(http://www.guardian.co.uk/)
*
For secular and Catholic France, a shock to the system: the rise of the
evangelicals
Church insists it is not like the US right, but many fear growth of a
political force
* _Lizzy Davies_ (http://www.guardian.co.uk/profile/lizzydavies) in
Paris
* _guardian.co.uk_ (http://www.guardian.co.uk/) , Friday 6 November
2009 18.51 GMT
As the piano strikes up, the congregation sways, palms to the ceiling,
fists in the air, murmurs of hallelujah punctuating the music. Pastor Franck
Lefillatre, besuited and bathed in the spotlight on his podium, intones into
a microphone.
"Let out the words that are in your heart," he urges. His whispers
crescendo to booming rhetoric. Behind him, emblazoned in gold lettering, are
the
words: "Jesus Christ: the same yesterday, today, eternally."
As evangelical services go, this gathering on a rainy Sunday afternoon is
nothing unusual. In countless churches around the United States and many
other countries it would be a staple means of Christian worship.
But this is not the American Bible belt. It is the Church of
Paris-Bastille, and this congregation is just one of a growing number of
evangelical
communities spreading through France and prospering in spite of its staunchly
secular – and Catholic – traditions.
>From a postwar population of around 50,000, French evangelicals are now
estimated to number between 450,000 and 500,000. According to the Evangelical
Federation of France (FEF), the number of churches has risen from 800 in
1970 to over 2,200 today.
This week the boom made headlines when thousands of evangelicals – who are
estimated to make up two-thirds of the country's practising Protestants –
descended on Strasbourg to turn the 500th anniversary of Calvin's birth into
a mass, media-covered event. It was not something even the most hopeful of
believers could have prayed for.
For Lefillatre, whose church is part of the World Assemblies of God
Fellowship, the largest global Pentecostal denomination, the growth is
reflected
within the bare, shabby walls of the Paris-Bastille. In the three years he
has been pastor there, he said, the congregation has gone from around 250 to
350 or 400. Do they come every so often or without fail every Sunday?
"Every Sunday," he said firmly.
On paper France would seem one of the least likely places for this branch
of Christianity to gain a foothold. For centuries, Protestantism was the
embattled minority in a country Catholics liked to call the "eldest daughter
of the church" because of its strong ties to Rome. The minority that exists
now still makes up just 3% of the population.
More importantly, though, ever since France harnessed popular discontent
with the influence of Catholicism and wrote a separation of church and state
into the constitution, the French republic has worshipped at the altar of
laïcité – the concept of a secular state.
The gradual emergence of evangelicals as a force has, therefore, raised
eyebrows, with some critics questioning whether their beliefs are compatible
with the values of a secular republic. Not only are they known in France for
speaking in tongues, "born again" conversions and a zeal denounced by some
as manipulative proselytism, they are associated in many minds with the
politically powerful movement of the US religious right.
Jean-François Colosimo, a writer and religious historian, provoked a
furious backlash from evangelicals when, after it emerged that France's
intelligence services had launched a "census" of the domestic population, he
said:
"Everything in France would seem to ban a politico-religious mixture. But
laïcité is fragile and temptations are present" – a direct reference to the
evangelicals.
These arguments are rejected as irrelevant by French believers. Just
because they have the same faith as the Americans and a similar style of
worship,
they say, it does not mean they share the same politics. Daniel Liechti,
vice president of the FEF, emphasised the need to recognise the European
roots of the present-day movement.
"French Protestants and evangelicals fought for _religion_
(http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/religion) to be separate from the state in
the belief
that laïcité is a good thing. We do not mix the two. It is impossible to say
whether French evangelicals are more left- or rightwing."
Sébastien Fath, a specialist in the spread of evangelicalism, agrees that
there remains a "clear distinction" among French evangelicals between
politics and religion.
But according to Henri Tincq, a religious commentator, issues such as
abortion and homosexuality are creeping up the agenda. "These themes have been
traditionally foreign to the evangelical culture in France. You find them
now in evangelical networks, which do remain, nonetheless, minorities," he
said. The fear is that, with its combination of doctrinal dogma and staunch
moral beliefs, the movement could yet become a potent, if minority,
political force.
Sitting in the Paris-Bastille after Lefillatre's Sunday service, Sylvain
Vautier, 25, an engineer, dismissed any idea that his church was a copy of
the US model. It was, he said, "much more balanced".
Yet, in some ways, Vautier embodies the zeal and dogma that leads many
French people to regard his faith with suspicion. He bases his faith – and
world view – on a "correct" interpretation of the Bible and admits that
interacting with non-believers can be difficult. "When you're talking to
someone,
even on a professional basis, there's a difference," he said. "You think:
I'm saved and you're not. It creates a bit of a gulf."
_guardian.co.uk_ (mailto:[email protected]) © Guardian News and
Media Limited 2009
(http://www.guardian.co.uk/)
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