We are not simply going to Paris to live.   We are going to help start a new church, intending to be part of a family of churches across the city.  The need is great in Paris.  We have planted a church in the “Bible Belt” of Jackson, Mississippi, where you can find a church on nearly every street corner of a small sized US city.   Paris is a stark contrast – it is an enormous city with very few churches.  One may think of Paris and France, and be reminded of historic churches such as Notre Dame or the cathedral at Chartres.  Such buildings are now more museums than places of community and worship for Christians.  In fact, Paris and France, like much of Europe, has few professing Christians.

To give a few numbers, there are 70 million people living in France.  Out of 70 million people, 650,000 regularly practice their Christian faith.  Across all of France, there is a sparse 2,500 local churches.  Protestants make up around 3% of the population.  For those who like statistics, you can read more here.   In Paris itself, there are 12 million people, including 3-4 million native or fluent English speakers (this includes native French who are fluent in English).  Although the need for French speaking churches is great, Paris has become a more international, global city, filled with expats and immigrants – from Nigeria, Ghana, China, India, South America, South Africa, various parts of Europe and more.  The need for churches to connect with both internationals and nationals has grown, a need we hope to begin to fill.

The need for a gospel centered church is significant.  Yet Paris is a spectacular city.  France is a wonderful country.  The people possess a joie de vivre.  They love food, family, conversation, art, color, beauty, and as one good friend said to me, “The French just know how to live.”  Our desire is to move into this country and truly incubate into the culture, highlighting and encouraging all that is good about it, yet helping build new communities – all flowing from the local church – that can offer people love, connection, spiritual depth, and pastoral care.

One might still ask, with all that is offered in Paris, why is there the need for a church?  Can’t one just celebrate what is good about the culture and live into it, and even enjoy it to the full?  Yes, however, we believe the church offers something that no other organization or relational network can.  We celebrate the goodness and beauty of all creation, and the church should do this.  Yet the church also acknowledges that in every human heart, there is a void that will never be filled, unless it is from something outside of this world, unless it’s a gift we can never give ourselves.  The church offers a deeper, spiritual community centered on the person and work of Jesus Christ.  For some of you, even the mention of Jesus or church triggers negative connotations, possibly for good reason, but we hope you keep reading.

A church that lives out gospel truth offers people grace to come as you are, without judgment.  It offers the love of God to all.  It proclaims every human being is made in the image of God and that He has a purpose for every life.  It actually speaks to the greatest need of the human heart – for love, connection with God, connection with others, and a mission to go out to cities and nations for their ultimate flourishing.  People need this everywhere.  It’s why all Christians go to help establish such places.  They’re called churches.

We believe church begins and grows, not simply in a gathering for worship, but in being present with others, at the sports fields, in artistic venues, at work environments, to form relationships with others and grow a unique community. Churches also celebrate what is good, offering wisdom and instruction for life’s journey, giving people a sense of mission that their days are vital and that each human being can make an impact – physically, emotionally, relationally, and spiritually to others.   Churches have always been started to serve the communities and cities around them, to bless them, to care for the poor, to help nurture families, to be citizens of heaven as the citizens of the cities on earth.

Church is to be something different, that others can see and those involved in them can witness:  the greatest beauty of God’s love for this world in offering His Son to them.  We cross the Atlantic to help others see it, and discover it, either anew or for the first time, in this unique community called the local church.

We have built a life here, comprised of many significant relationships.  I’ll carry this home with us as a new home awaits.  Ultimately, even though it’s very cliche, home is where the heart is.  Therefore, our hearts can be in multiple places at once, even as our lives are led in one physical space.

Still, to leave our house, our backyard, our neighbors, our church, and the schools we have invested in brings feelings of unsettledness.  This has been a special place.  From watching our boys grow, to unending coffee at Broad Street Bakery, to sporting events, I grieve the inevitable departure.  Thus, I’m trying to be present every day, to really see and feel where I am at the moment.  I’m trying to take it all in.  This ability, to be present where you are, in and of itself, is a gift.

I don’t always like to regard our departure as leaving either.  I like to consider our departure as building.  We are trying to build both an ecosystem and a pipeline.  An ecosystem of partners and networks that will continue to go with us, as we share personally with our 200 partners how we will begin again in Paris.  A pipeline where people can come and see, experience, and feel what we are doing in Paris.  In this way, we are trying to create something new, not only for ourselves, but for others in the United States – students, teachers, friends, neighbors, and even those who are curious, to be part of something bigger than the corners we inhabit.  Is this possible?  Yes!  It takes intentionality on our part to invite, to share, to show, and to encourage others to take a step, not only to see our new home in Paris, but to welcome them into it.