From drug deals to break-ins, churches grapple with crime, homelessness; balance safety with worship for all By: John Longhurst Posted: 5:38 PM CDT Tuesday, May. 28, 2024 Last Modified: 12:28 PM CDT Wednesday, May. 29, 2024 Updates

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This article was published 28/05/2024 (865 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Some downtown church congregations that have long been welcoming places of worship for everyone are facing difficult decisions created by the growing crime and homeless situation that is, literally, on their doorsteps.

While Holy Trinity Anglican Church faces an uncertain future, members of the 140-year-old parish in the heart of Winnipeg have a daily concern — increased crime, homelessness and drug use on the property.

“The front of the church on Donald St. is a popular place for doing drugs,” said Michael Minor, who is the rector’s warden for the church.

It’s also the place where people who are homeless find shelter. One weekend last summer there were five encampments on the grounds. “Each morning it’s not uncommon to find five or six people sleeping in the bushes,” he said.

Before each Sunday morning service, volunteers from the church clean up the area, removing needles, garbage and other detritus.

“There are lots of needles,” said Minor, noting volunteers wear protective gear when cleaning them up. “We picked up over 1,000 needles last summer.”

For Minor, the challenge is finding a way to keep the building open and accessible to those who want to spend time in prayer or contemplation versus keeping people safe.

“We want to function as a place of worship, a place where people feel welcome, but how to reconcile that with safety?” Minor said.

For about a decade, anyone who wants to get into the church needs to use a buzzer on the Smith Street entrance. The main doors on Donald Street are locked unless there is a service or other event.

“The church has been vandalized, doors kicked in,” he said, adding that services have occasionally been disrupted by someone who wandered in.

Church policy is not to call the police unless someone is in danger to others or themselves. “We want to talk to people, find out more about them, tell them they can stay a short time and then move on,” he said.

“We don’t want to criminalize anyone who is in need,” added Sandra Bender, who is the people’s warden for the church.

The congregation is concerned about sending the message that certain people are not welcome. “If we don’t allow people into our building or on our property, are we even getting the Gospel right?” asked Bender, noting the church has a weekly lunch program. “We can’t ignore what it means to be a church in the downtown.”

Winnipeg Police Service spokesman Const. Claude Chancy said police work with community organizations and social service agencies that operate downtown to help people in need or those who live on the street.

“It is a problem that is very predominant in the area and we just do what we can to help those people find resources,” said Chancy, speaking generally.

“We don’t want to criminalize anyone who is in need.”– Sandra Bender

He added that police investigate any incident deemed criminal.

Last week, the congregation of the church, which is designated as both a National Historic Site of Canada and as a protected historical building in Winnipeg, asked the Bishop of Rupert’s Land for permission to sell the property. The building isn’t structurally sound and the cost of fixing it is at least $7 million.

Whatever the future of the church, Bender and Minor know what’s been happening at Holy Trinity isn’t unique to their congregation. “It’s happening at other churches downtown, like it is in cities everywhere,” Minor said. “Maybe it just took Winnipeg longer to get here.”

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The Meeting Place, a Mennonite Brethren congregation a couple of blocks south on Smith Street, is another downtown church struggling with crime and homelessness.

“It’s a challenging situation,” said lead pastor Bob Marsch, who noted homeless people stay on or near the property. He said church members wrestle about how to respond.

“We want to be a compassionate presence in the world,” he said, including for those who lack shelter. At the same time, he wants people who visit to feel safe.

Like at Holy Trinity, the Meeting Place is reluctant to call police unless it’s necessary. “Their values are not always aligned with our values,” said Marsch.

One challenge facing the church is the next-door parkade that it uses. “The staircases are used for drug transactions,” said Marsch, adding he has occasionally felt insecure using the parkade.

Those who want to enter the church must use a buzzer and be seen on a camera monitor. He said most visitors are known to the congregation.

The big challenge is when people are intoxicated. “Then they are unpredictable,” Marsch said. “It’s harder to engage them.”

The church doesn’t hire security officers for Sunday services, but volunteers stand at the door as part of the welcome team.

