The Swiss Church in London celebrates 250th anniversary

From Martin_Gnanadason Daphne <Daphne.Martin_Gnanadason@wcrc.ch>
Date Tue, 22 May 2012 15:08:42 +0000

>World Communion of Reformed Churches
>News Release
>22 May 2012

The Swiss Church in London celebrates 250th anniversary
The Swiss Church in London celebrated its 250th anniversary Sunday with a m 
ulti-lingual service in the presence of Switzerland's ambassador to the Uni ted 
Kingdom, Anton Thalmann. The service is one of a series of celebrations  
scheduled for 2012 to mark the founding of the congregation in 1762 by imm 
igrants from the French-speaking region of Switzerland.

"This church offers a spiritual home to the Swiss community," Gottfried Loc 
her, president of the Federation of Swiss Protestant Churches, told the con 
gregation in a sermon delivered at the anniversary service.  "It is a speci al 
place for Swiss and others who like a multi-lingual, multi-cultural expe 
rience."

Locher, who served as the congregation's pastor from 1994-1999, is the imme 
diate past-general treasurer of the World Communion of Reformed Churches (W 
CRC).

An estimated 240 parishioners and guests attended the service, including th e 
newly-elected mayor of Camden, the London borough in which the church is  
located.

The congregation's 250 members are divided between those who have settled p 
ermanently in London and those who are in the city for short-term assignmen ts 
in the business and banking sectors or as students or mother's helpers ( "au 
pair" girls). There are 27000 Swiss in the United Kingdom.

In 1969, French and German-speaking Swiss congregations merged to share one  
pastor who leads joint services. It is the only Swiss Reformed Church in L 
ondon and thus the only place where parents can have their children baptize d 
into the Reformed church.

A well-known leader of the global Reformed church movement, Marcel Praderva nd, 
served the parish on two occasions, first as a candidate for ministry a nd 
again during the Second World War. In 1948, Pradervand left London to ta ke up 
duties with the World Council of Churches in Geneva before accepting  the call 
to head the global office of the World Presbyterian Alliance that  later became 
the World Communion of Reformed Churches.

Like many churches serving expatriate communities (known as "diaspora" cong 
regations) the Swiss Church in London is experiencing a decline in membersh ip 
due to the combined impact of secularization and the ease of staying con nected 
with the home country in other ways than through the church due to i nternet 
and affordable travel.

Current pastor, Nathalie Dürmüller, sees hope though in the fact the co 
ngregation is open and welcoming of non-Swiss.

"This is a place where so many different people come together," says Dürm 
üller. "We want to be open to the whole community."

The recently-renovated church in the famed Covent Garden neighbourhood is w 
ell-situated to be such a gathering space. With its central location, flexi ble 
interior design, excellent acoustics and new organ, the building offers  an 
attractive space for cultural events and community gatherings. The anni versary 
celebrations in 2012 are showcasing both the congregation and the c hurch 
building as places for Swiss and other cultural groups to gather and  share 
their faith and a sense of community.

WCRC represents 80 million Christians in 108 countries. Its member churches  
are active worldwide in initiatives supporting economic, climate and gende r 
justice, mission, and cooperation among Christians of different tradition s.

>Kristine Greenaway
>Office of Communications
>Email: kgr@wcrc.ch<mailto:kgr@wcrc.ch
>tel: +41 (0)22 791 62 43; fax: +41 (0)22 791 65 05
>www.wcrc.ch<http://www.wcrc.ch/