The Evangelical Church The Mission of Besançon (French: Église évangélique La Mission de Besançon), formerly known as the Evangelical Pentecostal Church of Besançon and The Mission, is a Pentecostal church based in Besançon, France. It is affiliated with the Union of Missionary Churches.
The church was founded by Aldo Benzi, who converted to Christianity after being healed from a pleurisy. Subsequent leader René Kennel, a former Mennonite farmer who became pastor of the churches in Saint-Dizier and in Joinville after discovering Pentecostalism through an evangelical Roma mission, has directed the church since 1977. Its main beliefs (expressed in a creed of eight articles of faith) and practices are nearly identical with those of most Evangelical and Pentecostal groups, with a special focus on miraculous gifts of the Holy Spirit and proselytism. In the late 1990s the church was embroiled in many trials (often on the grounds of defamation or for financial issues), losing most of them. In 2006 a sex scandal within the church led the federation to be dissolved, and the church in Besançon became independent.
Since 1988 the church has been the subject of recurring public controversy; anti-cult associations and organizations (UNADFI, CCMM and MILS – then MIVILUDES), former members and the vast majority of media presented it as a dangerous group, mainly because of its intensive missionary activities and healing practices. The church was eventually listed as a cult in the 1995 and 1999 parliamentary reports established by the French National Assembly. Protestant and academic circles, however, disagreed with this assessment, considering the church to be a genuine Pentecostal group. The latter responded to criticism through a defensive strategy, which included outreach to sociologists and historians and better ties with mainstream religions, local and national institutions.
History The Church was founded by Pastor Aldo Benzi in 1963. Benzi was the church's president, followed by Nicole and then by René Kennel in 1977.Amiotte-Suchet, 2006, p. 142.
In 1975 he was appointed treasurer of the Federation of Free Evangelical Pentecostals, and elected president seven years later. Under Kennel's leadership of the Pentecostal Church of Besançon, the church quickly opened many places of worship in Northern and Eastern France; Kennel trained pastors among his converts (including his son Étienne, who was ordained in 1981), and sent them to direct the new assemblies.Fath, 2001, pp. 300,301.Amiotte-Suchet, 2006, p. 707. In 1989 Kennel legally registered the Evangelical Missionary Federation, whose purpose was to federate all the churches (then composed of over thirty pastors).
However, in 2005 Pastor Étienne Kennel was accused of adultery by church members, which resulted in his expulsion in January 2006. His father (considered guilty of covering up his son's actions) refused to retire, which led many believers to leave the church and pastors to vote for the federation's dissolution;Amiotte-Suchet, 2006, p. 152. this one was officially announced as defunct on 25 November 2006. 14 churches in the northwest, previously members of the FEM, are (as of 2011) gathered under the name Union of Missionary Churches (Union d'Églises Missionnaires, or UDEM), an association registered in Châlons-en-Champagne. Other places of worship are independent – including the church in Besançon, which was reregistered as an "Evangelical church" in late 2006.
In 2020, it was renamed “Evangelical Church The Mission of Besançon”.
Beliefs
About his church Kennel said: "We are situated at the crossroads of the Pentecostal and Mennonite movements". Various explanations were provided by sociologists to define the place of the religious group within Christianity: Danièle Hervieu-Léger wrote that the church was created from "the meeting between a movement of evangelic sensibility inside the Reformed Church of Alsace and Lorraine, and a French Mennonite movement from the tradition of peaceful Anabaptism", Laurent Amiotte-Suchet considered that it "fits into the Assemblies of God", but also "in the history of a second wave of European Pentecostalism which experienced its revival in the 1970s and 1980s",Amiotte-Suchet, 2009, p. 98. and J. Gordon Melton described it, in his 2005 Encyclopedia of Protestantism, as one of the "newest Protestant groups". Evangelical Protestantism expert Sébastien Fath deemed the church a "non-Baptist" group, but "with some common characteristics" and explained that it professed a very high degree of religious activism, embracing conversionism, biblicism and crucicentrism. According to the Protestant Federation of France, the church displayed a "classical and structured Pentecostalism, with very little contact with other churches." The anti-cult association Centre contre les manipulations mentales said the church "comes from the classical Pentecostal movement which emerged in France in the 1950s and which now includes various groups".Centre Roger Ikor, 1995, p. 72.
The church's main beliefs are expressed in a creed, initially composed of twelve articles of faith based on biblical passages and adopted by the church. These beliefs are almost identical to the ones of most evangelical and Pentecostal groups, including biblical authority viewed as the Word of God, literal biblical interpretation and the Trinity, with a special focus on miraculous gifts of the Holy Spirit and proselytism. Later, the number of articles of faith were reduced to eight points, and Amiotte-Suchet noted that they were reworded in 1998 to become less explicit concerning issues that were the subject of public controversies.Amiotte-Suchet, 2006, pp. 759,760. He also said that the pastors' sermons show an evolution linked to a generation gap; René Kennel continues to advocate healthy living, illustrating his speeches with stories of curses resulting from a non-Christian lifestyle, while his son placed more emphasis on "the discernment of spiritual gifts and the depth of faith".Amiotte-Suchet, 2006, p. 301. On its website the church defines itself as apolitical; it respects current principles of secularism and freedom of conscience, does not discourage medical treatment, encourages believers to participate in social life and does not claim exclusive salvation.