“They are taller, more imposing men,” he said, adding they can escort people out if there’s a problem. “We navigate the situations to the best of our ability.”

The church has had break-ins or attempted break-ins in the last number of months that have resulted in significant repair bills. Security cameras and an alarm service don’t deter thieves.

Marsch said it’s important to remember to “keep Jesus at the heart of any response we give.” They don’t like to turn anyone away but will if someone appears to be a threat: “Until something changes in their lives, we need to disinvite them.”

The Meeting Place also provides a free weekly meal and a food bank that operates twice a month and serves up to 160 families. “The needs seem to be growing,” Marsch said.

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On the north side of Portage Avenue, Knox United Church, at 400 Edmonton St., recently installed a closed-circuit TV and access control system after receiving a grant from the federal government’s security infrastructure program.

“The grant was very helpful,” said church treasurer Tom Hanel, noting it provided about half the cost of installing cameras outside the building and adding a buzzer system for entry.

“As a church, we want to be open to the community, but we also want our staff and people who use the building to feel safe,” he said. “Now they feel much more secure, thanks to the grant.”

The challenge facing Knox is its size: the big building has many hallways, levels and rooms. “People sometimes come in, often in winter, to seek shelter inside,” Hanel said.

The majority of the people they find inside aren’t hard to deal with unless they have an addiction.

“It’s a problem. We don’t have the training to deal with those things,” Hanel said, adding they have break-ins or attempted break-ins every few months.

The challenge, he said, is to ensure the church doesn’t become like “Fort Knox,” the secure facility in Kentucky where the U.S. stores its gold reserves.

“We don’t want to have a fortress mentality, making it more and more secure so that people have to pass through layers of security to get inside. It’s something we grapple with.”– Tom Hanel

“We don’t want to have a fortress mentality, making it more and more secure so that people have to pass through layers of security to get inside. It’s something we grapple with.”

Hanel said it’s difficult to keep an eye out all the time, adding the 20 to 30 parishioners who gather Sunday mornings aren’t equipped to deal with all of these issues.

In addition to the United Church congregation, the building is home to four other churches and is a hub of the community, including a biweekly food bank that helps 100 families each month. They also rent space to the Manitoba Islamic Association.

Hanel said the church is hanging in there but hopes to find partners to provide assistance. The only thing he knows is that doing nothing is not an option.

“If nobody wants to come because they feel insecure, that’s the biggest threat,” he said.

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Father Geoffrey Angeles of St. Mary’s Cathedral knows all too well about the peril of leading a church downtown. He was assaulted there a few years ago before a service. Fortunately, a passerby scared off the attacker.

Now, whenever there is a disturbance in the church, “it triggers some fear for me,” Angeles acknowledged.

Despite that, he loves his work, the congregation and the opportunity to serve downtown.

“We want to be Jesus for people downtown,” he said, adding he wants to be clear not to stereotype people in the area. “Everyone has inherent human dignity and their needs need to be recognized. We need to listen to them and understand their stories and where they are coming from.”

“We want to be Jesus for people downtown. Everyone has inherent human dignity and their needs need to be recognized. We need to listen to them and understand their stories and where they are coming from.”– Father Geoffrey Angeles

The church, which is located on St. Mary Avenue between Hargrave and Carlton streets, has been vandalized and broken into several times in the past couple of years, he said, adding there have been occasional disturbances during services.

They also pick up needles on church property and have visits from homeless people — some of whom are part of the congregation.

“They are part of our church family,” Angeles said.

His goal is for the church to be open to everyone and to be a “kind, gentle presence,” while ensuring people feel safe. To that end, the church is locked during the week and commissionaires are hired to act as security during the three weekly services that attract about 1,500 worshipers.

“They are a visible sign of security,” Angeles said, adding they are available to help if someone causes a disturbance. “People appreciate seeing them here,” he said.

Angeles said crime can happen anywhere, not just downtown; he recently saw a disturbance outside a strip mall in St. James. “It’s not just here in one part of the city any longer,” he said. “It affects all of us.”

— with files from Erik Pindera

faith@freepress.mb.ca

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