An overview from Dominique Sabel, pastor of the Perspectives church in Vannes
Did you know that the growth of Evangelical Protestantism in Brittany owes a lot to the UK? Following gospel missions from Wales in the 19th century: Methodist and Baptist churches were planted, schools were established, and the Bible was translated into Breton.
In the 1950s, a French couple called Claude & Arlette Broux started evangelising in Brittany with France-Mission (the denomination now known as Perspectives). In 1984, another French missionary couple – André & Annette Peythieu – planted a church with France-Mission in Vannes, the administrative capital of the Morbihan département in southern Brittany. The church started in a basement until, in the 1990s, they bought new premises in the Poulfanc Business Park on the eastern side of Vannes – an area with a Séné postcode. Séné is just 4km south of Vannes, with a population of 9,000 people compared to 55,000 in Vannes.
In 2015, my wife Martine and I, together with our daughter Miryam and son-in-law Samuel, planted a new Baptist church in Vannes. We began as a House Group of about 10 people and then started holding services open to the public. We started to develop a vision for the church: we wanted to be missional, welcoming, and connected to other churches. In 2015 we created a charitable structure called Passerelles (meaning “bridges” or “gangways”) to provide help to those in need in Vannes, motivated by the desire to love our neighbours. Our young church also helped set up a Protestant chaplaincy in the local hospital. Passerelles and the chaplaincy are now well recognised and appreciated for the help they bring to families and local people.
Over the years, the church continued to grow both in terms of maturity and in numbers. From 4 adults and 2 children in 2015, we now have 83 people connected with the church: 53 adults and 30 children. We have activities for all ages: Sunday services, Bible clubs for the children and youth, praise groups, four preachers, a pastoral team, a church council, and Home Groups.
Although we don’t have our own premises, the Adventist Church in Vannes was able to rent us their building for use on Sundays until the end of March 2025. We weren’t sure how to proceed, as it’s not easy to find affordable rental options in Vannes. However, the Lord had a solution! Although our church was originally part of the Baptist Federation, we’d applied to join Perspectives in 2024. This meant that the Perspectives church in the Poulfanc Business Park was able to open its building to us. The two churches (the one planted by France-Mission in 1984 and the one planted by the Baptists in 2015) have now merged to become a single church as part of Perspectives.
This is a great blessing, but our current premises are too small and aren’t up to date in terms of building regulations. We’re therefore exploring options to reconfigure and extend the building, with a committee set up to take this project forward. Vannes is set to grow significantly over the next 25 years with a projected population of 210,00 for the agglomeration by 2050. We’re therefore trusting the Lord for more gospel growth in the city too. As Martine and I will be retiring as the church’s pastoral couple at the end of 2025, we know that the Lord will use others to oversee the next chapters in our church’s history. However, it’s been a huge blessing to us to serve the Lord and His people ever since our conversion in 1977 and, God willing, we look forward to being used by Him in new ways over the coming years. Thank you for praying!
