France – Mission based Assignment
Introduction
My association with France started in 1966 and 1967 when we had an exchange trip from
school to a town called Chateaubriand in Brittany. Following that in March 1981 I got a job
with the French pharmaceutical company Les Laboratoires Servier who were about to move
to Fulmer village just north of Stoke Poges . From then on for nearly thirty years I had day to
day contact with French people working in the UK, on the telephone to France, but also
quite frequent business trips lasting from overnight to a week at a time over in France. Ialso
got involved going over to France to sing with the worship band, which started an
association for about five years or so with a tiny evangelical church in Calais, which some of
us used to visit quite regularly, but progress was slow and eventually the association fizzled
out.
Ethnic Origins and Early Christian History
Archaelogy indicates that France has been settled continuously since Paleolithic times,
though the inhabitants are originally Celtic in origin, and had migrated from the Rhone
Valley into Gaul, now France. There was also some mingling of tribes with more Germanic
peoples notably the Basques in Gascony. In about 600BC, Greek and Phoenician traders
established settlements along the Mediterranean coast, notably at Marseille. Province was
colonised by the Romans in the second century BC and Julius Caesar conquered part of Gaul
in 57-52 BC, with his final battle at Verangetorix, and the capital of Roman Gaul was
Lugdunum (current day Lyons). Christianity was introduced into Gaul in the 1st century AD,
though it is not clear who the evangelists were. It is possible they could have come directly
from the Holy Land. In AD 171 Irenaeus was appointed Bishop of Lyons in order to replace
Pothinus who was killed during persecution. Iranaeus was moved to pursue a church with a
single authority and doctrinal standard, which was affirmed by others, and wrote a creedal
statement in Greek at the end of the second century AD. This was to dispel the gnostoicism
which was prevalent at the time. There is now only a copy left in Armenian, and it contains
three articles addressing spiritual encounters with God the Father , Jesus the Son and the
Holy Spirit. This doctrine was to stay in place for many centuries. Irenaeus died in AD 202. In
the third century, western Christians were becoming attracted to the monastic life similar to
that followed by the Eastern Churches. In 361 AD, a soldier called Martin (later St Martin)
established his first monastic community in a place called Liguge which is near Poitiers and
in AD 372 he became Bishop of Tours and established his second monastic community at
Marmoutier which lasted until the French revolution in 1789. He attracted many young
aristocrats from Gallo Roman families into the religious life. Celtic missionaries evangelised
much of Europe between the 5th and 6th centuries AD . They had developed their faith on
their own with no influence from Rome, and their revelation came from the True Vine and
of continuous praise and prayer. They introduced art into worship, the greatest being the
Book of Kells, now in Trinity College Dublin. For them nature was also a self expression of
the divine. Irish monks also established monasteries in Gaul in the 6 th and 7th centuries AD.
They were sent out from the 24 hour prayer and worship centres in Lindisfarne and Iona.
They had the wisdom to preserve art and literature, both Christian and secular, when the
Visigoths, Franks and Burgundii sacked parts of the old Roman Empire in Gaul, and in so
doing preserved civilisation as we know it today.
Geography and Location
Mainland France is situated just thirty miles from the United Kingdom at its nearest, just
across the English Channel. This is the northern border, with the Atlantic Ocean and Bay of
Biscay to the West, Spain and Andorra to the South West, the Mediterranean Sea in the
south, Switzerland and Italy to the South East and Germany Luxembourg and Belgium to the
North East. Apart from extreme northern France, the country has been described as four
river basins and a plateau. There is also Corsica, an island in the Mediterranean, and some
overseas departements (Martinique, Guadeloupe, Reunion, and French Guiana) countries
and territories (New Caledonia, French Polynesia, Wallis and Futuna Islands ) and the French
Southern and Antartic Territories.
Demographic Information
The population of France in 2010 was 64 million. Paris, the capital of France is the largest
city with Marseille, Lyon, Toulouse, Nice, Nantes, Strasbourg and Bordeau also having
greater than 210,000 inhabitants. France was made up historically of many separate
provinces, and these still remain as geographic, cultural and economic divisions which retain
their own striking diversity. In 1972 , 22 regions based on these historical provinces were
established. 75% of the country is urban, but there is a great mingling of peoples, together
with a large ethnic diversity particularly in Paris and Marseille, due to North African
immigrants. It has been calculated that there are 101 people groups over the whole country
and only eight of these groups are recorded as speaking French, though some speak local
dialect versions of the parent language. The rest (93) are other ethno linguistic groups which
are too many and too scattered across France to mention individually. On account of the
absolute diversity of the inhabitants of France, Herve Le Bras and Emmanuel Todd wrote in
1981 that from an anthropological point of view, France ought not to exist. The original
Celtic, Germanic and Frankish tribes had almost as many origins as the population of
modern France. Since France has been pieced together by treaties and conquests, and since
two-thirds of the territory has been French for less than three hundred and fifty years, it is
not surprising that there is no deep rooted sense of national identity. They belong to a
town, a suburb, a village or a family, but not a nation or a province.
