Inauguration

What do the Deputy Mayor, the Vice-President, and a Rosalie have in common?

They each made an appearance at the inauguration of our church, Le Rivage.

Friday night we hosted a ceremony and BBQ as a way of being officially recognized by the city.  While an inauguration is usually meant for new buildings, this particular inauguration was to symbolize the commencement of our church as a community.  Though we've been meeting as a church for over a year, being officially recognized by the government officials in France is very important.

After our teammate, Thierry, described our vision (to love God and the city, to live in community, and to share the Good News with the world), Daniel Liechti, Vice-President of CNEF (the Evangelical Council in France), shared a few ways that other churches have served communities across France.  Then, the mayor of Aix-les-Bains, a practicing catholic, affirmed our work.  

"With a secular country like France, why is the mayor at the inauguration of a church?" the mayor posed.  "Laïcité [secularism] is not about closing our eyes, ears, and arms to religion," he said, "but it's to cause us to be opened to all religions."

We thank God for the good relationship that we have with the mayor of Aix-les-Bains.  He is happy to participate in the opening of a new [evangelical] church - particularly one that is eager to serve the city and its inhabitants.  

More than 50 people were present to celebrate this momentous occasion - friends from other churches in the region, new friends from our office building, and other contacts from the city.  Though Jordan and I still struggle to wrap our minds around the grand importance of this event, it was definitely a great evening that led to many more contacts for us and our church.