MONTREAL-The statistics tell a sad story-Quebec possesses not only the highest suicide rate in Canada but also one of the highest in the industrialized world.

Canada's predominantly French-speaking province also leads the nation in rates for divorce, couples living together outside marriage and children born out of wedlock.

With Quebec society straining under these pressures, a new Canadian Southern Baptist church aimed at French-speaking young professionals and university students in the Montreal area intends to focus on relationships.

"Many of the younger Québécois are wounded and disillusioned," said Chantal Vallée, one of the organizers for l'église Impact. "We need to show them that God is love. We need to show them that the Christian faith is not a religion, it's a relationship with Jesus Christ."

L'église Impact grew out of Impact Church, a church started last fall in downtown Montreal for the city's university students. The ground was fertile for growth-more people per capita attend colleges and universities in Montreal than in any other North American city.

Chantal Vallée speaks at a recent service of l'église Impact, a new church serving French-language young adults and university students in the Montreal area. Vallée, a Quebec native, is one of the organizers for the group.
Photo by Harold Campbell

Although both English- and French-speakers make their way each week to Impact, the church began as an outreach to English-speaking students. From a start of 20 students a week last year, Impact's attendance has grown to 80.

Leaders are using the strength of English Impact's growth as a base to develop an outreach to the French-speaking community.

David Brazzeal, Montreal-based International Mission Board Québécois strategy coordinator, serves as coordinator/facilitator for French Impact.

He said Impact's leaders from the beginning shared a vision for planting student-based churches for the French community.

"We've prayed for this as a leadership team. All through the summer, we made it a matter of prayer for the whole group at the English Impact meetings," he said.

Early this fall, a core group of students met for a planning session and decided to begin with monthly
meetings starting in late October.

"The Québécois have a real sense of community," Brazzeal said. "There was a general consensus among the core team that the 'personal relationship' aspect has been missing from their concept of Christianity and the church, so that is what we will focus on at Impact." After the first few services, participants are already expressing an interest in weekly meetings. Robert Pinkston, IMB strategy coordinator for Quebec's university students, also based in Montreal, said while the English-language Impact was designed for English-speakers from all over the world, the French-language Impact is targeting the Québécois.

"The needs of English-speaking and French-speaking students are the same, but they're even greater in the French community," Pinkston said.

By l'église Impact's second meeting in November, the group had more than 30 persons attending, a French-language worship band, a skit in French and videos from French films used as illustrations.

"This won't be just the French version of English Impact," Brazzeal said. "We want to find ways to present the gospel to young Québécois in a culturally relevant way."

Vallée, a Québec native who serves as an assistant women's basketball coach at McGill University, sees great potential for French Impact.

"We're going to be telling them the bottom line is that God loves you and that this isn't a list of do's and don'ts," she said. "The Québécois are a passionate people, and if they catch on fire for God, that would be incredible."