Osborne Village church prays for help to finish peace garden

An Osborne Village church is appealing for help so it can finish its “dream under the snow.”

Crescent-Fort Rouge United Church, located at the corner of Wardlaw Avenue and Nassau Street, needs $10,000 to complete its community peace garden.

“It’s a place for everyone who needs some time to sit, be quiet and think about peace or find peace,” said Barb Masterman, lead organizer for the project.

“It’s something we especially need these days, during this time of war.”

In 2015, the congregation decided not to use the green space beside the church for revenue-earning commercial opportunities. Instead, they chose to keep it as a place for people in the densely populated neighbourhood to enjoy.

The church, which has an aging congregation of about 75 members, has applied for grants to help with landscaping of the garden. Those applications were unsuccessful.

“Our congregation is very small, and the church needs their donations to keep the church up and running,” said Masterman. “We would like the community to know about the peace pole and garden that is there for them, and hopefully entice them to donate to the final phase.”

The peace pole contains the message “may peace prevail on Earth” in 12 languages, including American Sign Language, Cree, English, French, Hebrew, Farsi, Mandarin, Michif, Swahili, Tagalog, Ukrainian and Urdu.

The peace pole — one of at least five in the city — was dedicated in 2023. Now the church wants to finish the garden with new flower beds, shrubs, and benches.

“We want it to be a place where people of all faiths, backgrounds and cultures can contemplate and celebrate our common desire for peace in the world,” Masterman said.

Crescent-Fort Rouge is not unique with this challenge, said Shannon McCarthy, executive minister for the Prairie to Pine Regional Council of the United Church, which covers Manitoba and Northwestern Ontario.

“There are a number of smaller and older congregations in the same position,” she said, adding it is hard to find grants for programs and projects these days.

McCarthy thinks people should be more open to assisting churches since they bring value to a community that people can’t see.

She cited the Halo Project, a research study that calculated every $1 spent by a congregation returns $3.39 in economic value. That’s through providing free or inexpensive space to various arts and musical groups, open space for gardens or recreation, day cares and services for refugees, people with addictions and other community programs.

According to the Halo Project, places of worship in Canada return $18.2 billion of economic value to the country — what it calls the “halo effect.” For Winnipeg, that figure is $133 million from 307 congregations. Crescent-Fort Rouge is estimated to provide $1.3 million.

“Churches really do provide value in their communities,” McCarthy said. “It’s just a matter of whether they can afford to keep doing it.”

The church also hosts the Crescent Arts Centre, formed in 2017. Originally run by the church, it is now an independent organization.

People who want more information about supporting the peace garden can contact the church at 204-475-6011.

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