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/