Mennonites in France

Association of Églises Évangéliques Mennonites de France ( to German Association of Evangelical Mennonite communities in France ) is an association of Mennonite congregations in France.

Already during the Reformation formed in Alsace first Anabaptist communities. Strasbourg was a refuge for significant Anabaptist Reformers as Pilgram Marpeck or Melchior Hofmann. Even in the second half of the 16th century, several large Baptist synods were held in Strasbourg. Thus, in 1554 about 600 Baptist came together in the city.

However, the today existing in France Mennonite communities largely go back to the expelled from Switzerland in the 17th century Swiss Brethren ( Frères Suisses ). The Swiss from the Jurassic or the Bernese Emmental immigrant Baptist settled down at that time, especially in the east of France. Even today, next to the Alsace, the region around Montbéliard in Franche -Comté a focus Mennonite community work, in part, where communities have their own cemeteries.

In 1925, the Alsatian Mennonites formed with the Conference of Mennonites in Alsace -Lorraine, a common community association. Prior to the communities in Alsace still had collaborated with the South German Mennonite churches. Language barriers to the right bank communes there was not then, as the communities in Alsace for the most part were still German. The Mennonite communities outside of Alsace, founded two years later, also a conference of Mennonite churches in French. Only in 1980, the two organizations united to the existing pan -German community association today. This edits the journal Christian Seul and operates at a Valdoie children and old people's home. In St. Maurice, near Paris, a Mennonite community center was built after the Second World War with the Centre Mennonite de Paris. The Association has the Comité français de Mission mennonite also a Mennonite missionary society. Theological training facility is operated together with the German and Swiss Mennonites training and conference center Bee Mountain ( Centre de formation et de rencontre Bee Mountain ) in Switzerland. In addition to trained theologians but play a lay preacher continues to be a major role. In 1984, the French Mennonites hosted the 11th Mennonite World Conference in Strasbourg.