Pastor Jonathan Vaughan reflects on a recent event in Montluçon
This year, for the first time ever, the 13 evangelical denominations that make up the Réseau FEF (including Perspectives) held a joint conference in Montluçon, right in the centre of the country. The three-day event brought together over 1000 participants; the theme was L’Eglise Une: the implications of us all belonging to the one church of Jesus Christ.
The main auditorium sessions included Bible teaching on Philippians, sung worship led by Philippe Viguier, and talks exploring the theme of collaborating more closely for the advance of the gospel in France. There were discussion times where we split into regional groups,seminars on a wide range of different topics, and times where we were free to mingle and discover the stalls in the central area representing different Christian organisations and ministries.
I found the experience inspiring. On a personal level, I was glad to meet former students from the Nogent Bible Institute who are now in ministry. There was refreshing honesty from the leadership that following the 2010 creation of the CNEF (the French equivalent of the Evangelical Alliance), the Réseau FEF had struggled to define its role clearly and had come under some criticism. A combination of the right people and a new way of working led to renewed clarity of vision and a new dynamic which is now bearing fruit.
The key message was that as members of the same spiritual family, we cannot be content to simply tolerate local churches from other denominations in our area, or worse, regard them as rivals. We must, out of obedience to Christ, get to know them, and see how we can best work together to bring the good news of Jesus to French people.
We returned home feeling refreshed and encouraged to pursue the vision of gospel unity. Praise God for using the Réseau FEF to help His people love each other and work together for His glory.
