Warmed inside and out on February holiday
A soup kitchen drop-in held on the second advent of Manitoba’s newest statutory holiday has the makings of a new tradition. Rachel Twigg Boyce, House Blend Ministries coordinator, rallied 60 volunteers to assist people on Louis Riel Day, Feb. 15.
When an aboriginal man initiated a conversation with Boyce about Riel Day last winter, the director of the Manitoba MB conference’s compassion ministry initiative, House Blend Ministries, thought his concern was racial.
Instead of addressing the controversial founder of the province, he complained of the effect of the cold. Everything’s closed, he said; there’s no place to warm up on a cold February day.
His comments inspired Boyce to arrange for Agape Table (open daily until 11 a.m.) to be open on Riel Day until 5 p.m., when people need to start making arrangements for the night. Six Winnipeg churches and Canadian Mennonite University sent volunteers for 2½ hour shifts.
Willing volunteers
“I had more volunteers than I needed,” says Boyce, indicating that more than 10 or 15 at a time “make it feel like a fish bowl.” She attributes people’s willingness to participate to the new holiday not having established traditions yet.
“I’d like to see this become a Riel Day tradition for MB churches in Manitoba,” she says. Guests at Agape Table are urging a repeat. “They want karaoke next year,”Boyce laughs.
Volunteers served food and cleaned up in the morning as the greatest volume of the day’s 484 guests came through. The fast-paced work gave way to a more relaxed, less crowded afternoon when people talked, jammed with the worship band from St Benedict’s Table, and played board games.
Volunteers are often nervous and hugging the wall, says Boyce, but on Riel Day they were enjoying conversation – they didn’t even want to go help in the kitchen, the usual refuge for the shy.
The event gave him “a different perspective on what is helpful or appreciated,” says Don Harms, pastor at FaithWorks and volunteer in a morning shift at Agape Table. “It wasn’t somebody outside saying ‘this is what they need.’”
The Riel Day event bridged all three aspects of Boyce’s part-time position with House Blend: raising awareness and networking with MBs in Manitoba, direct engagement and relationship building with people who are homeless or low income, and development of a team to do the work long-term.
Urban church planter Fred Stoesz started House Blend Ministries for Dream Manitoba as Hope Winnipeg, but when Boyce discovered more than 20 city ministries called “Hope”, she brainstormed with a core group, including Stoesz, to find a new name.
Since rechristening the ministry, she has found the name resonates with both older and younger demographics, either through the coffee imagery or the community ideal.
Boyce, who has degrees in English literature, never expected to be a church planter, but a series of transitions led into her current role. She’s gone full circle from working in compassion ministry with Winnipeg Harvest, to going on staff at Portage Avenue Church, to her current work of developing a team for incarnational ministry in the core area of Winnipeg. —Karla Braun
When an aboriginal man initiated a conversation with Boyce about Riel Day last winter, the director of the Manitoba MB conference’s compassion ministry initiative, House Blend Ministries, thought his concern was racial.
Instead of addressing the controversial founder of the province, he complained of the effect of the cold. Everything’s closed, he said; there’s no place to warm up on a cold February day.
His comments inspired Boyce to arrange for Agape Table (open daily until 11 a.m.) to be open on Riel Day until 5 p.m., when people need to start making arrangements for the night. Six Winnipeg churches and Canadian Mennonite University sent volunteers for 2½ hour shifts.
Willing volunteers
“I had more volunteers than I needed,” says Boyce, indicating that more than 10 or 15 at a time “make it feel like a fish bowl.” She attributes people’s willingness to participate to the new holiday not having established traditions yet.
“I’d like to see this become a Riel Day tradition for MB churches in Manitoba,” she says. Guests at Agape Table are urging a repeat. “They want karaoke next year,”Boyce laughs.
Volunteers served food and cleaned up in the morning as the greatest volume of the day’s 484 guests came through. The fast-paced work gave way to a more relaxed, less crowded afternoon when people talked, jammed with the worship band from St Benedict’s Table, and played board games.
Volunteers are often nervous and hugging the wall, says Boyce, but on Riel Day they were enjoying conversation – they didn’t even want to go help in the kitchen, the usual refuge for the shy.
The event gave him “a different perspective on what is helpful or appreciated,” says Don Harms, pastor at FaithWorks and volunteer in a morning shift at Agape Table. “It wasn’t somebody outside saying ‘this is what they need.’”
The Riel Day event bridged all three aspects of Boyce’s part-time position with House Blend: raising awareness and networking with MBs in Manitoba, direct engagement and relationship building with people who are homeless or low income, and development of a team to do the work long-term.
Urban church planter Fred Stoesz started House Blend Ministries for Dream Manitoba as Hope Winnipeg, but when Boyce discovered more than 20 city ministries called “Hope”, she brainstormed with a core group, including Stoesz, to find a new name.
Since rechristening the ministry, she has found the name resonates with both older and younger demographics, either through the coffee imagery or the community ideal.
Boyce, who has degrees in English literature, never expected to be a church planter, but a series of transitions led into her current role. She’s gone full circle from working in compassion ministry with Winnipeg Harvest, to going on staff at Portage Avenue Church, to her current work of developing a team for incarnational ministry in the core area of Winnipeg. —Karla Braun
