50 years Jubilee

To commemorate the 50 year Jubilee, a special Celebration Service will take place on Saturday, June 08 from 6pm onwards at the Methodist Church in Lausanne. The service will be followed by an apéritif dinatoire. The event will end at approximately 9pm.

The IECL was founded in 1974 after the Lausanne Conference on World Evangelism, which fuelled a new wave of missionary fervour with a particular focus on the holistic Gospel. Billy Graham spoke at Lausanne and he was translated into French by Frank Horton, one of our founding members and longtime elders. Since its beginnings in 1974, the IECL was an independent and non-denominational Evangelical Church. Its first pastor was Stacey Woods, who also founded Inter-Varsity in the US and served as the first General Secretary of IFES, a global fellowship of Christian students. Even after his passing, his wife Yvonne Woods remained a pillar of the church for many years, inviting to her home for bible studies and following up personally with numerous people.

The IECL has seen a number of other pastors after Stacey Woods: George Cripe (who served with the Navigators), Derek Dalcher, Dick Boss and Bob Slade. Since 2007, the IECL is pastored by Ellis Potter. Like most of his predecessors he has been closely involved with a global Christian ministry, in his case l’Abri Fellowship, founded by Francis Schaeffer. At his side, Dr Benjamin Moses, director of Global Leadership Geneva (a ministry of Campus) serves as the associate pastor.

Besides the pastors, there have been many others who marked the history of the IECL. These of course include Yvonne Woods, Frank and Anne Horton, who have passed on, but also Olivier Bourgeois, Erich and Sharon Schenk… and those on the current leadership team, some of whom have been at the IECL for close on 30 years. Many other Christians of all ages, and from all over the world, have served for a few months or a few years, and so contributed to the amazing blend of people who found in the IECL their church family home in Lausanne. During many years the IECL met at the emblematic “Masion Rovéréaz”, the headquarter of the relief organization Mercy Ships in Switzerland, before renting the Chapel of the Methodist Church in downtown Lausanne.

We are truly thankful to God for these 50 years and the blessing our church has been to many people. The IECL has always been a small but personal international church with good connections to the local Swiss church, and it still is. With its variety of ethnic and denominational backgrounds we love to call it a microcosm of the global church. A mix of Asian, African, American and European people giving a healthy and stimulating variety of perspectives.

Celebration Service

During this special anniversary service we would like to celebrate God’s faithfulness and hear how He has moved in the hearts of those currently attending the IECL, but also those who have journeyed with us over the past 50 years. It is important to us to express our gratitude for what God has called to life, for the faith of the founders and for the growth God has given. We want to remember those who went before us, and honour those who are serving at the IECL now. We also look forward in hope and expectation, that God will continue to go before us and with us. Faith, hope, love: God is love and love is the most excellent way. So we celebrate “His love endures forever”.