“That’s where church planters go to die!”

That’s what a man told me only months after I moved to Mississauga, Canada, when I mentioned that I was pastoring a church in the northwest part of the city.

Whether or not he knew what he was talking about, I think we can agree that planting a church in Mississauga looks challenging on paper. Mississauga is the third most expensive city in Canada (only behind Vancouver and Toronto), extremely transient (more than 50 percent of Mississauga residents have lived here for less than 5 years), and highly post-Christian (although about 50 percent of residents claim to be Christian, less than 25 percent of them are regularly in worship on a Sunday).

And the historical fact is that WELS has tried to plant a church in the Mississauga area two times previous to the current version of our congregation (in the 1970s and early 1990s), but both times the missions had to close. In some sense, that man was right.

But despite the challenges on paper and in ministry, our synod continued to “have concern for the great city.” (Jonah 4:11). And here we are! August 15, 2024, was the 25th anniversary of our congregation and many blessings accompany that celebration:

First, fruits of the gospel! Over Cross of Life’s history, 116 people have received the gift of Baptism and 216 have been confirmed in the faith after studying scripture with one of our pastors.

Second, a new population to serve. We have received over 70 new visitors in the last six months who are refugees from five different African nations. We were able to mobilize humanitarian aid and spiritual care for these folks. About 20 of them have joined our church, with more intending to join. Ironically, this started only a month after I said to a brother pastor, “We are a very multicultural church . . . except we don’t really have anyone from Africa.” Oh, how Jesus made me eat my words!

Third, a subsidy-free ministry. This year, we chose to stop receiving subsidy from our synod to operate our church. After literally millions of dollars spent to keep a church in this city, we can fund ministry on our own now.

Fourth, a future home. We have made a deal to purchase a 10,000 square foot building to be our church home. We are waiting for city permission to close the deal, but things look promising at this point. Pray that God would give us this home or a better one, if it is his will.

Fifth, a future ministry. We have started two men on the path to becoming WELS pastors in Canada through a partnership with Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary. We get to dream what God is planning for us in the next few years as those men near graduation and can serve full-time in the ministry!

Of course, all these blessings ultimately come from Jesus, so thank him as you hear how he is blessing us! But these blessings are also the result of the generous Congregational Mission Offerings of congregations like yours, and because of the commitment of our synod’s leaders to planting and supporting churches in major cities, despite the immense costs and challenges. So, thank you also for your offerings and your prayers, and please keep praying for God’s work to be done here!

Written by Rev. Caleb Schultz, home missionary at Cross of Life in Mississauga, Ontario.

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