Westminster Church

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