A time to grieve and a time to dance.

HIS FINAL WORDS (Joyanne Pursaga, staff reporter)

At his funeral, he'll speak to those he fought for one last time. Inner city activist Rev. Harry Lehotsky recorded a video message for those who attend his service at Calvary Temple on Wednesday. The ceremony is scheduled to start at 10:30 a.m.   Eldest son Matthew, 21, said he's looking forward to hearing his dad's voice again. "It's one last chance to see him," he said yesterday.

Matthew, who has two younger brothers, said his childhood included attending city council meetings at the age of nine where his dad stood up to fight poverty, crime and housing shortages in one of Winnipeg's toughest neighbourhoods.

Harry Lehotsky created new Life Ministries, the Lazarus and Nehemiah housing renewal programs and the Ellice Cafe & Theatre to help improve the West End. He died of pancreatic cancer Saturday.

Matthew said his dad's work inspired his own commitment to the neighbourhood.  "I will always remain in the inner city, no matter where I live," he said, noting his father always put family first no matter how busy he was. "It's what I've grown accustomed to and it's such a great cultural mosaic."

While other members of the family declined to comment, Matthew called the support Winnipeggers have given the family following his dad's death "a blessing."

Religious and political leaders stressed they'll work to carry on Lehotsky's work in his memory.  "He's made such a huge impact on this city and we want to see that legacy live on," said Calvary Temple's Pastor Trevor Meier, who paid tribute during church services yesterday.  Calvary Temple Pastor Bruce Martin said it's an honour to host Lehotsky's funeral and pay tribute to a man who lived by the principles of his faith, rather than just preaching them.

Fellow New Life Ministries pastor Rev. Larry Gregan said the church's congregation shared stories about Lehotsky for about an hour yesterday, showing how many lives he touched.  "He would work to get a drug dealer busted. But then if the guy got out and needed a safe place to stay, he'd help him," said Gregan. "He worked with victim and victimizer all the time."  Gregan said Lehotsky and his colleagues spent weeks transferring programs to ensure his good works carry on.

Federal Justice Minister Vic Toews offered his condolences to the family and noted Lehotsky's contributions to the West End.  "It was with tremendous sadness and regret that I learned of the passing of Rev. Harry Lehotsky, after a long and courageous battle with cancer," said Toews in a press release yesterday.

Meanwhile, Premier Gary Doer said Lehotsky will be missed while his achievements live on.   "In addition to providing spiritual support, he was a strong voice for better housing, safer streets and community empowerment," Doer said in a press release.

Well done, faithful servant
Pastor took on West End's ills, dedicated his life to curing them

Sun Nov 12 2006    By Kevin Rollason

REV. HARRY LEHOTSKY grew up worshipping in New York City's Hell's Kitchen, but it was in Winnipeg's West End that he found his heavenly calling.

Surrounded by family, Lehotsky died early Saturday of the terminal pancreatic cancer he had been battling since he was diagnosed in May. He was 49.

Lehotsky, a pastor and a founding member of New Life Ministries at 514 Maryland St., champion of Winnipeg's poor and advocate for inner-city renewal, was remembered Saturday by friends, politicians, community leaders and people he had helped.

Trudy Turner, executive director of the West End BIZ, said "the community has lost an icon.  "He has done more for this community than any other single person has. The fact he was so outspoken and so willing to be Harry, regardless of the fallout of it, it really gained him so much respect in the community. Whether you agreed or disagreed with him, you always knew where he stood."

Rev. Larry Gregan, a fellow pastor at New Life Ministries, said Lehotsky was always the first to admit he wasn't the only one deserving credit for the growth of the West End ministry. It was responsible for the creation of entities such as Lazarus Housing, which renovated more than 100 housing units in the inner city, and the Ellice Cafe and Theatre. "But Harry had a very vital part of the whole picture," Gregan said. "The ministry Harry started reflects a lot of Harry's thinking and action. He really was about renewal of life. The word 'ministries' was put there on purpose."

Lehotsky, in an interview after his diagnosis, said he wasn't afraid of dying.  "I get to meet the person I've been working for all these years. I hope he's (God) going to say, 'Well done, good and faithful servant.' "

Gregan said after Lehotsky made his diagnosis public, he was amazed to see individuals and organizations not only come forward to help complete what he started, but to put his initiatives on a solid footing to continue long after he was gone.