People, Government and Politics
The French people are known to have a very laid back attitude to life , and do not tolerate
foreigners easily. French culture and mealtimes are taken very seriously, and the family is
the central part of their society and culture. They are also a very private people. I certainly
can count on one hand , the number of times I got invited out, when I was over there on
business, which could be very lonely.
The government of France is a semi-presidential system, determined by the French
Constitution of the Fifth Republic, considered to be an indivisible, secular, democratic and
social republic. The constitution provides for a separation of powers and proclaims France’s
attachment to the Rights of Man and the principles of national sovereignty as defined by
the Declaration of 1789, which refers back to the French Revolution. The President shares
executive power with his appointee, the Prime Minister. Parliament comprises the National
Assembly and the Senate. It was a founding member of the European Coal and Steel
Community, the forerunner of the European Union, and therefore the French government
has to abide with European treaties, directives and regulations. Politically there are parties
ascribed to all political doctrines from the far left to the far right, which is similar to the rest
of Europe. Since 1905 there has been no connection between Church and state.
Wars, Invasions, and other Critical Events
As all countries, France has gone through its share of upheavals over the centuries, which
has shaped the nation into what it is today. From the Conquest of the Romans , the Hundred
Years War, to the end of the Second World War, there have been regular events, wars and
political intrigue going on with neighbouring countries. The biggest event which affected the
whole of France was the French Revolution in 1789 , when the reigning royal family was
deposed and beheaded because the people were living in poverty, and the Royal Family had
everything. France has also been invaded by Germany on three occasions. (Franco-Prussian
War, World Wars 1 and 2 )
Religion
The statistics list for France list Christianity as 61.1%, Non Religious as 26%, Islam as 26%,
Buddhism as 1.0% , Ethnic Religions 0.9% and Unknown Religions as 0.4%. For Christianity it
breaks down so that 94.2% are Roman Catholic, Protestant 3.1%, Orthodox 1.7% and other
0.7%. Although the majority of Christians are listed as Roman Catholic, actually religious
practice varies greatly. The saint or Virgin Mary of one village need not be the same as the
saint or Virgin Mary from the village down the road. Beliefs and practices centred on
prehistoric stones and magic wells bore only the faintest resemblance to Christianity. The
local priest might be useful as a literate man, but as a religious authority had to prove his
worth in competition with healers, fortune-tellers, exorcists, and people who could change
the weather. Morality and religious feeling are independent of church dogma. It is thought
that there are currently more clairvoyants in France than Catholic priests. In my travels in
France I have found some places where there was such a spiritual darkness around that I
used to find it very difficult to pray. I have also found the French to be very philosophical. In
many companies there are quotes from Voltere or other notaries written on a slab of
marble on the wall in the reception area.
The Reformation and Beyond
French Protestantism started , as it did across Europe at the end of the fifteenth Century ,
courtesy of Martin Luther, and was successful in France due to the prevailing mental
attitude. The Catholic Church despite attempts at reform, had slipped into inactivity,
ignorance and a relaxation in discipline. The Renaissance had turned men back to the cult of
pagan antiquity, naturalism and unbelief. The first leader of the Protestants was Lefevre
b’Etaples, who translated the Bible into French. He also produced two other books, a Salter
in 1509 and a commentary on the epistles of St Paul in 1512. Scripture contained all
authority in matters of religion and he preached justification by faith, even counting good
works as nothing. He saw the Catholic Mass only as a commemoration of the Cross of Jesus
Christ. In 1522 his Latin Commentary and it’s preface was seen as the manifesto of the
Reformation in France and was agreed upon by six or seven other leaders of the time. It was
not intended that this group should leave the Catholic Church, and Lefevre became Vicar
General of Briconnet, and some of the others held similar roles within the Catholic Church.
Their aim at that time was to preach the pure gospel, therefore leading people back to the
genuine religions of Christ and away from corruption from the superstitions of Rome. In
1521 the parliament in Paris prepared measures against Lefevre but the King interfered on
his behalf. The situation went on for about 70 years with alternate repression and leniency,
but at the same time the group now known as the Huguenots kept growing and spreading
across the country. John calvin came to the fore in about 1533.
