Items of Interest April 16, 2012 Issue

French youth drawn to evangelical churches

A.D. McKenzie and ENInews

“French evangelical Christianity is on the rise” Ekklesia (UK). February 15, 2012.

The atmosphere is like a concert:   in a darkened theatre in the lively Montparnasse area of Paris, hundreds of young people sing catchy songs and wave their arms in the air, while a group plays booming music on stage.

But this isn’t a gig. Welcome to Hillsong Church. The Australian-born Pentecostal church set up a branch in Paris in 2005 and has seen its congregation grow from a few dozen people at its first meetings to around 900 now at each of its two weekend services, conducted in French and English.

Hillsong’s pastor, Brendan White, won’t disclose membership figures. But on a recent Sunday, the 1,000-seat Theatre Bobino—where the church holds its main services—was nearly full.

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