By John Keery

METRO Church in Kelowna’s downtown had its beginnings when people on a short-term missions trip were inspired to make long-term changes to demonstrate Christ’s love.

“It came out of a bunch of kids going to the Dream Center in Los Angeles,’” said Mick Bartlett, director of senior high ministry at Willow Park Church.

Several years ago, Willow Park pastor Lawrence East and a group visited the Dream Center, which feeds and helps thousands of the less fortunate.  The experience so moved them that they decided something similar could happen in Kelowna.

Bartlett said they saw Christians feeding thousands of people like Jesus did, and wanted to do something back home to show Jesus’ compassion in a tangible way.

They started busing people from the downtown core to the main Willow Park campus in Rutland, a suburb several kilometres from Kelowna’s downtown. But many of the people did not feel comfortable in that conventional middle class setting.

So they began having a church service Saturday evenings at Kelowna Gospel Mission – an area of the city where homeless and street people tend to congregate. Within a year, they had outgrown the space at the mission, and arranged to use the Habitat facility across the street. Ironically, City Hall is in the neighbourhood and the luxurious lakeside hotel, the Grand Okanagan, is just a couple of blocks north.

Metro now meets at Habitat Sunday mornings;  Bartlett describes the venue as a combination restaurant, night club and theatre.

“We have church, followed by a free breakfast – for all and sundry who want to come,” he said. The format is informal and unconventional. “This wouldn’t be a hard place to enter for the first time – or the 10th time,” he added.

The format also includes an open microphone – which anyone can use.  

“We are never sure what is going to happen,” Bartlett said. “We feel Jesus can move.” He said the church wants to foster authentic relationships, and an authentic way of ‘doing church.’

Continue article >>

Members of Metro Church doing street ministry.

Up to 150 people, most of them from around the neighbourhood, turn up for the breakfast. It is an eclectic group, ranging from highly-educated professorial or business types to street people.

As well as breakfast, they have a ‘share table’ – where those who have extra things can put them out for those who might be in need.

“This church was birthed as a community of all believers,” Bartlett said. “There is no ‘us and them.’ We are a community of people seeking the truth, in an atmosphere of love.”

The church is very conscious of not trying to duplicate services already being provided by government agencies and other organizations. Instead,  pastors and church leaders try to help people access the existing services.

Willow Park has chosen to expand in the Kelowna region by creating Metro and two other satellite campuses which draw on resources and staff from the mother church. Metro is a way for  the big church to physically touch a part of the community that is hurting.

“We took literally what Jesus said: that whatever  you do for the least of my brothers, you do for me,” Bartlett said.

He shares the pastoral work at Metro with East, whose official title is pastor of global ministries. East is currently in India with a missions group.

November 2007