Dom Ruso on Church Planting in Quebec, Pastoring in a Post-Christian Age, and Making the Bible Make Sense in a Secular World
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In this conversation, Jason sits down with Dom Ruso, pastor of The 180 Church in Greater Montreal, to talk about the joys and challenges of church planting in one of the most secularized contexts in North America. Dom shares openly about his discernment journey, how God drew him and his wife back to Quebec despite initial resistance, and what it has looked like to build a church community from scratch in a region where many are spiritually open but institutionally skeptical.
Jason and Dom explore themes that matter deeply to pastors today, including:
Dom’s honest wrestle with returning to Quebec, and the slow ways God confirmed the call to plant a church there.
The unique dynamics of Quebec culture and what it means to preach the Bible in ways that connect with people who carry wounds from religion or who feel indifferent toward Christianity.
How congregations can embody health and unity in a divided cultural landscape, and what Canada’s regional differences can teach us about God’s work across the country.
Why it’s not enough to “tell” people what the Bible says, but to invite them into its story, and how plot points of Scripture resonate with modern longings for justice, meaning, and identity.
Why it matters to recover a distinct vision of pastoral calling, and how the overlap with modern leadership and coaching culture can blur what shepherding the people of God really means.
Dom also talks about his new book, The Bible for a Shifting Secular Age, which brings together his pastoral experience and academic work to offer handles for understanding secularism and fresh ways of presenting Scripture today.
Dom Ruso
Domenic Ruso is a pastor, theologian, and church planter living in Laval, Quebec. His years in ministry across Canada have shaped his passion for helping the Church engage faithfully in secular culture, especially in Quebec. He is the founding pastor of The 180 Church and completed his PhD in Historical Theology at Trinity College, University of Toronto, focusing on Reformation studies and ecclesiology. His new book, The Bible for a Shifting Secular Age, is an invitation to reimagine the uniqueness of the Bible at a time when we need its living words more than ever. Dom and his wife, Beverly, have three sons.
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Special thanks to the Canadian Bible Society for making this episode possible. We invite you to explore their Bible Course to help your church grow in Scripture engagement.
