Worship Conference to Impact 100 French Churches

"Once we made those small changes, our church plant stopped losing people coming in and out,” says Encompass worker Kevin. “More people started staying, and the church grew 10–12 percent every year.” The changes he’s referencing involve tightening up the music aspect of the church service with things like adhering to a schedule, selecting more meaningful songs, and having the musicians practice together ahead of time. While these elements might seem standard to American churchgoers, things are different France. "If I can teach lots of other churches to do those things, then we'll have lots more healthy, viable churches throughout France,” Kevin says with excitement. 

That’s why he's facilitating a full-day conference specifically for French worship leaders. “This is something I’ve been dreaming about for years,” he says. The event will take place on Saturday, March 14 with 200 worship leaders traveling from "literally all over France" for a jam-packed day of speakers and breakout sessions. Over 100 churches will be represented, extending the reach of this event far beyond our network of Charis churches. The schedule includes specialized workshops on vocals, songwriting, and guitar, as well as sessions on how to create a culture and arrange music for small bands. The day will conclude with a worship concert with attendance expected to swell to 350 people. The scale of this even is massive considering how few evangelical musicians there are in the country. 

And the need for this kind of conference is huge. Worship leaders in France are usually just "the best qualified people within their small church body" who often have very little training. "You can't get a worship leader degree in France—that's like speaking Martian to these people," Kevin jokingly explains. So having an event that teaches 100 churches how to reduce turnover and start growing could have unfathomable ripple effects throughout the country.  

While Kevin is beyond excited to finally be seeing this long-time dream turn to reality, he admits that it’s also a bit overwhelming. "I don't know if I’d say I've bitten off more than I can chew, but I've certainly bitten off a whole lot more than I realized," he says. "But we serve a very big, very gracious God, and I'm just counting on Him."  

Ask God to work through this conference in powerful ways that impact French churches for years to come. And consider investing in the growth of French churches by giving toward this event.