STORIES FROM
EUROPE

Europe today is often spoken of as “the Secular Continent”. Mission mobilisation to Europe is predicated on the tiny percentage of Evangelical Christians. And conferences often include the unchallenged affirmation that Europe is post-Christian and in need of re-evangelisation.

But have we ever stopped to consider if these presuppositions are actually true?

Rather than holding to our eschatological hope demonstrated in the resurrection of Jesus Christ, when it comes to Europe, we have internalised an eschatology of despair. Yet, out of the spotlight, an extraordinary re-evangelisation of Europe is underway. I think we can identify three primary dimensions of that re-evangelisation and you can read much more about this in my Europe 2021 report (www.ecmbritain.org/resources).

1. Church planting movements

In almost every European country, there isan acceleration in the number of new churches being planted. Whether that is the result of denominational initiatives, through mission agencies like ECM, individuals, national church planting platforms, or ministries that are facilitating church planting processes, new Christian communities are sprouting up almost everywhere you look.

Just one example: the vision of the CNEF (National Council of French Evangelicals) “1 pour 10,000”, meaning one evangelical church for every 10,000 people, has spurred on church planting in France and has seen, on average, one church planted every seven days or so over the last ten years.

2. Diaspora churches

3. Next Generation