August 2012: A New Chapter Begins

August 2012 Bulletin Insert Format [PDF]
Agosto 2012 en español

Now to Christ who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to that power that is at work within us…Ephesians 3:20

Global Ministries’ church partner, the Reformed Church of France (ERF) met in a joint Synod with the French Lutheran Church (EELF) in May and voted to become a united church. The first national synod of the United Church welcomed a day of solemn ceremony and held a vigil on the theme “Listen: God is speaking to us.” The following day a thousand people attended the solemn celebration, exhibitions, round tables, thanksgiving service and other events. This achieved the aim set by the synods when they met in 2007.

The announcement sent to all the churches said, “We live on confidence received from God, a shared and contagious confidence. This word of grace, first and last, is the good news which we discover in Scripture. It is the message which the Protestant Reformation brought back to the forefront. It has never been more relevant than it is today. On the basis of this confidence, the United Protestant Church of France aspires to be a Church that attests to its faith, a Church of witnesses, a confessing Church.”

This fall the new logo of the United Protestant Church of France will be unveiled, and local churches will adopt their new articles of association. In March 2013, the regional synods will elect their regional officers and their delegates to the national synod. In May and June of next year, there will be a grand celebration of the birth of the United Protestant Church of France.

We pray together with our partner churches, expressing our gratitude to God. Believing God’s Spirit is leading us in this effort of hospitality and renewal; we also believe God is calling us to a more adventurous and confident witness to God’s gospel for the world.