Regina congregation launches French-language worship service

Lutheran Church–Canada's French-language hymnal provides worship resources for congregations.

REGINA – Like many outreach projects, this one began by asking a simple question: what gifts and abilities does our congregation have that we aren’t currently using? Now, more than a year after first asking that question, Good Shepherd Lutheran Church  is poised to hold its first French-language worship service today (Saturday, May 14) at 7 p.m.

French outreach is a natural fit for Pastor Jim Chimirri-Russell. Before entering seminary, he spent a year living in Quebec. There, he realized the need for renewed proclamation of the Gospel to French speakers in Canada. “My time in Quebec showed me,” he says, “that the vacuum left by the quiet revolution against the Catholic Church needed something to fill it.” He adds, “There was a great hunger for the Gospel in the language of the heart, a fresh approach to it. That is the sort of thing we are poised to provide here at Good Shepherd.”

When Amanda Knodel joined the church as Director of Parish Services in August 2010, the idea of French ministry suddenly became more conceivable. Knodel, after all, did her undergraduate degree in French. “Going to work in a Lutheran church in southern Saskatchewan,” she laughs, “I never thought I’d get to use my French degree.”

She has been pleasantly surprised. Regina’s population is growing quickly because of the booming Saskatchewan economy, and as the general population increases, so too does the French-speaking population. Francophones from across Canada and French immigrants from Africa are choosing to make the Queen City their home. In doing so, they join an already vibrant Fransaskois community currently residing in Regina.

As the French population increases, so too does the need for French ministry. “To the best of our knowledge, there is no Protestant church offering French services in Regina,” says Rev. Chimirri-Russell. “That’s something we want to change.”

Knodel is similarly excited about the outreach, wondering whether she and Rev. Chimirri-Russell have been providentially placed at Good Shepherd. “I find the timing fascinating: a new French hymnal recently came out, providing great resources for French ministry,” she says. “And now in Regina we have two French-speaking church workers placed in a congregation where French outreach is a real possibility.”

In preparation for the event, the church sent out invitations to a number of French community organizations in Regina, and took out advertisements in L’eau vive, a weekly French newspaper. That said, it remains anyone’s guess what the actual attendance numbers will be. “It could be large,” says Rev. Chimirri-Russell, “but we expect it will be a pretty intimate group – at least at first.”

Still, the potential for growth is there. The same day Good Shepherd holds its first French service, Rev. Chimirri-Russell will be conducting his first bilingual French-English wedding. Hopefully that is a sign of things to come.

Mathew Block is chairperson of the Board of Evangelism at Good Shepherd Lutheran (Regina). A freelance writer, he blogs at www.blog.captainthin.net .

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