really get a feel for what is certainly and interesting church.
http://www.sjbcommunity.ca/index.html
St John Brebeuf Parish (Roman Catholic), 1707 John Brebeuf Pl. Winnipeg
Pastor Monsignor David Ward Jamieson (?)
The last time I attended a Roman Catholic service was at St. Ignatius, in Winnipeg, probably close to four years ago. Nonetheless, I went into this service with an idea of what to expect. By the time I walked out all of my predispositions had been tossed right out the window.
I always like to talk a bit about the building first, and it would be a shame to deviate given what an architectural masterpiece this church is. To put it simply, it's... round. Circular. Attractive brick, interesting 'swirl' layout, great alcoves and a really nice, roomy, modern feel. Also cool, there are artful stone plaques decorating one wall symbolizing the stations of the cross. I was impressed and excited from the moment I walked in.
You must forgive me for my (now, obviously unfair) bias, but I was genuinely surprised to see a band in a Roman Catholic church. Two guitars, hand drums, keyboards and a small chorus prominently and ably led the musical portion of the worship. Not a whole lot of participation from the audience.
As for the service itself, it was no deviation from any worship format with scripture readings and a sermon relating Jesus' "temple" allegory to materialism, presented decently by a man whom I assume was Pastor Jamieson. A small but significant (for me) note, Pastor Jamieson was careful to welcome any visitors to the service. Made me feel good. The service was music-heavy, which was fine with me! And the kneeling blocks were padded, though seldom used (compared to the Anglican Church last time).
St. John Brebeuf's service really had the feel of contemporary mixed with traditional, old mixed with new. This is a format that many more churches should be looking into. I don't mean replacing every choir with a band; I love choirs! I just mean exploring different means of getting God's message across, some little deviation from the norm. In this case it's evidently working. The 9:30 service was packed with a great mix of young and old, lots of families and youngsters but also a healthy older population, and there was still an 11:00 service to come.
I was very disappointed that I had to rush off right afterwards, as I'd been hoping to chat with some of the parishoners. Regardless, this was certainly an experience, and I would be very interested to go back over the course of a few weeks and really get a feel for what is certainly and interesting church.
http://www.sjbcommunity.ca/index.html
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