Practices Commit thy way to the Lord, and trust in him, and he will do it. — Psalms 37:5, a verse highlighted on the church's website
The church has six weekly services, one of them located in the Rue Battant especially for people with disabilities. Each meeting is devoted to a particular Christian practice: evangelization, prayer, Bible reading, singing, and weekly worship.Amiotte-Suchet, 2006, p. 150. Meetings are composed of biblical sermons and studies, testimonies of religious experiences, hymns, meditation, worship, and prayers. Services are dynamic, charismatic and emotional, often evolving into ecstasy and trance; glossolalia results when the pastor calls the Holy Spirit to come upon the congregation,Amiotte-Suchet, 2009, p. 106. and usually lasts 30 to 60 minutes. Women must have their heads covered during worship.Amiotte-Suchet, 2006, p. 141.
Pastors established a record of public testimonies of every baptized member.Amiotte-Suchet, 2006, p. 261. Kennel's life is known by the faithful, and has an important place in the church. The pastor's break with his former religious affiliation, and his determined foundation of a new group despite many obstacles, are said to be directed by God's will; therefore, Kennel's spiritual course (which mixes "extraordinary and intransigence") is presented as an example to follow.Amiotte-Suchet, 2009, pp. 99–101. As noted by Amiotte-Suchet, all testimonies (whose purpose is to strengthen the converts' faith) generally have a common thread; the former lifestyle of the faithful is almost always presented as "a story of an aimless wandering, covered with failures, disappointments and misfortunes" until God decides to manifest himself in the life of the future member. The future convert then demands a sign of God's reality, requires a variable length of time to strength his faith and experience the Holy Spirit, then engages fully in the church.Amiotte-Suchet, 2006, pp. 265,266,273,276. Conversion is always said to lead to a healthier lifestyle and provide an expanded network of friends.Amiotte-Suchet, 2006, pp. 333,334.
All members actively participate in evangelization, both personally (family, friends and professional associates) and with the church (door-to-door, proselytism under the big tent and on public squares, "mission weeks", which follow a tightly planned program).Amiotte-Suchet, 2006, pp. 151,761. The church has denied practising proselytism among Christian people. However, after criticism of its methods the church became more discreet and avoided insisting publicly on miraculous healings, although it continued to highlight evangelization.Amiotte-Suchet, 2006, p. 148. In particular, it decided to stop proselytizing in hospitals, to discontinue loudspeakers in the streets, and to reduce the frequency of evangelization under the "big top".Amiotte-Suchet, 2006, p. 251.
The church features religious instruction for various ages, leads a choir and football team and celebrates the Holy Thursday Last Supper, believers' marriages and funerals. Baptism is practiced by immersion with the pastor's approval,Amiotte-Suchet, 2006, p. 280. and is reserved for people aged over 15 years.Amiotte, 2006, p. 239. Fasting on two Sundays a month and between eight and ten conventions per year for each church are also scheduled. The church participates in social and humanitarian activities and organizes recreational days, including activities such as theater, library, trips, a clothing exchange and a paint shop.Fath, 2001, p. 302.
Organization and finances
The church headquarters in Besançon were first located in the Rue Battant, then in the Rue de Belfort, and eventually moved in 1994 to 4 Rue Larmet, in a building costing about four million francs.Amiotte-Suchet, 2006, pp. 711,712. In 1999, the federation associated with SOS Hope (SOS Espérance, established in Vesoul to assist suffering people), an evangelical musical group, Flambo, and La Bergerie in Besançon for property management. The church owns a printing house that publishes writings for worship and evangelization, including a quarterly newsletter, The Concierge's Ear ("L'Oreille du concierge"), which has been published since 2000.Amiotte-Suchet, 2006, p. 151. In 2005 René Kennel was the president, Daniel Gloeckler vice-president and church spokesman, Étienne Kennel secretary and R. Cuenot the treasurer of the federation.Amiotte-Suchet, 2006, p. 147. Each year, a one-week course is organized in one of the churches belonging to the Evangelical Missionary Federation; named "Blessing School" ("École de la bénédiction"), this intensive Bible training consists of prayers, religious teachings and history, singing lessons, film screenings and debates.Amiotte-Suchet, 2006, p. 289.
In its organizational structure the church is similar to congregationalism, as the local assembly is autonomous. This form of congregationalism, however, is unique; the centralized organization gives to the Church of Besançon the role of head church, and the other assemblies of the federation are considered annex churches. Thus, Amiotte-Suchet opines that "the unifying spirit is much more coercive than the one in other Protestant groups". Decisions of the federation are made by all church pastors at monthly pastoral meetings. In the Church of Besançon, the leadership team attending the "brothers' meeting" is composed of René and Étienne Kennel, six appointed elders and men who have been members for a certain length of time.Amiotte-Suchet, 2006, p. 149.