If you were driving around Crescent Road over the weekend and saw the crowds of people walking around the East half of the road, you may have wondered what all those folks might have been doing.
Well, wonder no more.
Over the weekend, a crowd of around 500 people gathered for the annual conference put on the Fifth Avenue and River Road Gospel Halls.
Meetings were held at the MNP Building on Saturday and Sunday, with meals served at the River Road Gospel Hall for lunch and supper.
The conference brings in speakers from a variety of places, with this year's cast including Prince Edward Island (PEI) and Scotland.
Brody Thibodeau has been preaching full-time for around 14 years, initially locally to PEI and farther afield in recent years. He says that participating in a conference like this begins long before the event takes place.
"It usually begins with a connection with some of the believers in the area, and then a mutual exercise or a mutual goal of being able to teach the believers and encourage them in different areas. So, it usually ends up with an invitation, and then we work out the logistics and try to make it work."
Thibodeau adds that these events are a part of what he and his wife believe God has asked them to do in their life.
"My wife and I feel like we've been called to spread the gospel as evangelists. And to help with the teaching of believers. So I was saved or I became a Christian in 2001, and since then I've been involved in local work while I was still doing my full-time job," Thibodeau continues. "The work that we do around home is usually the preaching of the gospel to unbelievers; the presentation of Christ and the call to respond to the gospel, and then the teaching of both new and old believers."
Stephen Grant also attended the event, travelling all the way from just outside of Glasgow, Scotland, to speak, and he outlines what brought him across the Atlantic Ocean.
"I've come to teach the Bible. That's why I've come. I was invited to do it by the local church here, and the opportunity to open up what I believe to be God's word to people who have a desire to listen to it is an attractive invitation to me."
He shares that, like Brody, he feels that teaching the Bible is what God has called him to do.
"I spent my whole life taking the gospel to places. So, back home in Scotland, I would take the gospel into a local prison, into our school, and also on occasion, churches and places where adults are gathered. I just love taking the gospel anywhere, so it's always a privilege to me that this is what I do full-time for a living. This is my job, but it's not a job. It's much more a kind of life work I'm involved in and have been for nearly 30 years, doing this."
The preaching is a major part of the conference, but so too is the fellowship. Folks from across the province, and even outside of Manitoba, come to take in the preaching, but also the meals and coffee breaks, which usually include conversation with those you sit with. Sherilyn Thiessen has worked in the kitchen, preparing meals, and, along with seven others, has been organizing the weekend's food for nearly 20 years.
"We have a group of 8 people that get together at the beginning of May to start planning the food side of the conference. We buy the meat and produce items on the Wednesday before the conference starts, and then start cooking the meat all day Thursday."
This year's meal totals rivalled the highest ever for the conference, according to Thiessen, who shared the numbers.
"This year, we just about passed our record for the largest meal served. The record was 505 people back in 2017, and this year, we served 504 people for supper on Saturday evening. This year, we had a grand total of 2,260 meals served throughout the weekend."
Full stomachs and full hearts walked away from the event, which, if previous expectations are to be consulted, will likely return on Father's Day Weekend of 2026.