Seventh-day Adventists living in France are celebrating the church’s acceptance into the influential French Protestant Federation (FPF), a significant alliance that church leaders believe will bring many positive outcomes.

“Now we can enjoy the same rights as traditional Protestant churches and we are considered theologically equal with other religious movements in our country,” said Jean-Paul Barquon, secretary of the Seventh-day Adventist Church in France.

The Federation represents some 900,000 French Protestants, consists of 17 churches and 78 communities, movements, organizations and institutions, and represents some 500 protestant associations and organizational units, more than 1,200 local congregations and more than 1,000 pastors.

The Adventist Church was among five new members accepted during its last General Assembly held in Paris on March 11 and 12. Adventist church leaders are calling March 11—the day the church’s membership became official—a “landmark.”

“After two years of probation, after 13 years of negotiations, after 35 years of collaboration between Adventist youth and CPCV [the French national protestant organization for education and preparation of youth leaders], and after more than 50 years of working together with the French Biblical Alliance, our church was accepted as a full member of the French Protestant Federation,” said Barquon.

The FPF was organized in 1905 after Protestants were put aside during the process of preparing the law separating state and religion. Protestant churches were not consulted or given a chance to be involved in the process even though the then new law affected them. Five main Protestant churches formed the organization so they could negotiate with the state jointly. 

“Finally, the FPF added the prophetic dimension of the Adventist Church to other streams of thought—the historical aspect represented by the Lutherans and Calvinists, the evangelical emphasis represented by free churches and Baptists, the charismatic prominence of different Pentecostal and charismatic groups, and the emphasis on salvation represented by the Salvation Army,” said Barquon.

“I am persuaded by my disposition but also by my conviction and reflection that we belong there and that we have a role to play within the FPF,” said Jacques Trujillo, president of the Seventh-day Adventist Church in France.