Canada has long enjoyed a reputation of being a welcoming nation to immigrants and refugees. Its economic stability, quality of life and positive stance on multiculturalism are all reasons immigrants are drawn to the nation, especially in recent years, making Canada a unique mission field for The Wesleyan Church.
Nearly 23% of Canadians are a landed immigrant or an immigrant with permanent resident status, which accounts for more than eight million people according to Statistics Canada, citing 2021 census numbers. And most recently, the highest increases are seen in people coming from Southeast Asia. “It is such a unique mission field in Canada right now,” said Central Canada District (CCD) Superintendent Eric Hallett.
What is even more unique is that inside that immigrant group are the Tamil people who are united not by country of origin but by language. Large groups of Tamils are often found in Southern India and Sri Lanka, but they also hail from countries such as Madagascar, Singapore, Malaysia, Mauritius, Fiji and South Africa. No matter where they are from, the vast majority of Tamils grew up in the Hindu religion.
TCCC
That is why the Tamil Christian Church of Canada (TCCC) is perfectly positioned to be the church not only reaching Tamil speakers in the greater Toronto area, but also in Whitby, Ontario, where it began offering an outreach ministry in August 2022. This outreach has now become the TCCC-Whitby Campus, which will soon become a standalone, sister church to TCCC. Both TCCC and the Whitby Campus are pastored by Reverend Dr. Albert Jebanesan (Pastor Jebi). Dr. Hallett said that Pastor Jebi will be “dialing back” but not retiring in the next year, leaving TCCC and shifting to focusing solely on the Whitby church, which started with 10 to 15 people and has now grown to 100.
TCCC has been around since Tamil-speakers first began gathering in 1971 with carol sings organized by Tamil Christians moving to the Toronto area from Sri Lanka. This gathering morphed into a Bible study and eventually became a formal church in 1986. TCCC officially joined The Wesleyan Church in May 2019 (see related story).
One of the amazing things about TCCC-Whitby is the way God is at work bringing Tamil-speaking Christians from various nations together as one congregation. Dr. Hallett said, “Pastor Jebi and a group of leaders’ first instinct was to serve families moving East to Whitby because housing prices in Markham are out of control. In that process, they found a number of Tamil-speaking Christians from other countries who have joined them.”
Pastor Jebi
Pastor Jebi said, “people from all walks of life have come to worship with us, leaders have emerged and our church has grown. This growth didn’t happen by accident — it was through hard work, prayer and God’s blessings … I am so grateful to be the pastor of this congregation.”
If he could, Dr. Hallett would ask Pastor Jebi to plant five more churches today. “If only we had the pastors for them across southern Ontario,” he said. “The Indian Subcontinent people are our number one immigrant population, followed closely by Filipinos. African immigrants are on the rise as well, as are the Chinese.”
The Central Canada District has other reasons to celebrate new faith expressions being planted in the district to serve non-English speakers across its vast territory:
- On August 4, a French language church launched in Montreal that is composed primarily of Haitian immigrants. Hallett noted that the district relies on a close relationship with the Global Partners French language ambassador, Reverend Carl Gilles, who lives in Quebec City, to connect it to the Haitian and African French speakers of the province.
- A second French-speaking group is beginning to take shape that could turn into a church in Quebec City.
- CCD’s church for Chinese Mandarin speakers in Victoria, British Columbia (Crossway Church), is now enjoying a congregation of approximately 100 worshipers on Sundays, up from 15 three years ago.
- Another Chinese immigrant group is creating a small group that could lead to a church on Vancouver Island in the town of Campbell River.
- A woman of Caribbean heritage, Pastor Suzette Kostadinova, who grew up in Toronto, is planning to launch a church built on a “family ministries multi-cultural model” in early 2025 to be called The Lighthouse KW.
- In February 2024, a Filipino congregation began meeting in Toronto called Midtown Fellowship.
- A Spanish-speaking group is in the early stages of forming just south of Ottawa by a pastor who grew up in Cuba.
And of course, the district wants to plant more Tamil churches whenever and wherever it can. Dr. Hallett calls Pastor Jebi “my hero” for the work he has done bringing Tamil Christians together, bringing them under the umbrella of The Wesleyan Church and expanding to Whitby.
“The story is about the overall missional courage to multiply that this church has undertaken, which can be complicated for many reasons,” Dr. Hallett said, including how to preserve a cultural identity when the second and third generation children and grandchildren are Canadian-born English or French speakers. He is grateful that TCCC is responding to that missional call to multiply.
Jennifer Jones is a freelance journalist who serves as the North Carolina East District administrator.
