A church in Winnipeg's Osborne Village area is concerned about potentially being given a heritage designation by the city.

Pastor Brad Warkentin at Trinity Baptist Church on Gertrude Avenue says the main concern comes down to what he believes are differences in core mandates between the church and the city committee in charge of heritage designations.

"We just foresee that that may come into conflict at some point, and... we believe that we should have the power to make decisions about our space," says Warkentin. He says there's no immediate conflict they're worried about, but wonders what will happen down the road.

Fort Rouge-East Fort Garry councillor Jenny Gerbasi, who sits on the city's property committee, says there is a permitting process required for making changes to a heritage building, but says it's not difficult to work with the city.

"YOu know, you have to keep the major basic elements, but if you want to alter something because you just can't make it function anymore then we work with the owners to ensure that those changes can be done in a reasonable way," says Gerbasi.

Warkentin says the church recognizes the building is a treasure, with aesthetic and historical value to the city.

"Our concern really has to do with our resources being available to us to meet our core mandate of reaching our community with the gospel. It's not that it's historic or aesthetic value is unimportant to us, it's just not the most important thing," says Warkentin.

Warkentin says a separation of church and state is kind of at the root of the issue.

Gerbasi says ultimately the decision rests with council.

"If council agrees with them then we won't designate it but the recommendation from the Historic Buildings and Resources Committee and from the Property Committee supported was that (the building) is worth designating and it should be preserved well into the future," says Gerbasi.

No final decision has yet been made. Before the issue comes before council as a whole, it will have to get past the executive policy committee. Warkentin says he's open to some sort of compromise, like giving the church authority over the building's interior but not the actual outside structure.

The Trinity Baptist Church was originally built as the Nassau Street Baptist Church, dedicated in 1910.