FEF 2006
We went to the annual meeting of the Fédération Evangélique de France. The 4 am start was OK, and we walked through the cold, quiet streets to the station where lots of SDFs (sans domicile fixe - homeless) were sheltering from the cold. Gironde is one of the departments that is on orange alert because of the extreme cold weather (le grand froid).
The TGV took us to Massey where we had an hour to wait before we got on our local train to Longjumeau where the meeting was to be held. We spent this usefully drinking coffee and chocolate in a café opposite the station! Then a rendezvous with some useful types who were obviously going to the meeting (you know how sometimes you an just tell?) And a short ride on one of those double decker trains to the church.
It’s amazing how much at home you can feel in a meeting like this. The business of admitting new churches and missions occupied a lot of the morning, together with a review of last year’s finances. After lunch we were addressed by the charming and helpful mayor of Longjumeau who had an obvious affection for the church, and we got a presentation of FEF’s snazzy website (commercially developed by a team of Christian webdesigners, one of whom was there and was teased mercilessly - the man in the blue tie). Then we met the incoming general secretary and treasurer and reviewed next year’s budget.
The meeting closed on time (what an achievement!) And we headed off to the station to stand on the wrong platform for our train. We waved the train off, and then switched platforms so we could get on the next one. It didn’t matter because we had a four hour wait for our TGV back to Bordeaux.
The TGV took us to Massey where we had an hour to wait before we got on our local train to Longjumeau where the meeting was to be held. We spent this usefully drinking coffee and chocolate in a café opposite the station! Then a rendezvous with some useful types who were obviously going to the meeting (you know how sometimes you an just tell?) And a short ride on one of those double decker trains to the church.
It’s amazing how much at home you can feel in a meeting like this. The business of admitting new churches and missions occupied a lot of the morning, together with a review of last year’s finances. After lunch we were addressed by the charming and helpful mayor of Longjumeau who had an obvious affection for the church, and we got a presentation of FEF’s snazzy website (commercially developed by a team of Christian webdesigners, one of whom was there and was teased mercilessly - the man in the blue tie). Then we met the incoming general secretary and treasurer and reviewed next year’s budget.
The meeting closed on time (what an achievement!) And we headed off to the station to stand on the wrong platform for our train. We waved the train off, and then switched platforms so we could get on the next one. It didn’t matter because we had a four hour wait for our TGV back to Bordeaux.
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