What Does Multilingual Church Look Like?

 When people walk into many of the urban chapels of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, they first shake hands with members, missionaries, leaders, and, at least in Torcy two weeks ago, all the Young Women!

Next we pass by the translation headphones, and many choose the English headsets.  We always try to listen to everything in French (although I miss a lot).

Church in France is more than bilingual with French and English. The Nogent Ward translates into Spanish and English. There is a Spanish/Portuguese branch in Luxembourg. 

The Paris St. Merri Ward translates into English and Chinese. In Brussels there is a Flemish stake and a French stake. The Brussels chapel has hymn books in 4 languages and a place for 3 different numbers for each hymn!

Each ward has its defining characteristics. Many of the ones in Paris are full of immigrants, mostly from Central Africa (Congo, Cameroon, Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana), Northern Africa (Morocco, Tunisia, Algeria), Reunion and Madagascar (in the Indian Ocean), and Guadalupe (Caribbean).  There are many immigrants who speak Spanish and Portuguese (from Europe or South/Central America). Many members move from Tahiti to France, and they are not officially changing countries.  The Tahitian women often wear flowers beautifully tucked behind their ears.  Evidently, many Tahatians join the armed forces, and that brings them to France. 

These are Relief Society sisters in the Antony Ward.

In Relief Society at St. Merri in the Paris Ward last Sunday, new members introduced themselves. We had new sisters from Egypt, Philippines, United States, Ghana, and France, joining the old members who come from China, Tahiti, France, United States, Canada, Philippines, England,

Then there are the tourists.  In Paris wards, there are often many tourists, especially in the summer. In the St. Merri Ward in the center of Paris, the official meetinghouse app says that sacrament meeting is at 12:30. This meeting is actually a testimony meeting in English just for tourists that starts right after the French ward, which starts at 10 (the starting time is unlisted but known to all in the local ward).  

But all the wards (except a few branches that use Spanish) have the services in French. I always listen for “Amen” in whatever language so I know when to open my eyes after a prayer!

We attend a different ward every week so we can get to know the many wards in the Paris area.

To get to church in Paris, most people take a train or metro. 

We walk to the train station (13 minutes).

We take the RER A to Paris and get off at Chatelet Les Halles (35 minutes).

From there we take a metro if we need to.

We usually walk the last 12-15 minutes looking for the right building.  The building is rarely obvious. Sometimes there is a member standing at the door, and we see the Church sign nearby.

Sometimes the door is locked after the meeting begins to keep everyone safe.

The French can be very welcoming. After the church meetings, many wards share a meal together. People bring out the many dishes they have brought to share with everyone. There are always interesting salads, yummy stews, rice, vegetables, pizzas, and lots of desserts. Always with either bamboo forks (no plastic forks in France) or metal ones from the kitchen. We sit around and eat and talk with each other. I love this tradition.  I noticed my Utah ward, the last of four wards to meet in our chapel on Sundays, has taken up this tradition of eating together once a month after church.

We love to meet with the saints on Sundays, and we rejoice in the great diversity of the membership and the great unity of purpose in coming to Christ.

Appendix:

 Here are the wards we have attended in France and Belgium:

Versailles

Le Chesney

Paris (at St. Merri in the center of town)

Lilas

Antony

Nogent

Monte la Jolie

Cergy Pontoise

Saint Ouen

Evry

Torcy

Meaux

As well as Caen, Nivelles, Angers, Vannes, and Tours

And we have visited the chapels at Nancy, Brussels, and Lille.