French Canadian by Birth, Bilingual by Choice

Until I left Montreal, Quebec to attend seminary in Hamilton, Ontario I was known as "Mike" by my English friends, and "Michel" by "mes amis français". Born to French Canadian parents yet educated in English I found myself straddling two cultures and finding my comfort zone somewhere in the middle.  That is probably why I married an anglophone (that's what we call English speaker in Quebec) who spoke French.  It wasn't until I moved to Ontario that I began to discover that, even though I spoke fluent English without an accent, I was different from your average Ontarian of the day. This was especially true when it came to conversations.

Let's put it this way: If you want me to shut up, tie my hands behind my back.  I remember being instructed by my British homiletics professor that one shouldn't use his/her hands when preaching.  Trying to comply, I bolted my hands firmly to each side of the pulpit during my first in-class sermon.  Then I tried to preach (I should say, I tried to speak).  But I couldn't. I couldn't get my brain and my mouth to work together without the aid of my hands.  It wasn't long before I was given an exemption from preaching without my hands.

Then there was my constant interruption of others.  You see, a typical French conversation at a dinner table consists of multiple speakers holding several conversations at the same time, while using volume to interject their thoughts into the mix.  None of this wait your turn and hope someone hasn't changed the subject on you.  So you can imagine how my English speaking colleagues handled my constant interruptions. Eventually I began telling people; "Please interrupt me or else I'll just keep on going and going and ... (you get the idea).

I think it was this need to adapt in order to interact with the English culture that nurtured my passion for intercultural ministry.  Yes I mean intercultural and not multicultural, for I have come to realize that there is more to be learned and gained by interacting with other cultures than isolating oneself in efforts to preserve one's own. Now, don't get me wrong. I'm proud of my French Canadian heritage. In fact, my wife and I intentionally sent our children to French school in efforts to pass that culture on to them.  We wanted them to be bilingual, with a foot in each culture.  Whether it be language, or race, or country of origin, we have so much more to gain from intercultural life than being cocooned in the safety of what we know.

The same is true of church culture.  Gone are the days when we could justify homogeneous church communities, defined by race, culture, age, or even denominational identity.  Church communities must be places where we worship and serve a God who transcends culture.

Agree? If not, excuse my French.