20 Years of Dialogue About Faith and Culture For the Christian Cultural Centre of Montreal

To mark its 20th anniversary, the Centre culturel chrétien de Montréal invited pianist Matt Herskowitz to give a recital. He contributed to the warm atmosphere by taking the time to introduce each of the works. He concluded his concert with a masterly rendition of George Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue.

Matt Herskowitz, pianist

The festive occasion brought together past presidents of the Centre culturel, partners and many other guests. It was the artist’s first contact with this non-profit organization (NPO) founded in 2003. Judging by the comments he made, he thoroughly enjoyed his experience and the audience’s reception to his concert.

Instigated by the Dominicans of Canada and the organizations housed in their building on chemin de la Côte-Sainte-Catherine that the Montreal Christian Cultural Centre was born, to offer a meeting place for dialogue about faith and culture. Since then, the NPO has put in place numerous means to ensure that it fully fulfills its mission “to understand and update the Gospel message and the Christian heritage in Quebec society.”

More than 100 events were organized to “foster critical understanding of the Christian tradition, promote dialogue between science and faith, open debate on current religious and social issues in Quebec, and build bridges between religious and philosophical currents.”

The website, the Radio Ville-Marie (RVM) program entitled Foi et turbulences (Faith and Turbulence) and the publication of Rencontre magazine, four times a year, also help to nurture this crossroads where different points of view and in-depth analyses of many contemporary challenges converge.

Some of the board members present at the event

The Sisters of the Holy Names of Jesus and Mary (SNJM) of Quebec are among the many partners who support the Montreal Christian Cultural Centre. In addition to financial support, the SNJM contribute to the magazine on an ad hoc basis, by publishing an article in each issue, and by publishing a message in line with the publication’s theme (see some of the messages in the image gallery).

Here is a link to one of the artist’s interpretations of Gershwin’s piece offered a few years ago.

Photo credit: Lan Lephan, Montreal Christian Cultural Center photographer

Video credit: pianist Matt Herskowitz