Church designated historical despite pastor’s opposition

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This article was published 21/06/2018 (2134 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The pastor of an iconic Osborne Village church said he is disappointed councillors ignored his offer to compromise, and approved the historical designation of the church building.

Brad Warkentin, pastor of Trinity Baptist Church, said he went to Thursday’s city council meeting hoping councillors would be receptive to his offer: restricting the designation to the exterior of the building.

“It was a disappointment because the process didn’t have any room for negotiation or compromise,” Warkentin said. “It was sort of an all-or-nothing process.”

Council unanimously voted to add the church building at the corner of Gertrude Avenue and Nassau Street to the list of the city’s historical resources.

The 108-year-old building was constructed from 1907 to 1910 by one of the city’s earliest Baptist congregations, and has been an active Baptist church since then.

It’s in the heart of the city’s densest and most vibrant neighbourhood, and in the middle of prime real estate.

City council’s historical buildings and resources committee recommended the historical designation, citing the church’s grand exterior and interior design as evidence of its heritage value.

An administrative report noted the sanctuary has seating for 540 people, but Warkentin said the current membership is about 100 members.

Warkentin appeared at the property and development committee on June 8, arguing against the designation on the grounds that it would violate the Baptist philosophy of separation of church and state.

The position that the designation would violate their faith caught councillors by surprise. They dismissed it as unacceptable, voting unanimously to support the designation of both the exterior and interior.

Normally, historical designations are final at the committee level, but because the congregation objected, the issue went to council for a vote, where the congregation was allowed to make its arguments again.

Warkentin said he is disappointed civic officials and council members did not recognize the designation conflicts with the congregation’s spiritual philosophy and mandate.

Councillors didn’t ask Warkentin any questions at the end of his presentation, and there was no discussion when the designation was voted on.

“I think the compromise we proposed (Thursday) was a great idea, but there didn’t seem to be any interest on their end to that,” he said.

While the congregation has no immediate plans for major interior renovations, Warkentin said he’s convinced if that time comes, the city’s involvement would be unwarranted, and the designation would place difficult restrictions on what they would want to do.

Another church, the Winnipeg Centre Vineyard Church, is also opposing a pending designation. The =congregation isn’t using the church-versus-state argument, but they fear being placed on the list will jeopardize their ability to have murals painted on the building’s exterior, a feature which has garnered positive attention from the surrounding community.

The Vineyard church will make its case before the property and development committee on Monday.

Warkentin said he hopes the public attention focused on Trinity Baptist and the Vineyard churches will make councillors think twice.

“This really isn’t a one-size-fits-all solution for heritage buildings. There needs to be more nuance to better meet the needs of communities and congregations,” he said.

“We’re not just a façade in the community, we are a community within the (Osborne Village) community. A vital part of what makes those (heritage) buildings last and thrive is the communities that use them. We’d like to see more recognition of that.”

aldo.santin@freepress.mb.ca