In 1559 there was a synod in Paris of protestants from all over France and a confession of
faith based on the writings of John Calvin was prepared, standing against the Catholic beliefs
of intercession to the saints, oral confession, sacrifice of the mass and indulgencies as purely
human inventions. Then in 1572 again at a protestant convention in Paris, 2000 were
massacred (St. Bartholomew’s Eve) together with another 8000 over the rest of France. This
period of militant Protestantism and government reprisals lasted until 1598 when the Edict
of Nantes was proclaimed which gave about a hundred years of religious tolerance between
the two groups, though the Roman Catholics thought the Huguenots had too much
tolerance, and they had too little. During this time Protestantism continued to spread
rapidly. Cardinal Richlieu, who was appointed in 1622, tried to change it by leaving the
religious side of things but taking away their political power. In 1627 the Huguenots made
an alliance with the English, and an English fleet landed at La Rochelle but was seen off by
the French King and Cardinal Richlieu. When Louis XIV came to the throne , the position of
the Huguenots became more untenable and after 1660, all the protestants got were
encouragements to convert to Catholicism. When the Edict of Nantes was revoked in
October 1685, the Huguenots started to prepare to leave France, and they were a big loss to
the economy of France as they were mainly trades people, merchants, weavers, furniture
makers etc. However, in the Cervennes region of France in 1688 there was an outpouring of
the Holy Spirit. A 16 year old girl called Isabeau Vincent started going into ecstacies, with
shaking and fainting and prophecies. This impacted many to repentance, and there were
angelic vistations and people were lead to meetings by lights in the sky. They were driven by
a thirst for holiness, with prayer and fasting and exuberant worship. However some of them
took up military resistance against the forces against Protestantism, and between 1702 and
1708 there were actions against this group, called the Camisards. By now the Protestants
were living in secret. In 1806 Napolean had sorted out the political situation following the
Revolution but the protestants were now very languid and had lost their fire. In1810 there
was a ‘reveil’ or awakening led by some of John Wesley’s followers, but they were not well
received. There then followed over two hundred years a complete fragmentation of the
protestants into what we find today.
Today
There are small pockets of Protestant activity, but it is made more difficult, as its not
possible to hire facilities in France unless you are a recognised authorised group. There is a
reluctance and wariness of all groups who are not Catholic, particularly the Huguenots and
any groups who could be called cults, possibly following the Order of Solar Temple mass
murders in 1995, but this often means some denominations such as the Assemblies of God
and Pentecostals, are treated with utter suspicion. As a result of the culture , closeness of
the family and unwillingness to give religious opinion, evangelism will be difficult. There are
about 60 missionary societies operating in France, though they are mostly small, apart from
YWAM and the Southern Baptists from America.
There are some English churches working in France. Some of the South Coast New Churches
are working in Caen, and New Frontiers have churches in Nimes, Campere and Alles. There
are Pentecostal churches in Angers and Orleans, and Open Heaven Loughborough have a
church in Alsace. Bethel, from Redding California, also have Podcasts to France and there
are House churches and ethnic churches in Paris. Also Alpha is being run in some of the
Catholic churches, together with youth work and calls for men to join the priesthood.
Politically Nicolas Sarkosy apparently sees France’s main religions as positive contributions
to French society, and visited the Pope in 2007. He has publicly acknowledged France’s
Christian Roots, and encouraged freedom of thought and faith to come back into the public
sphere. This is a major step forward which has not been seen in France previously.
Clearly there is evangelism and missionary work going on in France today, but there is so
much national fragmentation and hostility that it will take a big move of God and persistent
prayer to get it going. There are signs that there is a relaxation of attitude, particularly
within some of the politicians, but this needs to come from changes in peoples hearts as a
result of the Holy Spirit, rather than political dictates. There are two wells of previous
activity which need to be unblocked, in the Cervennes following the outpouring of the Holy
Spirit and also in Marmoutier where St martin’s monastry was established.
Conclusion
There needs to be a cohesiveness to bring the nation together, so that they care for their
fellow men, and for the closeness of family life to be redeemed by the Lord so that it is more
inclusive of outsiders, and for the missionary groups to find the keys in terms of prayer and
prophecy to bring them together as one nation under God. Revival is needed to fulfil God’s
purposes to reconquer and reconcile all French people to Him, through the death and
resurrection of Jesus Christ.
Mary Drew
June 2011
BIBLIOGRAPHY
A History of Christianity Diamaid MacCulloch Penguin Books 2009
The Discovery of France Graham Robb Picador Books 2008
The New Mystics John Crowther Destiny Image Publishers 2006
www.joshuaproject.net Ethnic People Groups of France
www.question.com France
www.infoplease.com France, History Geography Government and Culture
http://en.wickipedia.org/wiki/ Religion in France/Government of France/Politics of France
www.newadvent.org/cathen/07527b.htm Huguenots
Nigel and Jean Stock (2011) personal communications