THIS YEAR IN NORTH MONTREAL: IMPLEMENTER GATHERING

Staying Local

Last month, New Ventures Implementers from every district came together in Montreal for their annual gathering. 

Implementer gatherings are a special time of sharing, learning, strategizing, and planning for the coming year and beyond. And the host city isn’t just a host city, it’s also a strategic and spiritual focus for the gathering.

This year, the team spent time in the communities of Ste. Eustache and Blainville in North Montreal, learning about their history and culture, exploring demographics, assessing the current church presence in the region, and praying for what God might do there. 

“Although I live in the Montreal area, I hadn’t previously spent much time getting to know Montreal North. This retreat was an incredibly enriching experience as we learned about the area’s unique history and demographics and dreamed together about partnering with God to reach its diverse communities with the good news of Jesus Christ.” - Troy Wiesner

“Some statistics about the church were indeed sombre, but it was a joy to meet some faithful men and women witnessing in sync with the heart of God." - Stephen Roy

Implementers are key to the New Ventures approach. Each implementer works with a specific district, network, or association. The people and places across Canada are diverse and unique, but as a team, Implementers rally around a few core processes that are shared across Canada:

Bringing awareness to the new things Jesus is doing across Canada

Creating space for discovery and discernment

Establishing New Ventures through partnerships

Working through a shared and simplified process

Looking Ahead

Two years ago, the implementer team noted that the steady growth of New Ventures and new churches in the Alliance would result in capacity challenges. And this has proven to be true. This year, the team spent significant time exploring how we can address capacity challenges to free resources to invest in leaders, and follow God’s leading in more places. 

One upcoming focus is to clarify the New Leader Process so that it is easy to understand next steps, and identify how the various stakeholders contribute to a new leader’s journey. While New Ventures doesn’t only work with new leaders, they are a significant focus. As we make this process clearer for all involved, we can more effectively walk with new leaders as they discern their next steps, and grow our capacity to join what God is doing across Canada.  

“New Ventures has never been a 'one-size-fits-all' pathway but rather a posture of wonder, curiosity, and intentionally leaning into the places God is already at work while partnering with leaders as they explore what this "new thing" could be!” - Amanda Corbin

What do you think? Have you connected with a New Ventures Implementer recently? Do you have ideas about building capacity in Canada? Do you want to join a district in praying for a region like North Montreal? Let us know.