Some 60 conference participants gathered again for three days in April in Lyons, France for this year’s Colloque Biblique Francophone.
Participants came from all over France and from French-speaking Belgium and Switzerland; they profited from a variety of bib-lically-faithful ministry from five main speakers.
West Africa missing
Sadly this year no representatives from the French-speaking churches in West Africa were able to be present.
Particular highlights were a wide-ranging series of three addresses by Robert Strivens from London, on the Christian’s call to live a holy life, and two presentations on the theology of Luke/Acts by Flavien Pardigon, formerly of Faculté Jean Calvin in Aix-en-Provence and now based in Cambridge, England. Robert Strivens – formerly a lawyer in Brussels before entering the Christian ministry – stressed the continuing role of the law in the Christian life and went through an exegetically rich study of Romans 6-8.
As previously, the Colloque was enlivened by some 16 students from the Institut Biblique Belge in Brussels (together with two of their tutors). The students gain credits on their courses for attending and in turn they are exposed to speakers and subjects they might not ordinarily hear in regular classes; this represents healthy exchange! Their presence and support in the times of prayer each morning was a notable encouragement.
Marks of ministry
It was again good to have a well-stocked book table for two of the days, a reminder of the increasing range of helpful theological and expository literature now available in French. At the close the conference chairman Malcolm Ball, who works in church-planting in Nantes, western France, reminded those present of the preacher’s words in Ecclesiastes 12. He set out the marks of effective gospel ministry: sin-exposing, grace-giving and focused on the master-teacher himself.
Dates for the 2016 Colloque will be 30 March – 1 April, again in Lyons. For further information and (on request) recordings of this year’s addresses, see the conference website www.colloque-biblique-francophone.fr
