L'Assemblee Chretienne de Duvernay, QC

History

L'Assemblée Chrétienne de Duvernay, Laval, Greater Montreal, Southcentral Québec, Canada, was a French open brethren assembly begun in 1971 and active through 1987.

This assembly, known as La Grande Maison, was the fruit of a vision and efforts by Bill Wolitarsky and his wife Karen. They had come to Québec from California, arriving in 1966, commended by Christians at Believers' Chapel, Dallas, Texas. Two years of secular employment followed during which time the Wolitarskys participated at the Assemblée chrétienne Maranatha in Montréal, making personal visits as follow-up work for two French language Christian radio broadcasts, as well as for the Sermons from Science Pavilion at Man and His World.

In 1969 the Wolitarskys moved north across the Saint Lawrence to Ile Jésus, the island where Laval is located, in order to establish an assembly testimony there. This came as a result of a call, "Come over and help us in Laval", from a man who had recently built his little retirement home there on the North Shore. It proved to be the beginning of a new and exciting movement among Québec francophone assemblies, one which would endure for better than three decades.

Meetings began with Bill and Karen and two other families from the Maranatha assembly along with two additional persons. Within two years, nine believers formed the nucleus of a little assembly gathering on Sunday evenings in the Wolitarsky basement. In another year, the assembly had more than doubled and a large, twelve-room residence had been put at their disposal for the development of the work by Mr. A. R. Lite, an elder at Ebenezer Gospel Chapel. By the end of 1974, the little nucleus had grown to at least one hundred and the indoor swimming pool had seen numerous baptisms. In fact, the group baptized 146 in its first five years of phenomenal growth.

The Grande Maison went on to reproduce itself no less than five times. By 1978, there were approximately 80 believers meeting in the Grande Maison itself at Duvernay, 70 at St-Vincent de Paul, 35 in the west end of Montréal, and 40 at La Source in St-Léonard. Two years later an assembly was begun at Rivière Beaudette, forty-five miles further to the west. This latter work was an outgrowth of one in the east end of Montreal and, as such, might well be considered to have been a grand-daughter of the Grande Maison. Terrebonne followed in 1982. These were all growing assemblies, each one meeting in homes.

Two other components rounded out the Grande Maison phenomenon. The first of these was PEDAC, a program of theological education and leadership formation was developed beginning in 1982. Secondly, links between the newly established assemblies quite naturally led to the creation of a Réseau or network which included other assemblies in the Greater Montréal area. At one time, as many as nine assemblies were linked together in this way.

The Wolitarskys returned to California in 1982. As for the Grande Maison assembly, by the end of the 1980s it had ceased to exist, its work being carried forward by those assemblies to which it had given birth. However, in the early years of the present century, most of this work, with the exception of that at Terrebonne, gradually disappeared.

Location

• 2600 Levesque Blvd., Duvernay +1982-1989

Correspondent

• Jean-Pierre Fregeau 1986-1989

Alumni

• Who’s Who at L'Assemblee Chretienne de Duvernay, QC +1982-1989

Sources

• Walterick Publishers Assembly Address Books: 1982-1983, 1985-1987, 1989
• News of Quebec