The Canadian mission field: LCMS pastor shares the Gospel with Sikhs, Muslims, Hindus and Buddhists September 29, 2025

Can a church sign make a difference?

Maybe not in all contexts, but in the center of French-speaking Montreal, Quebec, Ascension Lutheran Church’s sign has proven to be one of the most effective methods of making a Christian connection.

“Our community [in Montreal] has always been a heavy immigrant-cycling neighborhood,” explained Rev. Charles St. Onge, an LCMS pastor called to serve the Slovak District congregation. “We’re only about 1/2 square mile in size, but the population is a little over 30,000, and about 90 percent are either immigrants or children of immigrants. So if we’re going to be here, where we have 2-3,000 people who walk past our church building every single day, we want to grab hold of that opportunity to be the first Christians they ever meet.”

Rev. St. Onge’s strategy has been to use Ascension’s digital sign to include messages in many different languages. “We might take a simple Bible verse and translate it into 6 different languages, and those will circulate all day long: ‘Christ Jesus came to save sinners, of whom I am the worst,’ for example.”

For Sikhs from Pakistan, Buddhists from Thailand, Hindus from India and Muslims from Bangladesh, the sign that includes their heart language is a beacon that shines in the chaos of living in a new land.

Making connections

The congregation’s next step in reaching out to new immigrants is to hold events and classes that help them adjust to living in a new country.

“So first, people will see what we believe on our sign,” explained Rev. St. Onge. “Then, that might lead them to say, ‘Maybe I’ll check out their English classes or attend their open house.”

In addition to offering English classes, Ascension also holds open houses where they feature a speaker from the community, such as a police officer or fire fighter, who talks about what it’s like to be a Canadian and how they’re there to help. As immigrants get more comfortable being in the church building, they may decide to join in a fellowship dinner or even try attending a Sunday morning service to see what Lutheranism is all about.

It’s an approach that seems to be working

“We never have a boring Sunday!” exclaimed Rev. St. Onge. “You never know who’s going to be at worship or what mix of people there will be: Chinese, Pakistani, Americans, Canadians, Indians, Thai. Some weeks, 30% of the people will be visitors.”

Ascension now has about 80 members, but “the 80 members now are not the same 80 who were members when I arrived,” Rev. St. Onge said. “The turnover is constant as immigrants continue to move.”

“What do you believe?”

As those visitors hear the Gospel and want to learn more about what Lutherans believe, LHF’s many translations of Luther’s Small Catechism have been invaluable to Rev. St. Onge.

“People ask, ‘What do you believe about the Bible?’ That’s the genius of this little book – it’s what Jesus believed, and it’s what we believe,” Rev. St. Onge enthused. “The catechism is the key: Here is how you read the Bible, and it’s just incredibly valuable when dealing with other religions. Thank you from this little tiny post here in the center of Montreal!”