William Phillips
1930-2007

Nearly 400 French and English-speaking believers gathered Friday, July 6, for the memorial service of William (Bill) Phillips, at the Église Emmanuel on Montreal’s West Island. During the service, Bill’s son Jonathan and Dave Dobson reminded those present of Bill’s spiritual legacy, not only for his own family (four married children and nine grandchildren), but also for the family of churches in Quebec. Bill was remembered for his many roles:
  1. Prisoner for the sake of the gospel – He spent 2 ½ months in a regional jail in northwestern Quebec during the fall of 1950. Along with several other believers, Bill was arrested for preaching the gospel in the city of Val d’Or under a traffic violation law local authorities were using as a pretext to prevent the Baptists from preaching in the open air. God used his time of incarceration to call Bill to minister to French Canadians in Quebec.

  2. Faithful pastor – Bill loved the local church, and God used him to plant four francophone churches in Quebec including Maniwaki (1954); Sept-Îles (1958); Ahuntsic (1969) and Emmanuel (1986). Bill also served as pastor in two other Montreal churches including the English-speaking Ville Émard work in the early 50’s and the French-speaking Central church in the mid-60’s.

  3. Steadfast encourager of others – Jonathan Phillips said, “One of Dad’s passions was to train pastors, workers, ministers and servants in the Lord’s work.” He loved helping, talking, mentoring and encouraging others in their faith and service. He had a God-given ability to perceive not only the needs of others, but also their capabilities and potential.

  4. Visionary leader among leaders – Bill was a pastor to pastors; a leader among leaders; a visionary “missiologist” and the General Secretary (Director) of the Fellowship French Mission from 1975 to 1990. God used Bill in each of these vital roles to guide the work during days of supernatural growth and revival, particularly in the late 70’s and early 80’s. Bill was also vitally involved in founding and giving leadership to the Fellowship French Region (1971) and SEMBEQ, the French region’s seminary (1973).
Bill and his wife Blanche actively served the Lord for more than 50 years. Even though Bill lived with pain due to childhood polio (and later post-polio syndrome), God used his life to impact many people and to leave an enduring legacy. One of Bill’s favourite books of the Bible was Philippians where God’s servants are reminded: “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me” (4.13).

David Dobson