Rossbrook house removes cross

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This article was published 04/10/2023 (1106 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

For 47 years, Rossbrook House — the organization founded by Sister Geraldine MacNamara to serve inner-city youth in Winnipeg — had a large cross on the front of what used to be a church.

That cross was recently taken down.

The removal was done in the spirit of reconciliation, Rossbrook executive director Patty Mainville said.

“We recognize the trauma and pain the cross symbolizes for some Indigenous people, especially residential school survivors,” said Mainville, who has residential school survivors in her own family. “We want to avoid causing more pain.”

At the same time, Rossbrook House wants to send the message to the community that it is inclusive.

“We were also thinking of non-Christian children and families in making the decision,” she said, adding she knows of one Muslim family that won’t come to Rossbrook House because of the cross.

“We want to be sensitive in a multi-faith society,” she noted.

The decision to remove the cross was made in consultation with Indigenous elders, community members, members of the Sisters of the Holy Names of Jesus and Mary (the order that has supported Rossbrook House since its founding in 1976) and the organization’s board.

In its place will be a new mosaic tile installation designed by children who come to Rossbrook House.

“We’re excited to see what their design will look like when it is revealed in the spring of 2024,” Mainville said, adding she hopes the removal of the cross will “spark conversation and reconciliation.”

The new installation, which will incorporate pieces of the cross, will be created in collaboration with mosaic artist Ursula Neufeld.

“I am humbled to have been asked to be part of this important project,” Neufeld said. “I grew up in the inner city and understand how important Rossbrook House is to the community.”

Through the project, which will incorporate pieces of the cross, Neufeld will teach mosaic skills to children using materials such as glass, mirrors and tile.

“The children, the community and elders will be responsible for creating the images they want reflected on the exterior of the building,” she said, adding it will be a “child-centered” installation.

“All things change in time, and that is especially true in this time, when we are moving forward in the spirit of reconciliation.”

Other pieces of the cross not used in the new installation will be utilized for other art projects, and whatever is left over will be respectfully disposed of.

Mainville, a former teacher and principal who is a member of Couchiching First Nation near Fort Frances, Ont., said taking down the cross doesn’t mean a change in the vision of Rossbrook House.

“We will still honour the work and vision of Sister MacNamara,” she said, noting the organization’s founder “was doing the work of reconciliation long before it became universal. She was ahead of her time.”

The goal, she said, is to “reclaim and repurpose” the cross, adding, “The cross itself isn’t the important thing, but who we are is the important thing.”

Before becoming Rossbrook House, the building that houses the organization at the corner of Ross Avenue and Sherbrook Street was used by the German Gospel Church, Immanuel Pentecostal Church and the Bergthaler Mennonite Church before becoming a thrift shop affiliated with St. Andrew’s United Church.

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