Ministry in Postmodern Europe
Next door to the Vaureal Church of God near Paris, France, a mosque is nearing completion. The French government is reportedly leasing the land to the Muslims for one euro for 10 years. This scene helps to capture the challenge of ministry in Europe today.
Understanding the need for effective training in this culture, the International Department of Youth and Christian Education coordinated the third annual training event, under the direction of YCE Coordinator Tony Lane. On February 10-18, a team of 23 ministry specialists from eight states and Puerto Rico traveled from the United States to France and Germany to equip pastors, church workers, and students for more effective ministry. On Saturday, training took place at the Vaureal Church and the Paris South congregations, with two other churches also participating. Built through YWEA funds, the Vaureal Church has a congregation of over 100 members led by national overseer Emmanuel Guglielmi, who started the church more than 20 years ago.
On Sunday, the U.S. team split into four groups to minister in the four Church of God congregations in the Paris area.
Before their time in France, the team spent four days leading the conference “Effective Ministry in Postmodern Culture in Europe” at the European Theological Seminary in Freudenstadt, Germany. In addition to the seminary students representing 15 countries, Church of God leaders from England, Germany, Russia, Spain, and Italy took part in the conference.
Specialized training was done in these areas: leadership (Tony Lane and John Harris), church planting (Eliezer Bonilla and Winfield Bevins), children’s ministry (Irma Hendrix and Lance Colkmire), youth ministry (Mike and Peggy Nelson), Christian education (Jenniffer Contreas), worship (Todd and April Sturgell), evangelism (Edley Moodley and Jerry Lawson), administration (Collin Roberts), and pastoral ministry (Florin Cimpean and Randy Holdman).
The seminar concluded with a powerful commissioning service in which the trip coordinator, Tony Lane, and assistant leader, John Harris, challenged everyone to move beyond ordinary into extraordinary ministry. Every student was anointed and prayed over, and various words of encouragement and prophecy were given. The European leaders who helped to coordinate the training events were Blayne Waltrip (ETS instructor), Jivko Jeliazkov (Europe YCE director), and Yves Bazile (France’s education director).
