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 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 as an enclave in South Africa. It is situated in the Maloti Mountains and contains the highest mountains in Southern Africa. It has an area of over and has a population ...

) and

Oceania Oceania (, , ) is a geographical region that includes Australasia, Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia. Spanning the Eastern and Western hemispheres, Oceania is estimated to have a land area of and a population of around 44.5 million ...

. The churches founded in these areas were organised along similar lines to the Reformed Church in France, with

synods A synod () is a council of a Christian denomination, usually convened to decide an issue of doctrine, administration or application. The word '' synod'' comes from the meaning "assembly" or "meeting" and is analogous with the Latin word mean ...

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 ...

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 theological tradition and forms of Christian practice set down by John Calv ...

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. Si ...

, (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'',

, 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'',

, Défap, 2000, 51-XXII p.

External links

La Cévaa, communauté d'Églises en mission

Le 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

Bibliography

See also

External links