Century-old church seeks new life as community hub
- Joy
- Mar 22, 2019
- 4 min read
While working at the CBC in Winnipeg, I visited Augustine United Church and was given a tour of what churchgoers hope will be a brand new modern space that will serve their community. This piece was originally published by the CBC and can be found here.
The Augustine United Church community in Osborne Village is raising funds to keep their doors open through a massive renovation, but - like the plaster falling from the ceiling in the church sanctuary - they fear the project could come falling down around them.
The church currently pays all the bills for the large heritage building despite the congregation being just one of the multiple groups using the space. Now, they can't afford it anymore.
"We're just like any other church. People are getting older, there's fewer in our congregation, and we just can't afford to pay for it," said Larry Moore, congregation member and trustee for Augustine United Church.
The community is converting the 109-year-old building into the Augustine Centre, which will see four groups become equal owners of the property, with all of them footing the bill. To help get them through renovation, the church is held a fundraising event at 2:30 p.m. on Sunday March 3, featuring Juno award-winning artist Al Simmons. Money raised will help the church continue its efforts to become a community hub for art, education, faith, and justice.
In need of repair
The stained-glass windows and dark wood accents of the church sanctuary are beautiful, but in need of repair. Plaster hangs from the ceiling in discoloured ribbons and safety inspectors have told the congregation to stop using the balcony. The wooden boards in the ceiling are exposed, giving the it a patchwork look. Just outside the sanctuary is a space for Oak Table, an outreach program which has called the church home since 1981. This space houses a modest kitchen with a massice output.
Oak Table's executive director, Glynis Quinn, says they feed hundreds of people per week.
"Last year, we served 21,500 meals. We're already up by 700 over last year and it's only the end of February. In the last two years, that's increased by 1,200," Quinn said.
"The need is not going away. People are still really finding it difficult to make ends meet."
The space is a kitchen by day and a bunkhouse by night. After the guests have been fed, Just A Warm Sleep, a division of Oak Table, lays down beds for people without shelter.
Jeff Carter, who chais the church council and the Augustine centre board, says some of the stories of the guests break his heart.
"One of them was a fellow who was working full-time. Can you imagine working full-time, and getting yourself out for work, making sure you're dressed and appropriate, and you're sleeping on the floor of Augustine United Church? It really got to me," he said.
Upstairs, the church rents space to the NaFro dance group, a non-profit charity which claims to be the only African contemporary dance group in Western Canada. The space is also rented out to other dance groups, seeing more than 300 dancers move through it each week.
The church has an Indigenous cultural programmer who comes in twice a week to provide culturally sensitive activities like smudging ceremonies. They welcome Indigenous elders who come in and speak their languages to practise their culture.
The church also has preventative health care programs, a foot care nurse, a podiatrist, social assistance meetings and even practicum placements for nurses.
There's even Quinn's tiny puppy, Jaxon the mini doodle, who hangs out at the church. His wagging tail is a testament to the welcoming atmosphere of the community.
All this and more are what the church community are fighting to save through their fundraising. Tessa Blaikie Whitecloud, executive director of 1JustCity, an emergency shelter inside the church, says the group needs to raise enough to get through the renovations.
"Augustine United Church continues to have to pay for the whole building and they can't afford it. Say the building gets built in 10 months but they run out of money in five months, then the whole project falls over," she said.
The renovation plans are ambitious. The community has put together plans for full dance studios, performance spaces, child care, medical rooms and office spaces. The basement floor would involve an entirely new headquarters for Oak Table, with a full residential-looking kitchen space, dignity washrooms where people can shower and brush their teeth, and laundry services. Carter says the building is set to be completely accessible, with universal washrooms, accessible lifts and entrances.
A history of faith in practice
"Augustine United Church has a history of always trying to do the right thing," said Tessa Whitecloud, executive director of 1JustCity.
Historically, the church has always been on the side of community service. There is a room dubbed the Red Cross Room because, Quinn says, in the first world war, people made blankets there to send overseas to soldiers. Carter and Moore say the church lays claim to the title of first-affirming congregation in Canada, meaning they were the first congregation to be openly accepting of different sexualities.
In the second world war, Carter says the church housed soldiers, and has in the past housed families who had lost their houses to flood.
Now, the church offers safe spaces to those who need a place to sleep, meals to those who can't feed themselves, and dignity washrooms for those who don't have a place to shower.
People like Moore, Quinn, and Carter who have been at the church for decades want to see this legacy continue through the work of people like Whitecloud.
"There'd be a lot of people suffering if they didn't have Augustine to come to," said Moore.
*This content was created while working as an apprentice at CBC Winnipeg through the Carleton University School of Journalism Apprenticeship Program
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