Local church
We belong to an evangelical baptist church in Le Havre, Normandy. The church was founded in the mid 1990s and currently has around 50 members. It serves a needy community, and has always had a strong, practical emphasis on looking after and helping the poor and those who are excluded from society. Our vision is to help the church experience breakthrough and both spiritual and numerical growth. We aim to do this through God-given opportunities to influence church leadership and decision-making through relationships, ministry and serving within the leadership team.
With a population of around 250,000, Le Havre is one of Europe’s largest ports for container shipping. Bombed flat during the Second World War, the city, which was rebuilt in the 1950s, languished for many years under communist local government. In more recent years, a change of local government has brought fresh vision and investment, and while it still has many social problems (including high unemployment), Le Havre is becoming more dynamic and forward-looking.
Le Havre has been a key location on the spiritual landscape of France. Douglas Scott, the Assemblies of God missionary, was based here when he first came from the UK in the 1930s; through him, God began a work of revival which went on to sweep across the whole of France, laying the foundation for much of today’s evangelical church. We believe that there is a significant spiritual heritage in Le Havre which God has not fotgotten, linked to its position as an outward-looking “gateway city” which has always had strong trade and other links to the UK and other nations, and our prayer and belief is that God is seeking for His people here to re-dig wells of blessing and revival that have been blocked for many years.
Evangelical Christians in France are estimated to represent less than 0.5% of the population. There are at least four times as many evangelical Christians in the UK.