The Brightness of Montreal
In evangelical circles, it seems quite common for Montreal to be referred to as a spiritually dark, desolate place. This seems discordant when most sources describe the city as bright, vibrant, often quirky, and very much alive.
The province of Quebec is largely post-Christian. Montreal, a city of nearly 3 million people, is a particularly salient example. It’s evident in looking at church buildings. Currently, at least 33 church buildings, several of them heritage sites, have been converted into community centres, libraries and sports centres. There is a chronic need for money to keep the old buildings maintained. It is abundantly clear that the city Montreal has become is very different from the city it used to be.
Our conversation with Jonathan got into some of the implications underneath the first impressions. Jonathan and Ashleigh deClet have been involved in evangelism in Montreal since 2017. Currently they serve with ServeCanada, and after we spoke together, Grace and I came out with a fuller sense of some of the needs they’ve witnessed, and the ways that they’re working to intervene. Their love of the city makes them want to change people’s perceptions.
The garden as a metaphor is particularly meaningful to Jonathan. He shared that he wants to plant the seeds that lead to new life.
One of the most urgent needs is food security. Many of the people they’re in community with are struggling to make ends meet. The ministry team feeds 500 families (2,000 people) every two weeks. Something as simple as sharing food can be a light in a dark place. They are working directly with two homes for the elderly, and two facilities for people who are mobility-reduced. In contrast to the assumptions about Montreal’s spiritual closedness, they’ve discovered that people are willing to have conversations around faith.
Jonathan and Ashleigh are also involved in the lives of young people. In their community kitchen, they offer jobs to youth who have disabilities, or who have fallen through the cracks.
As a result of their willingness to engage people, the team has seen increased participation in church community as well. They’ve seen growth in their youth group, from their start of 5 to 15. They’ve seen a heightened engagement, and a desire in people to be involved, to learn and to grow.
Jonathan wanted to point out that before they put themselves on this path, they invested a significant amount of time in prayerful contemplation. They wanted to understand the community’s needs, and what was already being done to meet them. From their sociological perspective, they wanted to see what made the community tick well before they tried to speak into it and make any kind of a difference.
The instructive question here for ministry of any kind is What does it mean to build community? How does it work? Understanding this, engaging with it, and enhancing it is just one of so many ways there are to love God.
