Montreal (Quebec, Canada)

Montreal, Quebec is the second largest city of Canada (2006 Greater Montreal Area population 3,635,571 with half of those on the island of Montreal). Until the 1950s the city was a shipping and rail center as ocean ships could go no further inland. Montreal was founded by Roman Catholic laity from France in 1642 to serve as a hub to Christanize North America as well as a center for the fur trade. Protestantism was in effect banned until the British Conquest in 1759. The first Mennonite church began two hundred years later in 1958 with the Église évangélique mennonite de Montréal Nord. This was a Mennonite Church (MC) French church plant and closed in 1976. Meanwhile the House of Friendship/Maison de l'Amitié was established by Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) and the Mennonite Mission Board of Ontario in 1973 at 120 Duluth Av. East in the then impoverished Plateau area near the downtown. This social mission focused largely on daycare and refugee concerns over the years. This building also housed the closing years of the Montréal-Nord church (with primarily Haitian worshippers led by Albert Hodder) and then hosted the new Mennonite Fellowship of Montreal officially formed in 1978.  This creative English congregation remained very involved in the House of Friendship/MA activities as the building became the center of Mennonite and MCC work in Quebec. Two consecutive Hispanic Mennonite missions with pastors Juan Ituriagga in the 1970s and Nelson Castro were begun and ended in the same building. In addition when Montreal was chosen as the General Conference City on the Hill for 1999, an urban church plant the Communauté de Réconciliation was attempted. Only the MFM and the House of Friendship survive in Montreal. Although few in number, Mennonites are known for their refugee, prison and reconciliation work and for peace activism.

Mennonite Brethren (MB) mission has concentrated largely on the suburban area north of the island of Montreal. However in 1967 they did establish a church in the northern part of the island in the St. Laurent area: the Église chrétienne de Saint-Laurent. This congregation at 1775 boul. Édouard-Laurin, also housed the Mennonite Brethren French seminary (IBL which became the École de Théologie Évangélique de Montréal ÉTEM) from 1986 to 2006. In addition it provided space and partnership for Khmer and Hispanic Mennonite Brethren congregations. With a new focus on urban ministry, the MBs concentrated on Montreal in 2002 for their Key Cities Initiative. This led to various church plants in English, Frnech and one multi-ethnic church plant on Montreal island. Of these the largest is Westside Gathering in Dollard-des-Ormeaux. In addition, ÉTEM was moved in 2006 to a more central location near the Université de Montréal. The Mennonite Brethren continue to be known for their evangelism and their quality in theological education.

A new French church plant, L'Essentiel, is pioneering in combining Mennonite Church and Mennonite Brethren affiliation. It is also following the trend of Westside Gathering and Living Room in a non-traditional relational approach to postmodernism.

The Mennonite Central Committee office for Quebec was established around 1987 with leadership first from Debby Martin-Koop, then Jean-Victor and Annie Brosseau and more recently Claude and Muriel Queval. Among their many tasks they fostered cooperation between the two denominations, encouraged Maison de l'Amitié, helped organize Victim-Offender ministries, the annual Peace Festival since 2003 and since 2007 the Société d'histoire mennonite du Québec

Beginning in 1988 a Montreal Church of God in Christ (Mennonite) congregation was established on Jarry St. They are distinctive among other elements in their clothing and in their evangelism in the subways.

Many youth groups visit Montreal each summer for the SOAR programme (MB) or the Learning Through Service programmes and Harmonie (MCC) while Mennonite Voluntary Service (MC) and the Christian Public Service groups (Church of God) have provided young adults with longer-term opportunities for Volunteer Service.

The total membership of all these Anabaptist congregations in 2012 would be less than 350 for the island of Montreal.

Bibliography

Fines, Hervé. Album II du Protestantisme français en Amérique du Nord. Montreal, L'Aurore, 1988.

Histories of the Congregations. Moundridge KS, Church of God in Christ, Mennonite, 1999: 144-145.

Marr, Lucille. "A lonely outpost: the Mennonites Maison de l'Amitié." Journal of Mennonite Studies 24 (2006): 149-167.

Martin, Janet. Archive materials in SHMQ.

Additional Information

Table 1: Mennonite Congregations in Montreal, 2012

Church	Denomination	Year organized	Membership
Église évangélique de Saint-Laurent	Mennonite Brethren	1967	65
Mennonite Fellowship of Montreal	Mennonite Church	1978	43
Église de Dieu mennonite de Montréal	Church of God in Christ (Mennonite)	1988	8
Khmer Church (Khmer)	Mennonite Brethren	1996	43
Ambassadors Church (Hispanic)	Mennonite Brethren	2003
Westside Gathering	Mennonite Brethren	2006	60
Living Room	Mennonite Brethren	2010	50
L'Essentiel	Mennonite Brethren and Mennonite Church	2012	8

Pastors were contacted for membership (or sometimes attendance) figures.

Table 2: Former Mennonite Congregations in Montreal

Congregation	Denomination	Year organized	Year closed	Action taken
Église évangélique mennonite de Montréal-Nord	Mennonite Church	1958	1976	Dissolved
Spanish congregation	Mennonite Church	197?	1987	Disaffiliated
Église de la Persévérance	Mennonite Brethren	1988	1992	Merged with Saint-Laurent
Église Shalom (hispanic)	Mennonite Church	c1990	1996	Dissolved
Communauté de Réconciliation	Mennonite Church	1998	2001	Closed church plant
Hochma	Mennonite Brethren	2003	20??	Disaffiliated
Journey Fellowship	Mennonite Brethren	2003	2009	Closed church plant
Église internationale/Le Rocher/Ég missionnaire de Montréal	MB, Independent, Mennonite Brethren	2003	2014	Merged with L'Essentiel

Author(s)	Richard Lougheed
Date Published	November 2012

Cite This Article

MLA style

Lougheed, Richard. "Montreal (Quebec, Canada)." Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. November 2012. Web. 27 Nov 2024. https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Montreal_(Quebec,_Canada)&oldid=127002.

APA style

Lougheed, Richard. (November 2012). Montreal (Quebec, Canada). Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. Retrieved 27 November 2024, from https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Montreal_(Quebec,_Canada)&oldid=127002.

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