May 22, 2012

The Swiss Church in London celebrated its 250th anniversary Sunday with a multi-lingual service in the presence of Switzerland's ambassador to the United 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 immigrants from the French-speaking region of Switzerland.

"This church offers a spiritual home to the Swiss community," Gottfried Locher, president of the Federation of Swiss Protestant Churches, told the congregation in a sermon delivered at the anniversary service. "It is a special place for Swiss and others who like a multi-lingual, multi-cultural experience."

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

An estimated 240 parishioners and guests attended the service, including the 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 permanently in London and those who are in the city for short-term assignments 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 London and thus the only place where parents can have their children baptized into the Reformed church.

A well-known leader of the global Reformed church movement, Marcel Pradervand, served the parish on two occasions, first as a candidate for ministry and again during the Second World War. In 1948, Pradervand left London to take 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" congregations) the Swiss Church in London is experiencing a decline in membership due to the combined impact of secularization and the ease of staying connected with the home country in other ways than through the church due to internet and affordable travel.

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

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

The recently-renovated church in the famed Covent Garden neighbourhood is well-situated to be such a gathering space. With its central location, flexible interior design, excellent acoustics and new organ, the building offers an attractive space for cultural events and community gatherings. The anniversary celebrations in 2012 are showcasing both the congregation and the church 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 gender justice, mission, and cooperation among Christians of different traditions.

World Communion of Reformed Churches