Celebrations 2025: A Unifying Worship Service in France

“Just as a body, though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one body, so it is with Christ.”

1 Corinthians 12:12

Imagine what can happen when God’s children willingly and humbly work together for His glory. 

Not long ago, the Christian landscape in France was shaped by division and limited connection. While there were followers of Jesus, they were often isolated from one another. Over time, misunderstandings and growing tensions led some denominations to pull away rather than work together in shared purpose.

About 14 years ago, CNEF—The National Council of French Evangelicals—was created with the sole purpose of unifying Christ’s Church.  

“God has used the CNEF to really bring denominations together,” GEM France worker Tom Hawkins starts. “That doesn’t mean we’re all the same doctrinally, but we finally figured out that the job is too big to do on our own, so we need to do it together. It’s been really encouraging to see that happen.” 

Tom is a member of one of the CNEF’s department committees. There are nearly 100 of these committees across France, with various poles—or church tendencies—such as charismatic and conservative, all working together to further God’s kingdom. 

In 2023, CNEF proposed a never-before-seen event in France. The plan was for each department—or county—in France to hold a combined worship service as a sign of unity in Christ. 

And so, Celebrations 2025 was established. 

Each department across France came together with gusto, booking venues, bands, and speakers for their locations to gather and worship. More than 70,000 Christians gathered across 89 different worship services on the big day—October 5, 2025. 

“It was truly remarkable to see 600 or so participants from the Lille Metropolitan area gathered together across denominational lines, all eyes fixed on Jesus,” shared Kim Sanford, another GEM France worker who had the opportunity to worship alongside fellow believers at this event. 

“I really appreciate that the speaker spoke directly on unity,” Kim says. “One of the takeaways for me was when he said, ‘In this room, we’re all very different. Look around. You’re going to see people who worship in a different way, who interpret some scripture in different ways than you, and that’s okay, because we need all the different kinds of churches to reach all the different kinds of people in our city who don’t know God.’” Kim continues, “I felt like that was a really beautiful spin on how my interpretation and way of doing things might reach my neighbour, but this church over here might reach my neighbour better—we actually need variety; it’s not a bad thing, it’s a really beautiful thing.” 

Although most of the events across France were held for a single day, Tom’s department was fortunate to have a venue available to host a full weekend event, featuring youth activities on Saturday afternoon, an evening concert open to the public, and even a catered meal after the Sunday service.  

“With the financial and logistical help of close to 20 churches, we were able to welcome almost 800 people for Sunday morning’s service. In other areas, they numbered in the thousands!” Tom exclaims. 

It’s exciting to see an event like this take place in a country where only one percent of the population claims to follow Jesus. 

“Discipleship, I would say, is still a challenge,” Kim starts. “When people are coming from unchurched backgrounds, it’s difficult for them to fully grasp the 100% life change of following Jesus; it’s not just an accessory to put on before leaving the house, it’s the whole thing.”  

This is why unity within Christ’s Church is so important. A united church is a stronger church. By encouraging and challenging one another, we can continue living with love for one another and seeing more people know Jesus in a world that often pulls us in different directions. And when we do that, others might question why we’re ‘different’ and might even spark a discipleship movement.  

Let’s remain steadfast in prayer and support for the Christian believers in France, that they may continue to choose unity in a country that still struggles to grasp the life-changing benefits of God’s Kingdom.

If you would like to see a brief recap of Celebrations 2025, watch the video from Tom’s region here.

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Author: Leanne Monge Barrera serves in the Greater Europe Mission Canada Office as a Storyteller and Marketing Coordinator.