Portage Avenue Church

March 15, 2009 10:00 am
Portage Avenue Mennonite Brethren Church, 1420 Portage Ave. Winnipeg
Travis Reimer

And now, from the other side of Portage...
Whenever my high school went on its ski trip, the Beaver buses would meet us in the parking lot of Portage Avenue Mennonite Brethren Church. I decided after six years of invading their parking space, I should finally attend one of their services.

The building is really nice, quite modern yet tasteful. As I walked in I was greeted almost immediately and from the front doors to the coat rack I was wished a "good morning" at least a half dozen times. As I sat down the woman to my left, the man to my right and the woman sitting in front of me all welcomed me to the church. Simple things to do, but immediately I had a warm, comfortable vibe.

The music for the service was offered by a male chorus of about fifteen men who all sang quite well. To my delight most of the congregational hymns were sung in four-part harmony, as opposed to the usual droning melody, all led by the choir. Like the rest of the congregation of about 150 people, they were just about all in the "snow on the rooftop" age demographic. There were a few families scattered here and there, but you know a congregation is aging when the minister in his opening announcements encourages the people to be "adventurous" and sit somewhere new for a change.

Travis Reimer was a delightful speaker and though he seemed like the type to shy from technology, he used the large screen at the front to emphasize his points. His sermon was a bit confusing at first, mainly because I didn't really understand where his argument was coming from or where it was going. He divided churches into two groups, one serving as a "commisary," the other as a "caravan." The idea of the commisary church was applied (through implication, never directly) to the Catholic church, and was defined as an establishment-oriented system of thinking, more of an institution. On the other hand, he argued that his church as a "caravan" is a community, eschatologically oriented and with a focus on leaning on one another for a common goal. These were all interesting ideas, but by the end I was still confused as to where they were coming from.

There were also some references throughout the service to attracting new members: apparently Portage Avenue Church is aware that its age demographic isn't exactly sustainable, and are working hard to draw people. I must say with a delightful service like this I can't imagine it will be very hard to do.

http://www.pachurch.ca/