Everyone is welcome at Gordie's coffeehouse at Winnipeg's Big Red Church

It’s cold outside, but it’s warm and comfortable inside Gordie’s coffeehouse on a Thursday evening in the Winnipeg neighbourhood of Glenelm. 

That’s where a full house of around 50 people is gathered to listen to folk and blues music. 

People have been coming to weekly concerts at Gordie’s since 2007, listening to local groups like the Nite Snackers, Agassiz Railroad, the Cat’s Advice and Two Crows for Comfort. There’s also an open mic for anyone who wants to perform a song or two. 

But what makes Gordie’s unique isn’t just the music — it’s the location: Gordon-King Memorial United Church. Or, as it’s known in the neighbourhood, the Big Red Church. 

Read my story about Gordie’s and the Big Red Church in the Free Press.

Faithful whistleblowers resist ICE in the U.S.

When Dan and Emily Coyne attend Sunday services at their church in Evanston, Il, they bring their Bibles — and their whistles. 

The Bibles are so they can follow along with sermons. The whistles are so they can blow them to warn their neighbors if Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents are in the area. 

“They’re with us all the time,” said Coyne of the whistles that he and his wife, Emily, carry with them to Reba Place Church. 

The church, which is part of Mennonite Church USA, is located in an area targeted by ICE to round up and deport undocumented people. The operation, called Midway Blitz, has resulted in the detentions of over 600 people since September. 

“The whistles are a non-violent way to resist,” said Dan, saying people blow three short blasts to warn that ICE agents are in the area and three long blasts when people see agents in the process of trying to detain someone. 

Read my column about the Coynes and how other people of faith are resisting ICE in the U.S.

Photo above: Dan and Emily Coyne outside their church.