This morning's meeting and the CNEF
Something rather big is happening in terms of church relationships and representation in France. For many years the groups representing church bodies have been :
FPF (Fédération Protestante de France) which includes groups like the Eglise Réformée, the Luthériens, and which does not require adherence to a declaration of faith, but rather a charter which respects all protestant beliefs and therefore includes liberal protestant convictions.
AEF (Alliance Evangélique de France) which represented evangelicals and charismatics.
FEF (Fédération Evangélique de France) which represented evangelical and pentecostal churches and works.
Evangelicals are found in all three groups, and sometimes one church or work will belong to two or more groups. The latter two groups have a basic evangelical declaration of faith.
Recently people have felt that this must seem very confusing to the French authorities and that it would be very good to have one body which represents all evangelicals. Hence the formation in 5 days' time of the CNEF (Conseil National Evangélique de France).
On this date the AEF will cease to exist and will be subsumed into the CNEF. The FEF will still exist for doing the things it does which the CNEF will not do. The FPF does not welcome the new organisation very warmly, possibly feeling that it is an attempt to encourage evangelicals in the FPF to leave and join CNEF...
Anyway, in Bordeaux there is a group of people in charge of evangelical works,, to which I have long belonged. It invites all evangelical leaders in the city to come and to inform one another in a brotherly way of the progress of the gospel in the city.
We're turning into the local CNEF group. So while up till now someone to send out the email reminders was all the organisation we needed, now we need a little bit more (not much). We're working on it.
FPF (Fédération Protestante de France) which includes groups like the Eglise Réformée, the Luthériens, and which does not require adherence to a declaration of faith, but rather a charter which respects all protestant beliefs and therefore includes liberal protestant convictions.
AEF (Alliance Evangélique de France) which represented evangelicals and charismatics.
FEF (Fédération Evangélique de France) which represented evangelical and pentecostal churches and works.
Evangelicals are found in all three groups, and sometimes one church or work will belong to two or more groups. The latter two groups have a basic evangelical declaration of faith.
Recently people have felt that this must seem very confusing to the French authorities and that it would be very good to have one body which represents all evangelicals. Hence the formation in 5 days' time of the CNEF (Conseil National Evangélique de France).
On this date the AEF will cease to exist and will be subsumed into the CNEF. The FEF will still exist for doing the things it does which the CNEF will not do. The FPF does not welcome the new organisation very warmly, possibly feeling that it is an attempt to encourage evangelicals in the FPF to leave and join CNEF...
Anyway, in Bordeaux there is a group of people in charge of evangelical works,, to which I have long belonged. It invites all evangelical leaders in the city to come and to inform one another in a brotherly way of the progress of the gospel in the city.
We're turning into the local CNEF group. So while up till now someone to send out the email reminders was all the organisation we needed, now we need a little bit more (not much). We're working on it.
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