New African Partnership

Faculté Jean Calvin now offers courses to students in French-speaking Africa through a new partnership.

Responsive to the development of theological education in French-speaking Africa, FJC has long noted the many difficulties encountered by Africans wishing to to come to France to pursue training: obtaining a visa, the lack of financial resources, the impossibility of coming with the family for married students, and the need for certain courses to be adapted to the African context.

Professor Egbert Brink* was convinced that exporting FJC’s online program to French-speaking Africa could solve these problems. Former students of the Faculty of Evangelical Theology of Bangui have joined him in this approach. Now FJC has joined the project by signing a partnership with L’Institut Théologique Evangélique du Sénégal (ITES).

Contextualized Teaching

Going forward, FJC will make most of its undergraduate courses available to ITES. The ITES professors will contextualize them. The teaching of church history, pastoral and ethical questions, and knowledge of religions will focus on Africa. The teaching of dogmatics and biblical subjects will become more relevant as it focuses directly on the African context.

A Promising Start

The geographical position of Senegal, located between North Africa and the Sub-Saharan countries, is of significant importance. About fifteen students from French-speaking countries (Cameroon, Côte d'Ivoire, Benin, Congo, Senegal, Togo, Niger and Mali) are currently following FJC’s courses. In addition, thirty-three students from North Africa and Mauritania are following the à la carte modules.

This start is already promising! It’s hoped that not only will these courses be attended by pastors and students in training, but also by moderate Muslims from the closed areas of Central and North Africa.

May God allow this work to be a blessing for French-speaking Africa and the growth of its Christians.

*Egbert Brink is Associate Professor of Old Testament and Practical Theology at the Faculty of Theology of the University of Kampen/Utrecht, Associate Professor of Practical Theology at Faculté John Calvin, and pastor.

Yannick Imbert Videos

Dr. Yannick Imbert, Professor and Occupant of the William Edgar Chair of Apologetics at Faculté Jean Calvin, recently participated in the 2023 Missions Conference of Lansdale Presbyterian Church.

LPC has graciously permitted The Huguenot Fellowship to share two videos of this event.

Chris Kennedy, Lead Pastor, interviews Yannick (starting at 5:30 into the video) Click here.

Yannick’s sermon Desiring the King and His Kingdom Click here

Hear Yannick Imbert

Yannick Imbert

A special announcement for those in the greater Philadelphia area: Lansdale Presbyterian Church will host a Missions Conference on Sunday, March 5th featuring Dr. Yannick Imbert, Professor and Occupant of the William Edgar Chair of Apologetics at Faculté Jean Calvin, Aix-en-Provence, France.

When: March 5, 2023: 9:15am Sunday School, 10:30am Service, 5:00-7:30pm Dinner (Gym) and Presentation (Worship Center)

Where: Lansdale Presbyterian Church, 450 Oak Park Rd, Hatfield, PA (Click on the address for directions.)

Jesus without the Chuch?

The webinar "Jesus sans l'Eglise?” with Pierre-Sovann Chauny, Professor of Systematic Theology at Faculté Jean Calvin," is available online (in French). Click here. For those of you who read French better than comprehend spoken French, be sure to turn on French subtitles in YouTube by clicking on the cogged-wheel icon (lower right on YouTube screen), select “Subtitltes/CC”, and then select “French (auto-generated)”. (Please keep in mind that some content may be lost or altered in translation, because these subtitles were creasted by YouTube and not by FJC.)

Can you be interested in Jesus, but not the Church? Or can you be a Christian and not be part of a local church? What does the Bible say about this?

Encounters with Benedict

When we were in Aix our seminary was small enough so that we could take everyone on trips together. One of the most memorable was to Rome in 1985 (I think). Being Protestants we went “Sur les traces de l’apôtre Paul”. Our guide was François Leithel, a former evangelical who had become a Carmelite. He lived in the Facultà Téresianum, an establishment dedicated to the three Saint Teresas, Avila, Lisieux and Benedicta.

Being, as it happened, close to the centers of power, François obtained an audience for us with John Paul II. Needless to say, we were somewhat star-struck. However, the night before our visit we received a most apologetic message saying that the Pontiff suddenly had to leave town. But could he send us his second in command, Cardinal Ratzinger? Of course, we agreed, so the next day we had an appointment with Joseph Aloisius Ratzinger, who was at the time Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of Faith. Put simply, he was overseer of doctrine for the Roman Catholic Church.

A session that was scheduled for ½ hour lasted nearly two hours. The exchange was riveting. Ratzinger did his best to deconstruct some of the caricatures of his work. Contrary to the popular image of him, he did not hand down decisions like a demagogue, but always listened to the local bishops and priests first.

Pierre Berthoud, our doyen at the time, summarized the evangelical protestant position powerfully. The Cardinal was clearly astonished. He had no doubt assumed that all Protestants were left-wing liberals. At the end of the exchange, we were able to underscore what we had in common as well as accentuate our differences. We swapped gifts. He gave us some of his books and we gave him ours.

Among our gifts to the Cardinal was a newly minted copy of Calvin’s Institutes of the Christian Religion which our in-house publishing endeavor, Editions Kérygma, had just printed. He told us he had never read Calvin, which was somewhat surprising given his stature as a scholar. But we had come to learn many Roman Catholics are unfamiliar with even the standard Protestant texts.

My colleague Peter Jones later heard Razinger quote Calvin favorably in a lecture. He had read the book we gave him! We do not know what was in his head as he became Pope Benedict XVI in 2005 and then, unusually, resigned in 2013 to become Pope Emeritus. He had a rich and full life (1927-1922). Could it be that Jean Calvin’s uniquely pastoral emphasis on sola gratia fanned into flame the gift of God?

Much is happening in the Roman Catholic Church these days. In view of all its scandals, and its doctrinal ambiguities, could it be that a rediscovery of the gospel, obscured since the Counter Reformation is on the agenda? Much of the Protestant Church could use the same reminders.

William Edgar
Professeur Associé
Faculté Jean Calvin

Lucas Cobb Interview

Huguenot Fellowship Trustee Ruth Ann Leduc interviews Luca Cobb. Lucas is a student in the master's program at Faculté Jean Calvin and is interning at a small church in the rural Cevennes region of France. Although having grown up in a Christian home, he experienced spiritual questions, which in part led him to study theology. Before enrolling at the Fac, he won a piano competition (concours) sponsored by a prestigious music school, but there was no room at that time for new students. God had other plans for Lucas!

Click here to view this 13 minute video.