Year-End Appeal!

It’s that time of year…

Thank you for your ongoing support!  For over 60 years, the members of Windsor Park United Church have felt God’s call to minister and work within the community of southeast Winnipeg.  Our church has provided value to the area – not only as a place to join others on their faith journey, but also as a place of building community.

But…what if Windsor Park United Church was not here anymore?  

Would it matter to you?  Would it matter to the community?  This year, we have continued to see the value of community in our faith journey.  As we continue to go through turbulent times in our world, as well as personally for many, the church has been an anchor, grounding us in a continuing sea of change.

So…how has God been working through our church this year?

This year, WPUC continued to provide online services to those in our church community.  We made the conscious decision to maintain our connection with our on-line community as an important part of our ministry.  For the most part, services were livestreamed, which brought about new challenges as we continued to learn to use new technology.  Our services are available live on Sunday mornings on YouTube, and then are available as recordings through our website and YouTube channel.  We are very grateful to all of those who shared their worship leadership talents with us: worship leaders, liturgists, musicians and live streamers!

We continue to hear from people who are unable to attend in person about how much staying connected to the church has helped them during this time when they are away from in-person services due to distance or health reasons.  Our virtual community has expanded to include people from all over Canada and the world. We have multiple playlists on our YouTube channel as well, where, in addition to finding recent services, you can hear music from The Harmony Singers and explore some of our older (vintage!) content.

Since May, we have learned a lot about what it means to be “church” without a minister.  We have discussed and prayed over what keeps us going as a community of faith and the things that we value as a community.  We are grateful for the many people who prayerfully considered what contributions they have been able to make to keep the church up and running.  During July the church was closed for a brief summer break, but from May-December there was a church service each and every week for a total of 31 services!  Our pulpit supply guests and in-house worship leaders have offered a variety of faith perspectives to our worship.  The support from the in-person congregation through a weekly attendance of between 30-60 people has been amazing!  The weekly e-blast from the office, the Southwinds, and website updates have kept people up-to-date and connected to the church.

Our Wednesday afternoon “Holy Grounds Café” and Thursday morning study group have given people a place to meet, socialize and learn together.

Our little free library has continued to be a blessing to the community. Many people from the church and wider community regularly visit. The butterfly garden was tended by volunteers and continues to bring joy and beauty to the neighbourhood.

Our Christmas Hamper and Thinking of You Basket programs were successful with the help of many volunteers! There was also an abundance of donations for the mitten tree, which will be shared with Rossbrook House and Splash Day Care.  The highly anticipated Annual Cookie Walk was a success and sold out!

Throughout the year, Windsor Park United Church continued to provide regular support to West Broadway Community Ministry by providing monthly lunches, made by a dedicated team of volunteers as well as monetary and food donations.

The Memorial Garden continues to offer a beautiful and affordable final resting place for congregation members and their loved ones.  The website has been updated to include a listing of those interred in the Memorial Garden.

As we move into 2024 and anticipate initiating a search for a new minister,  we continue to re-imagine and dream about our place and mission in the community and world.  How would you like to see Windsor Park United Church grow and change?

Now, as we near the end of 2023, we ask for your ongoing support. Each year, we face the unsettling worry about being unable to cover our yearly expenses.  While we have “saved” some money by not having a paid minister for 8 months, we need to have a fund set aside in order to initiate a search and have the funds dedicated to paying a minister.  As well, if we have an ongoing deficit budget, we are not always able to provide the programming that is needed.  While we celebrate the successes of 2023, we are aware that there are gaps in areas such as pastoral care that having a paid minister would help to fill.  In January 2024 we will be doing a trial of shared worship with another church to see if that is an option we want to pursue as a congregation. There are also plans to do a sanctuary renovation to give us the flexibility to have upstairs events, as well as the ability to rent to more community groups.

We are asking you to consider contributing a “year-end” financial gift to the General Fund of Windsor Park United Church to help give us a strong financial start to 2024.  Even if you can’t make a large gift, know that every little bit helps.  It’s about coming together as a community united in the belief that Windsor Park United Church makes a difference in the lives of those it touches as well as the greater world.  We hope that you’ll consider making a donation to help us continue to move forward with our ministry.

To make a year-end gift:

• drop off a cheque in the mailbox at the church
• Give through Canada Helps.  You can make a one-time donation or set up a monthly donation.  https://www.canadahelps.org/en/dn/m/47090/donation
• bring your donation on Sunday morning (Dec. 31) when you come to church!

All donations dated on or before December 31, 2023 will be given a 2023 tax receipt.

Blessings as we move forward into the new year together!