The last time we spoke with the Angers, we heard some interesting information about church life in France. Coming from Crossway and America, where churches tend to be large and fairly prevalent, we thought it might be interesting to share some of the details.
The Angers are privileged to attend a uniquely large and thriving church in France. The church has around 150 people including around 60 kids/youth and many young families. This is extremely rare and large for a French church, most of which have only 20-30 members and usually less than 9 children.
There are 4-5 elders, a part-time children’s pastor and a senior pastor who also teaches biblical theology at Geneva Bible Institute. Again, many churches in France are not large enough to have two pastors. Part of this growth is due to the concentration of resources near Switzerland, including the Institute.
Churches in France tend to take a little longer to build relationships, but the Angers say they have seen much progress in their church over the years. Their own involvement has helped them in this. Laura co-leads a mom’s group which is currently memorizing Philippians. She also teaches Sunday School in a large rotation of many teachers. Dominique is limited in his involvement currently because of his nightly/weekend responsibilities at the Institute, but he does take turns with other professors from the Institute and former pastors preaching at the church while the senior pastor is away.
