Baptist Church a linchpin of Whyte Ridge

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 20/03/2017 (3423 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Those of us living in Whyte Ridge are typically very familiar with the Whyte Ridge Baptist Church; it’s been in the community almost since Whyte Ridge was first established, and been involved in volunteer activities in the community for almost 30 years.  

Now the church is on the verge of moving to a larger facility but staying in the community.

Construction at the church’s current home on Scurfield Boulevard began in 1987, about the same time the first homes were being built in Whyte Ridge. The ministry had moved from Grant Park Baptist, as the building at that location had outgrown expansion possibilities.

My first contact with the church was when I was president of the community centre and received a call from former pastor Al Thiessen asking if we’d be interested in a team of volunteers coming to clean up the site and remove the litter.  

In subsequent years, church volunteers returned for site cleanup, painting the outside hockey pens and helped out at our summer carnivals. I was always impressed by their smiles and positive energy and they typically ended the day with a barbecue for their volunteers.

In a recent chat with Terry Janke, the current pastor, I discovered that these were just a few examples of the work the church does in our community, and that its core values include community and cultural connections.  

In Whyte Ridge, the church hosts English conversation circles for new immigrants, helps out at both community schools, and opens up its building to non-profit organizations such as Girl Guides.  

The church is involved in work at Camp Nutimik, Winnipeg Harvest, Siloam Mission, and in the Garden Hill First Nation community in northern Manitoba. It shares its current building with the Korean Winnipeg Somang Presbyterian Church.

The church has been looking for new space since 2001 but has always been committed to remaining in the Whyte Ridge area.

In 2003 a site was purchased on McGillivray Boulevard, just a few blocks away from the current facility and plans and fundraising for the new building are under way.

Despite some setbacks the funding now appears to be in place and current plans are to begin construction in the fall of 2017, with completion slated for the spring of 2019.

Nick Barnes is a community correspondent for Whyte Ridge.