Century of ‘love and unity’

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This article was published 21/10/2024 (362 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Members of Winnipeg’s oldest church serving the Black community have “many reasons to celebrate” as the parish turns 100 years old.

Pilgrim Baptist Church — one of the oldest Black churches in western Canada — traces its origins to a visit by an African-American evangelist in 1922.

Rev. Dr. Joseph T. Hill visited Winnipeg from Arkansas to preach at Zion Methodist Church for seven weeks while that church’s minister was on vacation. Hill’s extraordinary preaching skills and powerful sermons filled the church, which seated 1,500 people.

When Hill returned to Winnipeg in 1924, he founded Pilgrim Baptist Church, then known as the Memorial Baptist Church, to serve the city’s Black community.

In 1935, the church bought a building on Maple Street in Point Douglas. In 1984, that building was torn down and a new one was built at the same location.

Pastor Ahmed Jibo says the church is still living out its mission 100 years later — now as a mixed-race congregation of between 50 to 60 people.

“We have many reasons to celebrate our history,” he said of the church, which is part of the Canadian Baptists of Western Canada. “We want to recognize and celebrate those who helped found the church, and the role it played in the community.”

This includes how the church played a key role for Winnipeg’s Black community, especially in the early years when that community was small and members often felt isolated and sometimes unsafe. It was also a place to congregate for Black men from across Canada who worked as porters for the two major national railways.

Over the decades, the church has experienced ups and downs, but through it all they have benefited from “the faithfulness of God,” Jibo said.

The church sees the anniversary as a springboard for plans to involve the next generation of leaders, and also for ways it can be of greater service in Point Douglas. Members are also interested in finding ways to help people in South Sudan amid a hunger crisis and constant conflict.

Pilgrim Baptist member Valerie Williams says the congregation has been a spiritual home for her family for decades.

“It’s a church filled with love, unity, and a warm welcome for everyone,” she said, adding that people who visit can “truly feel the love of God and the fellowship of believers.”

The church will celebrate its anniversary on Oct. 26 with a dinner and program at the Delta Hotel at 350 St. Mary Ave. Tickets for the celebration, which starts at 5:30 p.m., are $65. To buy a ticket, and for more information, visit http://wfp.to/pilgrim.

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