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Paris & Suburbs
In Paris, the cost of renting venues is expensive and the risks real — that’s why we are focussing a lot of our efforts here. For 18 months, we have intensified our searches for a building and we have had the opportunity to enter into negotiations for some of them. Our needs in terms of space, combined with the high prices of a capital city, pose a major challenge. As our church does indeed get closer and closer to this dream (our 2019 offering has reached a record amount!), these last 12 months have also allowed us to see that our savings efforts must continue in order to increase our financial capacities.
Regardless of its size, the church is a personal experience — and this particular year reinforced the vision of launching campuses on the outskirts of Paris. While we have just celebrated our 15th anniversary, it is obvious that our community in Paris is increasingly made up of young families. By creating these gathering places closer to our communities, our desire is to see the Church as a point of anchorage for all and a place of fulfillment for all generations. In a similar way to what we are seeing in Massy, we have officially launched a campus in the North Suburbs with a first service in October — and we are already looking forward to being able to gather in this region again.
Lyon & Marseille
Like in Paris, our church in Lyon faces similar challenges in terms of venue capacity and high rental costs. In September 2019, we were informed of the sale of Espace Hillel, the venue which had welcomed us for 2 years and which had enabled continued growth for our church. In January 2020, we had to vacate the premises and we started the year without a consistent venue. Despite the precariousness of the season, the opportunities are there and we are optimistic about the purchase of a building. The negotiations we began in early 2019 for a building in the 8th arrondissement were ultimately unsuccessful, but we are already exploring new opportunities. Pray for direction and favour in these defining steps for our church.
The next step for our community in Marseille is to be able to welcome a fully dedicated and locally positioned pastor. Pastor Ben Eugster had taken over in the spring of 2019, persistently conveying his passion for God and the salvation of souls, but nothing can replace the local presence of a dedicated pastor for his city and region. We pray that God will align hearts, prepare the ground and that this next step can bring new life to our Marseille community.
Geneva & Luxembourg
Geneva and Luxembourg, our two campuses outside France, are at very different stages of development, but both remain in a strong and exciting dynamic.
In Geneva, the needs are growing rapidly and the church needs an office in order to facilitate the work of the teams (staff and volunteers), and to allow the various meetings and activities during the week. We have found an office ideally located in the heart of Geneva, a stone’s throw from the Théâtre de la Madeleine, which will be an asset for the smooth running of our campus.
In Luxembourg, the team of leaders is being formed gradually and the creative team should soon start rehearsals. We are thinking about the possibility of changing venues and making the gatherings regular, once the constraints of the health crisis have passed. Our Heart For The House offering will enable us to support the rise in rental costs and various investments for the campus.
Online Campus
We truly believe our Online Campus was introduced for such a time as this. It was impossible to imagine the circumstances we would all face as a community in recent months, but church online has been so vital in staying connected as a community throughout this season. We are navigating this unprecedented time together, but we are so encouraged to see that people from all walks of life have joined our family online (via Connect Groups) and the potential that this represents is glorious.
That being said, the digitisation of our services requires substantial technical and human investments. Our Creative and Communication teams have worked long hours since March to produce the services with as much relevance as possible. The constraint of not owning our own buildings adds to the complexity of production and planning. In the pursuit of excellence which characterises our church, the use of audiovisual production equipment and new technologies is a necessity. Our Online Campus is accelerating these needs and the investments started this year. We wish to have the possibility of continuing to support these needs through our Heart For The House offering.