One of our priorities as a local church in Montréal has been to work with others wherever possible for the advancement of the Kingdom of God in Québec, not to work alone in order to build up our own kingdom and/or reputation as a church. A few weeks ago we acted out on this value in a huge way and formally merged with another congregation to become one church. We did so in order to more strategically impact the province of Québec with the transforming power of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

What may be different about this merge from others is that we did not geographically bring two churches together but rather two churches in two different cities came together under shared leadership. Our primarily anglophone congregation in Montréal (Initiative 22) and a primarily francophone congregation in Sherbrooke (Axe 21) now celebrate a common identity as Church 21 (Église 21 in French). What’s more, one week after we relaunched each church with this new shared identity, we launched a new church plant that has been over two years in the making as Église 21 in the city of Magog.

Each church brings some very powerful gifts to our common table and we are very excited about walking forward together with the same heart and mind for the province of Québec. The church in Montréal has been leading the way in living out our missional identity and working this out well in the structure of the church. Our brothers and sisters in Sherbrooke have such a strong identification with the culture and people of Québec that they are imparting to us as we work alongside each other. It is a blessing to see how our leaders share responsibilities and humbly accept difficult changes for the sake of the growth of the Kingdom of God!

From the beginning of our church planting residency we have been preparing to train men in the church in Sherbrooke, and now we have one couple on the ground there who are part of the church and who are training with us with the expectation of planting a church in Montréal. Our newest church planting resident will also be moving to Sherbrooke with his family to train with the French church there. It is so important that we have different contexts in which to train men and that we are able to train in both French and English.

So let me happily introduce you to our new church – Church 21 – a church with a huge heart for the people of Québec and a very intentional strategy to see disciples and churches multiplied for the good of the province and the glory of God!

Stay tuned for the launch of our complete website which is still under construction. In the meantime, you can see more at http://eglise21.ca/en.