PARIS (Mennonite Mission Network) — After 50 years, the faces of Anabaptism at Châtenay Mennonite Church in Paris represent many nations gathering on the mountain of the Lord. Their community proclaims that dreams can come to life through a deep and intense commitment to Christ.
The 50th anniversary celebration Oct. 17-19 to commemorate the inauguration of the Châtenay Mennonite Church included an open house exhibition remembering Martin Luther King, a gospel choir concert and a worship service. A neighboring Catholic church opened their fellowship hall to the overflow crowd of 150 for the meal and program following Sunday morning worship, double the average attendance of about 75.
Julio and Salohy Rakotonindriana, two of the newer members, and Erika and Roger Kennel, two older members, combined their efforts to blow out candles on the anniversary cake. The Kennels met each other in the early days of the congregation’s life. Roger Kennel, who was present at the inauguration, originally came from eastern France and Erika Kennel from Germany. After decades of active lay leadership at Châtenay, they have now retired in Alsace. The Rakotonindrianas are from Madagascar.
Isaiah 40, the biblical inspiration for Martin Luther King’s “I have a dream” speech, was also the anniversary theme.
“We are a professing people in a church that accepts members upon the personal profession of faith. My dream is that we become a church of proclaimers – a church where men and women, black and white, climb to the mountain top, not seeking to live longer or more comfortably but seeking to live more intensely and more deeply,” said Châtenay’s pastor, Alexandre Nussbaumer, during the Sunday morning sermon.
King’s vision from the mountain top allowed him to live without fear – more intensely and more deeply – and to address the problems of society from a gospel point of view, said Neal Blough, who serves in France through Mennonite Mission Network.
“In the context of the 50th anniversary, we looked at where the church has come from and what it could mean for the present and future as we are now a multi-racial church. What would it mean to proclaim the bigger view of things in the context of society’s problems today?” Blough said.
Mennonite Board of Missions, a predecessor agency of Mennonite Mission Network, began ministry in France in 1953. Janie and Neal Blough and Linda Oyer, serving with Mission Network, continue to relate closely to the three Mennonite congregations in Paris and the Paris Mennonite Center. The center houses a library, provides biblical and theological teaching in universities and Bible schools and organizes seminars and discussion groups.
