Thousands in France gathered for the inaugural La Place conference, described by charity France Mission as the country’s biggest gathering of evangelicals.
The event, held at a conference centre in the Bois de Vincennes, to the south-east of Paris, provided an opportunity for French evangelical churches to connect and worship together. Around 3,000 people were reported to have attended.
The annual gathering started in much smaller fashion back in 1948, founded as the Centre Evangelique (Evangelical Centre). However, it has grown since then, moving to professional exhibition centres and hosting bigger scale events.
This year, the Centre Evangelique has collaborated with La Fondation Oïkonomia (Oïkonomia Foundation), a new evangelical philanthropic organisation, to host La Place, which organisers describe as “an opportunity to discover the evangelical world in all its forms”.
This year’s newly branded conference centred on the theme From Words to Deeds, and was attended by over 200 exhibitors, as well as representatives from churches, charities, and mission agencies.
Noteworthy inclusions on the three-day programme included the first gathering of the National Council of Evangelicals in France’s (CNEF) youth group leaders, the 2025 edition of the Centre Evangelique (an arts village with visual exhibitions), as well as teaching spread across ten conferences, 37 workshops and three evening events.
Before the conference began, Paul Cooke, UK director of France Mission, told en why he was attending La Place: “I’m going because it will enable me to connect with numerous representatives from the French evangelical world under one roof: denominations, charities, church leaders, mission agencies, publishers, educators, and creators. I’m really looking forward to learning more about the variety of the Lord’s work in France.”
