The Paris Evangelical Missionary Society (in French, ''Société des missions évangéliques de Paris''), also known as the ''SMEP'' or ''Mission de Paris'', was a
Protestant
Protestantism is a Christian denomination, branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Reformation, Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century agai ...
missionary association created in 1822. As with other Christian societies of the era, it came under of the auspices of an organised church, in this case the
Reformed Church in France
The Reformed Church of France (french: Église réformée de France, ERF) was the main Protestant denomination in France with a Calvinist orientation that could be traced back directly to John Calvin. In 2013, the Church merged with the Evangel ...
and brought together Protestants of the ''Réveil'' (Awakening).
The SMEP opened several areas of operation, notably in
Africa
Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...
(in particular,
Lesotho
Lesotho ( ), officially the Kingdom of Lesotho, is a country landlocked country, landlocked as an Enclave and exclave, enclave in South Africa. It is situated in the Maloti Mountains and contains the Thabana Ntlenyana, highest mountains in Sou ...
) and
Oceania
Oceania (, , ) is a region, geographical region that includes Australasia, Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia. Spanning the Eastern Hemisphere, Eastern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres, Oceania is estimated to have a land area of ...
. The churches founded in these areas were organised along similar lines to the
Reformed Church in France
The Reformed Church of France (french: Église réformée de France, ERF) was the main Protestant denomination in France with a Calvinist orientation that could be traced back directly to John Calvin. In 2013, the Church merged with the Evangel ...
, with
synods and
presbyteries (
consistoires'')
In 1964, the daughter churches established by SMEP missionaries expressed a strong desire to change the tenor of the relationship with the mother church, for their part they wished for 'integration of the Missionary Church to the Mother Church' (''l'intégration de la Mission à l'Église'') This objective was realised in 1970, when two new organisations replaced the SMEP:
*CÉVAA ''Communauté évangélique d'action apostolique'' (subsequently ''Communauté d'Églises en Mission''), a federation of sister churches consisting of five
Lutheran
Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Catholic Church launched th ...
and
reformed churches
Calvinism (also called the Reformed Tradition, Reformed Protestantism, Reformed Christianity, or simply Reformed) is a major branch of Protestantism that follows the Christian theology, theological tradition and forms of Christianity, Christ ...
from France, Italy, Switzerland and those churches with their origins in the missionary work of ''SMEP''
*DÉFAP, ''Département évangélique français d'action apostolique'' (subsequently '), a common missionary service for the five churches of the CÉVAA, with its headquarters at ''Maison des Missions'' 102, boulevard Arago, 75014
Paris
Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...
, (former seat of the Paris Evangelical Missionary Society). DÉFAP continues to publish the monthly magazine ''Mission'', the ''Journal des missions évangéliques'', the SMEP « journal vert ».
Bibliography
*Jean-François Zorn, ''Le grand siècle d’une mission protestante : la Mission de Paris, 1822-1914'',
Paris
Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...
, Karthala, 1993, 791 p. (épuisé, en cours de ré-édition)
*Jeanne-Marie Léonard, ''Mémoires d’évangile : les archives de la Société des missions évangéliques de Paris, 1822-1949'',
Paris
Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...
, Défap, 2000, 51-XXII p.
See also
*
Reformed Church in France
The Reformed Church of France (french: Église réformée de France, ERF) was the main Protestant denomination in France with a Calvinist orientation that could be traced back directly to John Calvin. In 2013, the Church merged with the Evangel ...
*
Huguenot
The Huguenots ( , also , ) were a religious group of French Protestants who held to the Reformed, or Calvinist, tradition of Protestantism. The term, which may be derived from the name of a Swiss political leader, the Genevan burgomaster Be ...
External links
La Cévaa, communauté d'Églises en missionLe Défap, Service Protestant de Mission{{Protestant missions to Africa
Christian missionary societies
History of Protestantism in France
Religious organizations established in 1822
Evangelical organizations established in the 19th century
1822 establishments in France
Organizations based in Paris