In the last few months, the provincial government announced the creation of the Rev. Harry Lehotsky Award for Community Activism, a group of businessmen held a fundraising dinner to help pay off the street ministry's debts, and a large mural depicting Lehotsky and his work was finished by the West End BIZ.

Mayor Sam Katz, who a few months ago announced the city had created a $5,000 scholarship to honour Lehotsky, called him "a great man."   "Harry was not afraid to fight a battle that most people thought could not be won. Harry showed that one human being can make a big difference."  The city's scholarship will be given annually to one or more students between the ages of 18 and 30 who show a commitment to the West End through volunteer work or community leadership.

In a written statement Saturday afternoon, Premier Gary Doer said Lehotsky "forced all of us to be honest in our discussions of how to address the many issues facing society and our communities."

Lehotsky was a fresh graduate from the North American Baptist Seminary 24 years ago when a group of Baptist ministers urged him to come to Winnipeg's inner city and become a founding member of New Life Ministries.   He not only ministered in the inner city, he also lived there with his family.

Joan Hay, an aboriginal leader in the Spence neighbourhood and co-ordinator of House of Opportunities, a faith-based agency, said she met Lehotsky through his work with Lazarus Housing. Hay said she also worked with Lehotsky on the Clean Sweep advisory committee.   "It takes a community effort to rebuild our community and he was one of the leaders," she said.  "He was always looking for opportunities to improve our neighbourhood. He was an important part of helping our community, but the good work he did will continue to move on."

Winnipeg police Det.-Sgt. Harry Black first met Lehotsky several years ago when the officer began community policing in the West End.  "Meeting Harry opened my eyes and showed me there are good people who deserve to be helped," Black said.  "We worked closely together and he helped tell me where the crack houses were in the area. It's just too bad... He was such a young man."

Lehotsky is survived by his wife, Virginia, and three sons.

* Lehotsky was raised in New York City, where with his parents he attended the church of Walter Rauschenbusch, known as the Father of the Social Concern movement in America, in that city's Hell's Kitchen area. As a teenager, Lehotsky rejected his family's values. After winding up in hospital after a drug overdose, he devoted his life to God.

* Lehotsky went to North American Baptist College, now Taylor University College, and later the North American Baptist Seminary. He graduated with a Master of Divinity degree in 1982.

* Shortly after graduation, Lehotsky was leading a workshop on urban ministry at the North American Baptist conference in Niagara Falls when several pastors from Winnipeg encouraged him to start a church in their city's West End.

* In Nov. 1983, Lehotsky and his wife Virginia began holding Bible studies in a home on Ellice Avenue. In Feb. 1985, a decision was made to hold worship services there.

* In Oct. 1986, the group moved into 514 Maryland St., and became New Life Ministries, a North American Baptist Conference church.

* Lazarus Housing was founded in 1997. The non-profit company bought and renovated derelict homes, former drug houses and gang hangouts. It renovated more than 100 units of housing.

* Nehemiah Housing was begun in 1998. The non-profit property-management company rented out suites with rent control in renovated buildings to the working poor and people on social assistance.

* Connect 2 was created as a free, private voice-mail box service to help West End residents without phones get jobs.

* West End CIA is a grassroots community council credited with shutting down drug houses, stopping prostitution, and reporting on gang crimes in the area.

* Ellice Cafe and Theatre opened last year to help provide volunteer and employment training.

Reaching out and speaking out
Rev. Harry Lehotsky's expressions of faith were strong, as were his political opinions:

'This is an offence to common decency. Why are we talking about licensing prostitution? It's almost like prostitution will become a career-day option in schools'

-- On the City of Winnipeg studying in 2001 the prospect of licensing escort services and massage parlours

'We've got little clumps of kids causing a lot of damage. They walk around here with baseball bats and they're stealing purses or bikes, and they get more and more heady each time they get away with this stuff. It just keeps going and no one knows how to stop it'

-- On why the Youth Criminal Justice Act was not adequately curbing youth crime

'Basically, I don't feel that the city and province have made enough progress in regards to housing revitalization in the inner city until we're renovating more than we're demolishing'

-- On why he decided to found Lazarus Housing, which focuses on rehabilitating core-area homes for low-income earners

'Some of these kids are living in a household of drunks, but because one person is 12 years old, they're deemed old enough to look after any young ones. We've got to crack down on those situations'

