Since 1976, the number of French-speaking conservative churches has doubled.
Quebec’s population is 6.3 million, and nearly 80 percent of its people speak French. It has always seemed that to speak French in Quebec was to be Catholic (although there are English parishes) and to speak English has most often meant one was Protestant. No conservative or mainline Protestant denomination has had many congregations in the French province, which is the cradle and hub of French culture in North America.
But in the last 10 years, even as the Catholic church was reporting dramatic declines, French-speaking evangelical churches in Quebec have registered remarkable growth. In 1976 there were 150 French-speaking evangelical congregations in Quebec; today there are more than twice that.
As far as the mainline denominations are concerned, however, the situation is relatively unchanged. The United Church of Canada, the nation’s largest Protestant denomination, reports 15 French-speaking churches (many of them small). The Anglican church has two, and the Presbyterian church has four.
In their concern for ecumenical détente and dialogue with the Roman Catholic church, mainline churches are apparently downplaying evangelism and church growth in the region which Pope Pius XII once described as his “most Catholic country.”
Several evangelical denominations have not been deterred. They are quick to point out, however, that their evangelistic thrust is not aimed at any one group. William Phillips of the Association of Evangelical Baptist Churches said, “Nominal Catholics, secularists, and nominal Baptists need to be converted. Even Catholic spokesmen are lamenting the number of lapsed Catholics in Quebec.”
The growth has been most evident in Pentecostal, Baptist, and Christian Brethren churches, although Mennonite Brethren, Christian and Missionary Alliance, Free Methodist, and Nazarene churches have established French-speaking congregations in recent years. The Evangelical Baptist association is launching a new congregation every five weeks.
That growth contrasts sharply with the Baptist experience in the late forties when pastors were imprisoned in northwestern Quebec for evangelizing French Canadians. Murray Heron, now 56, is pastor of Eglise Baptiste de Chomedy in Montreal, but, from 1947 to 1950, he spent four months in jail for his outdoor preaching endeavors. (The former prisoner now ministers regularly to French-speaking inmates in St. Vincent de Paul Penitentiary in Montreal.)
The Pentecostal Assemblies of Canada has the largest contingent of French-speaking congregations in Quebec. There were only 19 of those congregations in the entire province in 1970; now there are that many French-speaking Pentecostal churches in Montreal alone. The Pentecostal group reports over 100 organized churches, 70 churches not yet organized, and 7,000 members and adherents.
The Christian Brethren assemblies have also shared in the growth. The number of their French-speaking congregations has grown from 2 in 1945 to more than 50 at the present time.
No longer are evangelical Protestant churches dismissed as enclaves of English Canadian culture. Today the vast majority of members and new converts speak only French, and three-quarters of the pastors of all the groups are French Canadians.
Evangelicals ministering in Quebec report a responsiveness among French-speaking young people. The success among college students has been noticeable, and a majority of the members in the growing congregations are under 35.
The evangelistic harvest and accompanying church growth have come quietly, as local churches and new converts reached out to people in their communities. Those converted have often become instant missionaries to win relatives, friends, and neighbors.
That pattern of local church and personal evangelism has been and continues to be the dominant one in evangelical congregations of all denominations. A recent development, however, has been the emergence of larger intercongregational and interdenominational evangelistic crusades.
While Canadian newscasts were reporting a Montreal transit labor disruption in June, the city’s seven French-speaking evangelical Baptist churches were holding a three-night evangelistic outreach in Expo Theatre. In spite of the transit inconvenience, 5,200 people attended the meetings, which were addressed by Jacques Marcoux, a Quebec pastor.
It was estimated that over half of those who attended were unchurched; 185 people—most of them young—responded to the evangelistic invitation.
Later in June, French-speaking churches of seven denominations—Christian Brethren, Salvation Army, Mennonite Brethren, Christian and Missionary Alliance, Associated Gospel, Nazarene, and Baptist—cooperated in holding a five-day crusade in an arena 15 miles north of Montreal. One of the area pastors, Walter Dessousa of Eglise Baptiste Evangelique Terrebonne-Mascouche, preached at the meetings, which were attended by 4,500 people. A total of 200 decisions were registered.
Several Quebec evangelical spokesmen freely express regrets that there has been a tendency for each denomination to “go it alone.” They are concerned that, in a society already riddled by linguistic and political polarization, evangelicals, if they are to be credible, they must demonstrate their unity and cooperation.
Some cooperative ventures have been undertaken. The third annual pastors’ conference, sponsored by World Vision and organized by Christian Direction and Scripture Union, brought together 177 French-speaking pastors and wives. Pastor Maurice Ray of the Evangelical Reformed church in Switzerland addressed the gathering.
Parachurch agencies that have played a part in Quebec evangelization and church growth include the Canadian Bible Society, Christian Direction, and Scripture Union. The Canadian Bible Society now distributes more French Scriptures than does its counterpart in France.
Evangelical groups have had to deal with the problem of training pastors. Since most prospective ministers speak little or no English, they cannot proceed to seminaries in the neighboring province of Ontario or in adjacent eastern United States. In the past decade, however, hundreds of young French Canadians have been trained through innovative programs developed by the churches.
Bethel Bible Institute in Sherbrooke has provided training for pastors of the Christian Brethren and other groups. Two Baptist groups, Pentecostal, Mennonite Brethren, and Christian and Missionary Alliance churches have established residence and/or extension programs.
There is no apparent slackening of pace in the evangelization of French Canada, and it is one of the bright spots in Canadian church life. Those who attempt to explain it say that it is simply God’s hour for Quebec.
Several factors that may have contributed to fostering an atmosphere in which evangelism and church growth could flourish are frequently cited—the changed religious climate in the wake of Vatican II, the political winds of change during the late sixties and seventies when the monolithic society developed cracks, and the spiritual void that came on the heels of secularization of Quebec society. It is significant that evangelicals are reaping a harvest among “the lost generation” buffeted by those shifts.
That band of just over 300 evangelical congregations may appear relatively insignificant among Quebec’s 5 million French-speaking people. Those involved in the current outburst of evangelism in “la belle province” see them as beachheads for more intensive outreach.
