The Thomson funeral home is suddenly full of life as Hope Mennonite church has officially moved in.

Hope Mennonite Church had been sharing a space with Young United Church and Crossways in Common in the West Broadway neighbourhood. However, they began to outgrow the space and felt it was time to move on.

After a year of decisions, the church decided to begin meeting in the Thomson funeral home.

Some might consider this an odd space for worship but this church saw this new space as an opportunity.

Lead Pastor of Hope Mennonite church Lynell Bergen said "We did at the very beginning of our time have an adult ed series on death and dying." 

Bergen shared about how the church used the opportunity of meeting in a funeral home to say "Hey we are all going to die, death is a part of life."

The church went on to have meaningful conversations after that series "inviting people to think about their own deaths, and what it means to be a child of God as someone who is mortal."

Bergen says, though, as unique as it might sound for a church to meet in a funeral home it's a comfortable space to gather for worship.

Hope Mennonite Church meets on Sundays at 10:00 a.m. at 669 Broadway.