Catholic Reconquest: the Case of the Sainte Blandine Megachurch in Lyon

Chapter 6 Catholic Reconquest: The Case of the Sainte Blandine Megachurch in Lyon

Valérie Aubourg

For more than half a century, Evangelical Protestantism (and especially its Pen- tecostal version) has been showing undeniable vitality. Increase in member- ship around the world follows a reverse curve to that of Catholics in Western societies. Noting this “decline” (Le Bras 1976), the Catholic Church has sought to renew its approach so that the “Christian message reaches modern man”.1 With John Paul ii, the expression “new evangelization” was deployed and the Pope promoted it with determination.2 Currently, Pope Francis seeks to “renew the missionary impulse” and invites a “kerygmatic catechesis” favouring a “per- sonal encounter with the love of Jesus, who saves us”.3 In this context, many Catholic parishes are adopting a so-called missionary approach based on the principle of growth—in line with the Church Growth Movement and its founder, Donald McGavran—and are influenced by ex- amples from mega-evangelical churches. The most emblematic and oldest of these mega-evangelical churches is the Full Gospel Central Church, set up by Korean Pastor David Yonggi Cho (Hui-Yeon, 2011). The principles laid down by Yonggi Cho are subsequently taken up by megachurches such as the New Hope Community Church (Portland, Oregon), founded by American pastor Dale Galloway, and California’s Saddleback Valley Community Church. In Catholic circles, several parishes are inspired by an ecclesial model based on small units meeting in homes. In the United States, this was pursued by Michel Eivers, the pastor of St. Boniface Church in Miami, following the example of the Korean Yoido Full Gospel Church and the Calvary Orlando Church (Florida). Don Pigi Perini visited the Florida parish with the intention of creat- ing a similar one in Italy. Beginning in 1987 at the St. Eustorgio parish in Milan,

1 Pope Paul vi, 1975, Apostolic Exhortation Evangelii Nustandi, n°3, 8 December 1975, DC 1689, 4 January 1976: 1–22. 2 The expression was used by Pope John Paul ii in 1979, during his speech in Poland to the workers of Nowa Huta. Afterward, he employed it more than 300 times. 3 Pope Francis, Apostolic Exhortation Evangelii Gaudium, 25 November 2013. Available at: http://w2.vatican.va/content/francesco/fr/apost_exhortations/documents/papa-francesco _esortazione-ap_20131124_evangelii-gaudium.html.

130 Aubourg he developed a model that came to be known in Catholic circles as the Parish Cells System of Evangelization. More recently, two North American Catholic parishes have been successful in drawing following the example of evangelical megachurches: the Nativity parish in Baltimore (Maryland, usa) and the Saint-Benedict parish in Halifax (Nova Scotia, Canada). The former is led by Father Michael White, who along with a collaborator (Tom Corcoran, a layman and father of six) published Re- built (2013), in which they relate how they sought inspiration from prosperous, growing churches, “with no excuses, and shamelessly” (Corcoran and White, 2013). The Canadian parish set up an innovative program—initiated by Fa- ther James Mallon—that has been changing the parish’s image and increasing its attendance. Mallon’s book, Divine Renovation (2014), explains how to move from mere maintenance of a building to the creation of an effective missionary community. Apart from a few chapters dealing with the Alpha Course (Rigou-Chemin 2011; Labarbe 2007), contemporary parish renewal in France remains only mar- ginally documented. Accordingly, I propose to study Lyon’s Sainte Blandine parish, which has adopted aspects of the evangelical megachurch model. I will show how a French Catholic parish is inspired by the dynamism of evangelical churches and acclimatizes it to the local context, as well as the elements of Catholicism that distinguish it from evangelical churches. Evangelical megachurches are expanding, and their growth can be ob- served on every continent. With these burgeoning churches, a unique type of Christianity is emerging. For Scott Thumma, Dave Travis and Warren Bird, “megachurches are the most influential contemporary dynamic in American religion” (Thumma et al. 2007: 218). According to French historian Sébastien Fath,4 this religious phenomenon is changing “the way of living Christian worship” to such an extent that he describes the transformation of American Prot- estantism as a “revolution”.5 Fath attributes three main functions to the modern megachurch: the gathering of Christians within a prestigious and monumental religious space; the facilitation of both innovation and emulation in worship- ing God; and the affirmation of the influence of faith on the territory through both architecture and evangelism. These new churches are characterized by their spectacular height, the number of worshippers (at least 2,000 every Sun- day), and a wide range of extra-religious activities. “Megachurches catalyze an active community life. Today, they are the new places where Christian crowds

4 All French citations have been translated by the author. 5 La révolution des megachurches [The revolution of megachurches] is the subtitle of his book Dieu xxl. (Fath 2008).