Winnipeg church hoping to remain a centre for arts, community asks for help with operating costs

A Winnipeg church that has played host to arts and community events for decades is fundraising to help cover hefty operational costs, which church staff say skyrocketed during the pandemic.

The Crescent Fort Rouge United Church, which has been in operation since 1911, revealed in an Instagram post last week that it's budgeting for projected operational costs of $40,000 in 2023. That's an increase of $15,000 from the year before.

"At first we were quite alarmed, actually speechless at junctures, because we're not accustomed to seeing something like that," Sandi Howell, a community liaison with the church, told CBC.

Howell says typical revenues for the church have dropped over the last several years while operational costs, like utilities and insurance, have shot up in the last two.

They're turning to the community for support for the first time with the hopes of raising $10,000 to help cover the bills.

"We decided, well, why not put this out and see if we can move that deficit down a little bit, which would allow us to continue our community work in a fulsome manner."

A lasagna dinner, frozen food bake sale and a GoFundMe are some of the fundraising efforts that the church is trying out this month, she said.

"We have identified a number of things we're going to try."

Church staff are optimistic about the fundraising and are keen to continue their level of community work, she said.

"This is not a crisis situation. It's something that we feel we would like to tackle in a very proactive manner."

The church has never shared the reality of operational costs with the community organizations and artists who use the building, according to Rev. Marc Whitehead.

"When we recognized this past year that the costs were exceeding the congregation's ability to easily cover those costs, we wanted to share that reality with the people around us," he said. 

About a quarter of the activities that take place at the church are devoted to congregations, he said, while the remainder are community events.

"So this is an opportunity to invite them to help us to continue to maintain a facility that really can be available long into the future for community use."

Before the pandemic, around 200 people would typically show up for congregation meetings at the church, he said. Now, that number shifts from between 50 to 100.

"I mean I wish that reality were different, but it's a trend that's been happening probably for the last 40 years. It just picked up momentum in the last few."

Staff at the church are not throwing their hands up in despair, but are instead trying to continue to be authentic to who they are, "which is a fairly liberal, progressive expression of Christianity, creating a community where folks are welcome," he said.

"But more broadly, ensuring that the building itself isn't just used for religious purposes, but broader, community use."