One of the most important aspects of our mission is providing the American Christian community with the most complete and up-to-date information about the Evangelical community in France.
Through historical overviews, current events, books and other publications, and links to a variety of churches and ministerial organizations, the CCFOF endeavors to provide a culturally sensitized backdrop so that Americans can have the most comprehensive picture of the real struggles and opportunities that their French brothers and sisters face.
Statistics
France is one of the least Evangelized countries in the world. Although its population is over 63 million people, there are only 1,916 Evangelical churches (2006) in the entire country.
In addition to the information presented here, we recommend visiting WorldMap.org for a full history and other maps on Evangelism and Church presence. WorldMap also has a complete Country Profile available in WORD or PDF format.
The following statistics can be found on the web site of the French Evangelical Federation and have been compiled by Daniel Liechti.
Number of Churches by Department in 2006
Number of Churches per Inhabitant in 2006
(measured by number of churches per 10,000 inhabitants)
TOTAL number of churches in 2006: 1,852
Number of Churches per Inhabitant in 1970
TOTAL number of churches in 1970: 769
Spiritual/Cultural Climate
*The following information is from the website of Operation Mobilization and France-Mission.
Religion is viewed as something negative. French people have been ‘disgusted’ by Roman Catholic dominance for centuries. Democracy came was seen as liberation from the Roman Catholic church. So religion is tolerated, but evangelicals live in a secular society where religion is considered to be a ‘private’ affair and evangelism is therefore frowned upon by local authorities.
The occult, however, is rampant in France. Statistics show that mediums, faith healers and fortune-tellers earn as much money as medical doctors. There are more registered occult workers in France than pastors (over 30,000 registered Mediums and Spiritual Healers).
About half of the French population believe in faith healing, with one quarter putting their faith in clairvoyants or astrology. An estimated 10 million people pay around $40 billion for occult consultations, three times the amount paid to their family doctors.
The average size of a French church is about 35-50 people. This means they can function with a “family” atmosphere, but often this number is hard to break out of, because it requires a different mentality of church life and growth. It is in the larger cities (population over 100,000) that churches grow most quickly.
There are 36,551 cites/towns/villages in France. The vast majority of them (35,000) are without an Evangelical church. This number is best interpreted in light of the statistics above since France has many thousands of small villages that are still considered communes but whose inhabitants are accustomed to frequenting nearby towns to do routine activities (and who would not need a church in their own village but could go to a larger town's church). There are still 340 towns with at least 10,000 inhabitants that have no existing Evangelical church.
French Evangelicals are such a minority on a national scale that they are often viewed as being part of a cult. Evangelical Christians in France are usually very committed believers because they are living in a secular society. When they go to church, they know why they are going - it is not a routine. They also need fellowship as they often don’t meet another Christian at work during the week.
The Christian church in France has grown significantly over the last 20 years and the rate of growth is increasing, particularly among Pentecostal and Charismatic denominations. The Catholic church has a growing ‘renewal’ movement and many Roman Catholics are reading the Bible for the first time in their lives.
Relations with the government have improved slightly however, local governments still treat churches on a ‘case by case’ basis, and decisions are often taken based on the mayor’s personal view on religion.
National Council of Evangelicals of France
Perhaps one of the most encouraging demonstrations of what God is doing on a national scale in France came in 2001.
Responding to the invitation from the National Council of the French Evangelical Alliance (AEF) and the Board of the French Evangelical Federation (FEF), the large majority of the persons in charge of French church movements and Bible Institutes met on January 6, 2001, at Nogent-sur-Marne. Different aspects of the position of the French Evangelical movement were discussed: sociological and statistical, theological and relational.
Aware of their dispersion and the harm that this was doing to present a clear Evangelical witness to the country, this assembly decided to reunite on June 18, 2001, in the same place, for a day of fasting and prayer. It was at this meeting that several leaders expressed, in the name of their Federation and of their Union, a request for forgiveness for the distances maintained in the past. All rejoiced at the quality of the dialogue which showed the mutual desire for recognition and development of true fellowship.
It was decided to begin work on the project of an Evangelical platform and to transmit the details about what had occurred to the Unions, Associations, and respective Federations throughout France. The group would reconvene on January 7, 2002 to continue their work. A text was composed at the time of this encounter defining the possibilities of the National Counsel of Evangelicals in France. This text was revised and finally adopted one year later.
The CNEF is a place of dialogue, reflection, and prayer - a platform aiming to reinforce the visibility of and connections within the France Evangelical Protestant world while respecting its diversity.
The CNEF (Conseil Nationale des Evangéliques de France) consists of fifteen people representing five different Evangelical church movements in France. The representative comittee of the CNEF organizes its meetings and is responsible for following up on decisions made during those meetings. The following individuals make up this committe:
Christian Capron, Alain Denizou and Michel Forey from the Assemblies of God (ADD)
Dany Hameau, Daniel Liechti and Alain Stamp from the French Evangelical Federation (FEF)
Frédéric Baudin, Etienne Grosrenaud and Michel Charlesfrom the French Evangelical Alliance (AEF)
Etienne Lhermenault, Jean-Marc Potenti and Antoine Schluchter from Evangelical churches belonging to the French Protestant Federation (FPF)
Jean-Claude North, Charles Schinkel, and Jean-Pierre Riche from Pentecostal and Charismatic Evangelical churches
International Religious Freedom Report 2005 (U.S. Dept. of State)
Evangelical Protestantism (French Evangelical Federation) [in French]
Statistics about France (France Mission)
Benjamin Jancewicz | Zerflin | www.zerflin.us