Church-launched community exchange a vital resource in Altona

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This article was published 16/10/2024 (720 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

When people in Altona need a meal, an opportunity to practise English skills, warm clothing for winter, essential household items or to get connected with various kinds of services, the place to go is The Community Exchange.

The exchange was started in 2022 by Seeds Church, a Mennonite Church Manitoba congregation led by co-pastors Ted and Darlene Enns-Dyck.

“We had some vibrant conversations about what it means to be the church in our community,” said Darlene of how church members explored ways they could serve others in the community. “We wanted to know how our faith could be real for others in Altona.”

After a series of conversations, the congregation of about 80 people decided to create the initiative. To get it going, congregants provided their building — a former factory — for its base of operations.

Although it was birthed out of Seeds Church, the exchange is a separate organization. It raises its own funds from donations and grants to support its programs while the church, which serves as landlord, pays for building maintenance, utilities and property taxes. TCE also receives any rental income from the property.

Keeping the two separate was a deliberate choice, Darlene said.

“There is such distrust of religious institutions today,” she said. “We wanted to hand it over to community stakeholders and get out of the way of people getting the services they needed.”

Added Ted: “We have always been more comfortable with a show, don’t tell faith. We come by this honestly as Anabaptist Mennonites who put an emphasis on living out the gospel.”

While being careful not to link the church too closely with TCE, church members are always open to answering questions if people want to know why Seeds decided to serve the community in this way.

“If people are curious, we will share it,” Darlene said. “Our centre is unapologetically Jesus,” added Ted.

About 200 people a month are served by the Exchange through things such as a monthly community meal, a food rescue program that picks up items from local grocers that would otherwise go to the landfill and gives it away to people in the community, services for mothers and infants, programs for newcomers, a four-day a week drop-in, warm clothing giveaway and space for community events.

“Our dream has come true through the Exchange,” said Ted, noting that it is a connecting point for groups including family services, the police, educators and local government officials who can also use the facility.

“Often, these groups can be siloed,” he said. “The Exchange is a way to facilitate communication between them, a place of exchanges, a true shared space.”

For Paul Peters, executive director of TCE, it’s about “gathering people and resources into one place to help everyone thrive. Our goal is to break down barriers that prevent people from connecting so we can create a safe place where everyone is welcome.”

In terms of needs, Altona is no different from any other community, he said. “There are people here who are living on the edge and have a hard time affording what they need, what with the cost of rent and groceries and other things going up.”

Altona mayor Harv Schroeder said the vision of Seeds Church has resulted in something that has “made a meaningful impact in the lives of individuals and families by providing food, services, resources or simply offering the chance to meet a new friend over coffee and muffins.”

Michael Pahl is conference minister for Mennonite Church Manitoba. Seeds Church is an example of how faith can make a difference in a local community, he said.

“Seeds has always been willing to experiment around what it means to be and to do church together,” he said. “As a community of churches, we’ve been grateful for that willingness to take risks and try out new things, because it prompts all off us to think outside the box of the way church has conventionally been done.”

Seeds’ willingness to “give themselves away for their community through the creation of The Community Exchange is a tremendous example to all of us of the incarnational, self-giving love of Jesus,” he added.

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