-- On why a citywide curfew for youth might be a good idea

'I'm no different from anybody else. We all got our stuff'

-- On his suicide attempt 15 years ago

Mourners praise activist pastor: 'He just got things done'

Family, church members, politicians, social activists and inner-city residents packed a downtown Winnipeg church Wednesday morning for the funeral of Rev. Harry Lehotsky.  The 49-year-old pastor and inner-city activist died on Saturday after a five-month battle with pancreatic cancer.  As founder and pastor of New Life Ministries, Lehotsky helped inner-city people get food and jobs. He also headed the Lazarus Housing project, which turned abandoned buildings into livable properties for low-income residents.  As well, in 2005 Lehotsky opened and ran the Ellice Café and Theatre at the corner of Ellice Avenue and Sherbrook Street. A year after it opened, the café had become a popular hangout and was attracting people from all over the city.

"I felt his life was very much intermingled in the community. Everything he did he did with others, for the good of the community," said Janet Johnson, who, as volunteer co-ordinator with the John Howard Society of Manitoba, had worked closely with Lehotsky on a number of projects.  "It was never just him. It was God working through him, it was him working with other people."

Lehotsky was also an outspoken activist and newspaper columnist, advocating for tougher measures to fight crime and fighting against bureaucracy.

"Harry did things that no one ever believed they would ever be able to accomplish. But more so, Harry was not into red tape, couldn't stand bureaucracy. I supported him on that, and he just got things done," Winnipeg Mayor Sam Katz said Wednesday.  "He definitely upset a lot of people. But you know what? That was his style. He was a wonderful human being."

At the heart of Wednesday's service at the Calvary Temple was a videotaped eulogy Lehotsky prepared prior to his death.  He spoke directly to his family, giving his wife Virginia and their three sons personal messages of thanks and asking them to be strong.  He asked members of New Life Ministries, the church he founded two decades ago in the city's West End, to continue his work and be a light in the neighbourhood.  Lehotsky's eulogy also spoke on a political level, challenging leaders and local activists to move past bureaucracy and other obstacles to make a true impact on the community.  His voice breaking, Lehotsky concluded his eulogy by saying how much he will miss his family, his friends and the work he pursued so vigorously.  The audience responded to Lehotsky's eulogy with tears and laughter, the latter thanks to the late pastor's wit and dry sense of humour.

Lehotsky grew up in New York, and said that in his late teens, he realized his life was not where he wanted it to be.  After overdosing on drugs, he turned his life around, moving to Winnipeg's West End 23 years ago and beginning to focus on causes benefiting the poor.

He was buried at Brookside Cemetery on Wednesday afternoon.

We believe in one God, the Father, the Almighty, maker of heaven and earth, of all that is, seen and unseen. 

We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the only Son of God, eternally begotten of the Father, God from God, light from light,
true God from true God, begotten, not made, of one Being with the Father; through him all things were made.
For us, and for our salvation, he came down from heaven, was incarnate of the Holy Spirit, and the Virgin Mary, and became truly human.
For our sake, he was crucified, under Pontius Pilate; he suffered death, and was buried.
On the third day, he rose again, in accordance with the Scriptures; he ascended into heaven, and is seated, at the right hand, of the Father.
He will come again, in glory, to judge the living, and the dead, and his kingdom, will have no end. 

We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life, who proceeds from the Father, [and the Son], who with the Father and the Son, is worshiped and glorified, who has spoken, through the prophets.
We believe in one holy catholic, and apostolic Church.
We acknowledge one baptism, for the forgiveness of sins.
We look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come. Amen.

I am disappointed with myself.  ...with aspects of who I have become.

I am disappointed in my ordinariness.

I am disappointed that I still love God so little and sin so much.

...I am embarrassingly sinful.  I am capable of dismaying amounts of jealousy...  I am disappointed at my capacity to be small and petty.  I cannot pray for very long without my mind drifting... I can convince people that I'm busy and productive and yet waste large amounts of time watching television.

 

Sometimes, although I am aware of how far I fall short, it doesn't even bother me very much.  And I am disappointed by my lack of disappointment.

God is not interested in your "spiritual life."  God is just interested in your life.  He intends to redeem it.

• What to pack?  Less than you want to, I'm told
• Reading posts on the CruiseCritic forums
• Researching our ports and tours to take
• Learning about the ship

And ice.

How depressing.