Where we serve

Montreal Region

Geography:

Montreal is an exciting international city situated on a large island in the St. Lawrence River. It was founded in 1642, when Jeanne Mance and Paul de Chomedey Sieur de Maisonneuve came ashore with about 40 colonists at the beginning of New France.

The city is a powerful blend of old and new. The skyscrapers of downtown seem to shadow the cobble-stone streets of Old Montreal, where one can sit at a sidewalk café and sense the hundreds of years of history. At the same time, the illuminated cross situated on Mount Royal stands above the city and seems to silently call out to the multitudes needing a Saviour.

Population:

The Greater Montreal area has a population of 3.54 million—the second largest city in Canada. It is home to people from over 80 ethnic groups, including a large English-speaking minority. Approximately 50% of the people of the Province of Quebec live in the greater Montreal area.

Economy:

In its long history Montreal has gone through several economic cycles. Each time an old industry ebbs, the city finds a way to reinvent itself and develop new businesses. The city is home to a number of industries, including several in the field of pharmaceuticals, financial services, technology, and aerospace.

Ministry:

There are 14 French Fellowship Baptist Churches in Montreal. Most are autonomous churches and several are ethnic congregations serving the large French-speaking Haitian community in the city. Currently, the Fellowship French Mission helps to support Jacob and Philomène Chéry serving in the Géthsémanie church, a Haitian ministry. The Mission also supports several church planting or revitalization ministries: Claude and Carole Vachon in the Hochelaga-Maisonneuve district of the city, as well as Ricardo and Ingrid Castro who have started a new church in Côte-des-Neiges, a highly multi-ethnic area of Montreal. In Montreal North, Robert and Jackie Charpentier are serving a growing congregation in an underprivileged area of the city. In January 2010, Miguel and Laura Richard became the French Mission's newest missionaries. The Richards serve in a pastoral ministry at a small urban church in Rivière-des-Prairies, in east end Montreal.

The offices of the French Regional Association of Churches in Quebec is situated in Montreal. SEMBEQ and the Fellowship French Mission also share office space in the same building. Several other missionaries live in the Montreal area, including the Mission’s Director, David Dobson, Church Planting Director Terry Cuthbert, Translator Marianne Petit-Clerc, AGEEQ and JBEQ leader Guy Lavoie, and Resource person Gabriel Cotnoir.