# 25 Theme Resources not nec. related to lectionary
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Welcoming
Partner Congregations
St.
Stephen's-Broadway United Church, Winnipeg
This story starts before church union. In Winnipeg where Broadway joins Portage Avenue, there was St. Stephen's Presbyterian church, and further down where Broadway becomes part of the business and banking district, near the legislature, was Broadway Methodist church. The Presbyterian congregation was made up of working class people, while the Methodists were predominantly from the wealthy business class. At church union they both became part of the United Church of Canada.
When the depression came along, the once Presbyterians decided that since their working class congregation was in dire straits financially, they would literally march all the way down Broadway to the home of the former Methodist congregation to form St. Stephen's-Broadway United Church. The marchers brought their minister with them, and he became the pastor of the new congregation.
In 1956, Grace church in downtown Winnipeg - an area taken over by business with very few local residents - decided that they would join St. Stephen's Broadway. When Grace church closed, again it happened that St. Stephen's-Broadway had no minister. So lo and behold when Grace came over, they brought their minister with them. That was the second time this had happened.
In 1988 I happened to be the minister in the third phase of the story. By this time. St. Stephen's-Broadway, which was made up largely of elderly single women who had not had the opportunity to marry because the Second World War deprived them of men to marry. Most of them had followed careers in offices of government and business in the neighbourhood of the church and continued to live in nearby older apartment blocks.
Now, they wondered what they would do as a congregation, because it became clear that the church's financial resources would run out in about three years.
However their history and character did give them two hidden resources: creativity and a welcoming nature.
These showed up in a willingness to be innovative in worship (within a high church environment), to welcome strangers into their building and to be generous with their money... For instance, it was not unusual for the gospel to be proclaimed there through liturgical dance and when they had no children to enact a Christmas pageant, these seniors took on the roles themselves. Then, on Sunday afternoons they generously provided worship space for a black congregation of refugees while on Sunday evening they opened their sanctuary to a gay & lesbian congregation - both at very low rent.
In the 19602 after a fire took their original gothic building they replaced it with a modern structure shaped like the prow of a ship. After reconstruction there was a large amount of money left over. It was used to create the St. Stephen's-Broadway Foundation in support of outreach projects of any denomination any where in the world and to assist needy candidates for United Church ministry. Every year they gave away all the earning of this fund. They gave 50% to students studying theology, and the rest they gave to outreach ministries. None of it was to be used for the St, Stephen's regular congregational budget.
In spite of all this they continued to worry about their future while, unknown to them, the Holy Spirit was moving to give them the gift of a lot of young families.
As they wondered about their future, they looked at several options, but finally decided to sell the church - the property was worth over a million dollars because of its location - and ask the presbytery to use the revenue for new church development and to support existing inner city outreach ministries. So, a real estate company was engaged to sell the church. They put up a huge ugly sign. These proud people of St. Stephen's-Broadway found themselves coming to church each Sunday with and ugly "For Sale" sign over their heads above the entry to their beautiful modern building.
This is where the Holy Spirit began to act. A number of congregations came to look at the building, but decided not to buy it. It began to look like it would be sold for secular purposes and the gospel would lose this platform at the city's centre of government and business.
Then, a United Church of Christ congregation and a Wesleyan Methodist United Church body, both made up mostly of immigrants from the Philippines asked: "Can we three join together in this building. We'll worship at one time, and you worship at another time." The three congregations began to talk together, and decided to be a blended congregation that would worship together and have their life together, but would still keep their identity as a United Church and a United Church of Christ. Lo and behold, they did form a blended congregation, and the old folks at St. Stephen's-Broadway suddenly got all these young families coming in. All these young Philippine families suddenly got all these grandparents. The mixture of European and Philippine became a wonderful family.
I also chose to move on at that time, because there was not going to be enough support for two ministers. So, the United Church of Christ congregation took the same route down Broadway as did the original St. Stephens people, with their minister in tow and the United Church of Christ minister became the pastor of this new congregation, now known as Broadway Disciples United.
This congregation has become quite progressive in many ways. One of the things they did was build a huge screen on which they project the Sunday hymns. Then, because the United Church of Christ observes adult baptism, they have built a huge baptismal font. Again, since the Church of Christ has communion every Sunday, that became the practice of the blended community.
It was quite clear to me that this is the Holy Spirit was at work in that time and place. One of the key ways that the Board of St. Stephen's Broadway participated in this movement of the Spirit was to recognize that their congregation had financial resources for just three years and that they had to do something rather than just fade away. The ugly sign on the building was a way for the congregation to cry out, "We need help." The people participated through their willingness to become humble open recipients of God's grace.
It still is a lively place of worship. Who knows what the Spirit will do next on that corner.
As shared by Bob Kayes
November 2006
At the time of writing, the St. Stephen's-Broadway Foundation, in Winnipeg, offered bursaries valued to $2,000 to theology students in good academic standing who are from Manitoba, Northwestern Ontario and Saskatchewan. Preference given to senior students. Application due May 31. Obtain form directly from The Secretary, The St. Stephen's-Broadway Foundation, 396 Broadway, Winnipeg, Manitoba R3C 0V6.
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