Alexandre Jaegy 08:09, March 20, 2023

"I have read the Gospels": more and more of them are converting to evangelicalism in France. A trend observed for 70 years in the country, with the appearance of mega churches. The National Committee of Evangelists wants to rally more followers, and cultivates ambitious goals. How can this phenomenon be explained?

The number of evangelical Protestants has increased fifteen-fold in 70 years in France. Several mega churches are emerging from the ground and can accommodate up to 2000 faithful. How to explain the extent of this current of Christianity?

Cults in music, songs, bodies that sway: this is what partly seduced Theo. The 31-year-old converted five years ago. "Before, I had never really gone to church," he told Europe 1. "I wasn't interested in faith at all. There was a moment when I thought I was still a curious person. I read the Gospels. What I like is the solidarity, the love we can have for each other."

Soon a church for 10,000 French people?

Like him, in France, hundreds of people convert to evangelicalism every year and a new church is planted every ten days. Several factors explain this trend according to Anne-Laure Zwilling, a researcher in the anthropology of religions. "It's more a religion that works on the principle of providing answers than asking questions," he told Europe 1. "In some individuals in search of meaning, it gives immediate answers. Another element that plays a role is the strong Community dimension. There is a lot of human warmth. It can attract people who come from religious groups in which there is much more austerity."

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Currently in France, there is one evangelical church for every 25,000 people and the goal for the National Committee of Evangelists is to have one church for every 10,000 French people.