CANADA HAS GREAT
NEED
By most generous estimates, less than 10% of Canada’s population claim to be born-again Evangelical Christians. Not only that, but Quebec has the largest people group in all of the Americas that is unreached by the Gospel – around 98% of its population.
CANADA HAS GREAT
OPPORTUNITY
Many Canadians are beginning to understand that mission is not an optional program in the church but an essential element in the identity of the church. The primary way we fulfill this mission is through the planting of churches that plant churches.
Who we are
Acts 29 Canada is a family of church planting churches characterized by:
- Connecting & Collaborating
- Growth & Giving
- Influencing & Innovating
What we believe
Acts 29 stands in the tradition of historic evangelical confessionalism. While we believe it is vital that the elders of each of our churches determine where they stand on doctrines of second importance, we do wish to make known our convictions on the following five theologically-driven core values:
- Gospel centrality in all of life
- The sovereignty of God in saving sinners
- The work of the Holy Spirit for life and ministry
- The equality of male and female and the principle of male servant leadership
- The local church as God’s primary mission strategy
What we want to be known for
Acts 29 Canada will ensure that we are known for:
- Planting churches that plant churches
- Pursuing holiness and humility
- Fostering local and global partnerships
- Praying for conversions through evangelism
Our lead team
Dwight Bernier
Network Director
Dwight and his wife, Jessica, live in Montréal with their four children. In 2011 they began Church 21, a multi-location church in the province of Québec. Dwight has a great desire to see churches planted all throughout Canada. He enjoys baseball, running, reading, U2, and playing in the city with his family.
Brad Somers
Area Lead: Atlantic
Brad Somers planted PAXnorth Church in the high risk north end community of Halifax. N.S, in 2005. In 2017 PAXnorth birthed a second church in a rural setting in Nova Scotia which has since taken on the task of renewing a third and dying church. It is Brad’s vision to see ten new churches planted and 10 church renewals revived in the next ten years in the Atlantic region. Brad and his wife, Shelby have seven children ranging from 8-24 years of age.
Steve Cloutier
Area Lead: Québec
Steve has long served as a youth pastor at Victoriaville’s Baptist Church (Québec) before becoming pastor and church planter at Connexion Church in Plessisville (Centre-du-Québec region). He also works as Director of Church planting and youth movement with Association d’Églises Baptistes Évangéliques au Québec. He is married to Catherine Leduc and has a son and 2 daughters.
Dustin Boreland
Area Lead: Central
Dustin is the lead pastor of Reach Montreal (reachmtl.ca), a church plant located in the West Island of Montreal. After two years of developing their core team, they merged with West Island Baptist Church, a 64 year old congregation to revitalize, replant, and relaunch as one new church together. Before relocating from Toronto to Montreal, Dustin and his wife Racquel served as foster parents to more than 15 teenage boys and have two children of their own. Dustin is passionate about the intersection of the Gospel and culture, and can be found overindulging on coffee, books, and hip hop.
Murray McLellan
Area Lead: Prairies
Murray grew up in rural Saskatchewan never hearing the Gospel of Jesus until age 24, when the pursuing God radically changed his life. Murray and his wife, Cheryl, planted Grace Fellowship in Saskatoon in 2011. Since that time, Grace Fellowship has planted 2 more congregations – Grace Warman (2015) and Grace Evergreen (2019). In addition to pastoring, training up new leaders, and church planting, Murray currently serves as the director of Acts 29 Canada Prairies Region, helping to oversee coaching. Murray also serves as the chaplain for the Saskatoon Police Service.
Aaron Weiss
Area Lead: West
Aaron Weiss planted Mission Hill Church, Calgary, Alberta in Fall of 2015. Mission Hill is a church of sent people on mission to share the gospel of Jesus within our community. He cares deeply about connecting pastors and churches towards working together. He is married to Rachael and they have two daughters.
Cindy Ho
Communication & Events
After living abroad for many years, Cindy and her family moved back to Montreal, Quebec to be closer to family. They looked for an Acts 29 church to join and found Church 21 which quickly became their home church since 2012. In 2017 Acts 29 Canada had a job opening for an administrative role and she has been on staff since then. Cindy now oversees the communication and events as well as being the executive assistant to the network director.
Mike Gockley
Training
Mike Gockley, together with Andrew Fulford, developed Academy in Context, a host of resources and courses for the church and church planters to be trained in their own context throughout Canada. Mike directs the academy and the training effort for Acts 29 Canada. He is married to Shari and they live in Montreal with their five children.
Clay Bitner
English Assessment Director
Clay and his wife, Kim, live in Warman, SK with their six children. Having been on the leadership team for Grace Fellowship in Saskatoon since they launched in 2011, Clay was then sent out to plant Grace Warman along with Mark Janzen in 2015. Clay continues to pastor in Warman and currently serves as Executive Director for Grace Fellowship’s Network of Churches as well as English Assessment Director for Acts 29 Canada.
Annie Dagenais
French Assessment Director
After evolving in the financial industry as a stockbroker for many years, Annie’s desire to be more involved in Québec’s mission field brought her to work as a project manager for the Association d’Églises Baptistes Évangéliques au Québec (AEBEQ), especially with Mission Québec. She has three teenage boys with her husband Bruno and they are part of the core team planting a church in Beloeil, on the South Shore of Montréal.
Brian Stegner
Strategy and Finance
Brian Stegner lives in Quebec with his wife Severine and their three teenage kids. Originally from Oregon, Brian moved to Severine's hometown of Montreal in 2010 to be involved in church planting. Today he serves as the Executive Pastor at Church 21 and is the author of One Thousand Churches: A Movement to Saturate Quebec with the Gospel of Jesus. He enjoys reading, writing, working, and movies.
Stephen Bray
Church in Hard Places Coordinator
Steve is the Lead Elder of Calvary Baptist Church and the Executive Director of Mile One Mission dedicated to planting Churches and seeing indigenous Newfoundlanders raised up to reach Canada’s most easterly province. Their goal and vision is to see 10 Churches planted by 2030. Steve is the blessed husband of Debbie, his childhood sweetheart and proud father of 3 beautiful children, Brandon, Jordan and Abigail. You can find Steve’s Church at calvarybaptistnl.ca or reach him personally at steve@calvarybaptistnl.ca