There’s a lot you can learn from just striking up a conversation and seeing where it takes you. Sometimes it sheds light on an issue you weren’t aware of and other times it gives you a fresh perspective. Bill Millar, the pastor at Knox United Church, has a vision for the West End and downtown neighbourhoods, and it all starts with listening to the community he serves.

There’s a lot you can learn from just striking up a conversation and seeing where it takes you. Sometimes it sheds light on an issue you weren’t aware of and other times it gives you a fresh perspective. Bill Millar, the pastor at Knox United Church, has a vision for the West End and downtown neighbourhoods, and it all starts with listening to the community he serves.

“Trying to explain it is like trying to describe a ginger root,” says Millar, who has been a pastor at the church for the past four years. “Everything grows out of conversations. We didn’t have much in terms of a strategic plan, goals or objectives. What we thought was let’s just talk to people, be open to whatever happens. If something seems good in the conversation, let’s try it.”

Overlooking Winnipeg’s downtown core, Knox United Church, at 400 Edmonton St., is the largest United Church in the province. Constructed in late Gothic revival style, Knox was built between 1914 and 1918 and designed by local architect, J.H.G. Russell. It was officially designated a heritage site on Oct. 29, 1990, and still stands tall serving its community.

“In the early 1900s churches were vacating the downtown core and Knox made an intentional decision to build a church in the centre,” Millar explains. “They wanted to make it as beautiful as possible, running contrary to the trend.”

Millar says the origins of the church date back to immigrants who made many countercultural decisions that would forever shape the direction of the church. Those decisions started with Japanese language ministry during the Second World War.

“There’s a long history of some kind of attraction or response to newcomers,” Millar says.

Winnipeg’s downtown neighbourhood is rich in diversity—a mix of many different ethnic backgrounds and cultural groups. Many immigrants who have settled in the area are new to the country and aren’t familiar with Canadian customs. As a way to help integrate people into society the church has made it its mission to help them become involved in church-run programs, as a deterrent to gangs or crime.

There are the occasional interfaith services at Knox, but most of their worshippers are from a United Church background. Still, they focus on uniting the community through accessible programs and services.

“There’s no sense of trying to pretend that we’re all exactly the same or convince each other that our way is right,” Millar says. “We’re being respectful and faithful to our vision and call. We feel called to create a pattern of global worship as the community changes. What we want to do is change the diversity in terms of the worshiping community.”

Knox has been at the centre of many new programs and services available to the downtown community. They offer Healthy Start for Mom and Me—a prenatal nutrition program for expectant mothers, a day nursery, and they remain open throughout the day to give residents access to computers. A food bank is open on Tuesdays and a thrift shop is located in the building.

“It’s a whole variety of social development, economic development, spiritual development. It is all of that stuff working together,” Millar says.

One of the largest programs initiated by the church, together with the West End Business Improvement Zone, is an African-themed market in the centre of the city offering food, produce, handmade clothing and imported goods.

What Millar had discovered was that the African population—which makes up three-quarters of the population in the area—had grown exponentially in the past 10 years, but were lacking the familiarities of home.

“That market is really about having economic development that’s family based because there are so many programs in North America that pull the families apart, ” Millar says.

On top of their own programs and the Central Market for Global Families, Knox has expressed an interest in creating a fair trade café to be designed by local architect, David Penner. The idea is still there but the money isn’t. “The idea of the café is still there if anyone wants to donate,” Millar says, adding that the church is a non-profit with limited capital. Millar is also trying to develop a model for home ownership since many newcomers don’t have credit history, and some religions forbid charging interest.

The West End BIZ sees the need for assistance in the downtown core and applauds Knox for reaching out.

“Knox has gone a step beyond. They recognize the need in the West End area,” says Gloria Cardwell-Hoeppner, West End BIZ executive director. “They have really reached out to the community to try and assist them and make sure they feel welcome.”
She says that the Central Market for Global Families, which started last summer, is still in the growing stages but is a good example of how an idea can become reality.

“What I think is so great about the people at Knox United is they care for the community as a whole—not just about spirituality,” stresses Cardwell-Hoeppner.

“It’s a real outreach. Many of the other cultures here are not particularly from the United faith but that doesn’t matter. They’re respectful of all cultures and wanting to embrace people and invest in the community.”

There’s a sense that the origins of the church are coming full circle. Knox is reaching out to new Winnipeggers the same way it

did decades ago.

“The uniqueness lies in the character of the church,” says Millar. “Knox is different in its genetic makeup. It’s a community of people who have, along the way, found themselves taking risky counter-cultural moves.”

Along the way he has met roadblocks and obstacles that could have stopped him from pressing on, but it’s the people he meets on that journey that propel Millar forward.

“You get to meet people whose stories are astonishing. These people have come through things we cannot imagine. I am filled with admiration for them,” he says. “To simply wake up in the morning and put one foot in front of the other—I would think it would be an incredible victory.”

All of the things happening at Knox start with one simple thing: conversation. “The best thing you can offer is to be handy,” he says. “If God wants to do something and you’re handy I say, ‘Hey, I’ll do it.’”