THE heat will stay on in a historic Osborne Village church for the foreseeable future, thanks to a crowdfunding campaign launched last week.

In addition to passing the plate on Sunday mornings, Crescent-Fort Rouge United Church launched an appeal on social media last week, asking the community to donate $10,000 to cover a portion of their $80,000 annual utility and maintenance costs.

“We realized when we were looking at significant utility costs that we never actually told the people who use the building how much it actually costs,” Rev. Marc Whitehead said.

“Why wouldn’t we share our story with the people who have a vested interest in it?”

By Tuesday morning, the campaign had raised $2,071.

Home to a small congregation with a mission statement of “spirituality, arts, action,” the brick and limestone building constructed in 1910 at the corner of Nassau Street and Wardlaw Avenue also hosts several arts groups and a daycare centre, said Sandi Howell, community liaison for the church.

She says about one quarter of the space is used by the congregation for worship and meetings, another quarter by rental groups and the remainder by groups that may not be able to afford the full rent.

“We believe what we are doing has significant value,” Howell said about providing subsidized space to community groups.

“That was proven 10 times during COVID because our church is so big groups could come in and social distance.”

Along with a social media campaign, Howell also sent a letter to renters and users, asking them to share the appeal with their networks.

As manager of The Winnipeg Boys’ Choir, which has rehearsed and performed at the church for the last four decades, Nicola Spasoff forwarded the request for funds to members and supporters of the choir, as well as making a personal donation.

“It’s a big, old building that’s expensive to run,” said Spasoff, who considers the church one of the best venues in the city for choral music.

“I’m surprised (the request) hasn’t come up before.”

Although the public appeal is likely a first for the congregation, which began as a Methodist church in 1893, Whitehead said it seemed more logical to ask the community for help with increased utility and maintenance costs rather than risk running another deficit. The church faced a $15,000 shortfall in 2022.

“We’re not asking people (in the community) to support our ministry and our church costs, but we’re asking people to support our building,” he said, adding that most of the annual budget of about $270,000 is covered by donations from church members and income from rental groups.

With about 12,000 people walking through the doors each year for concerts, arts and community programs and a variety of meetings, Whitehead said the mission of Crescent-Fort Rouge United Church extends well beyond the 50 or so faithful who gather weekly for worship.

“That’s a whole lot of people in the wider community who found something under our roof that piques their interest to show up,” he said.

brenda.suderman@freepress.mb.ca

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