en Meeting with the President of the Protestant Church in Algeria during his speech before the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs at the Quay d'Orsay, Paris

Pastor Mustapha Krim, President of the Algerian Protestant Church (EPA) met his French counterpart, Pastor Claude Baty, President of the French Protestant Federation (FPF). He answered questions raised by the Information Service, the FPF's communication body.
 
How is Protestantism organised in Algeria?
"The world of the media goes way beyond our frontiers and enables us to say what was impossible
to say until very recently. 
Everyone has access to information;
each one can decide for himself."


In 1972, several communities became part of the Algerian Protestant Church. In the beginning, Protestanism was Methodist and Reformed in Algeria. Today, it is Evangelical for the most part. In Algeria, Protestants are in the minority but nevertheless, there are more Protestants than Catholics.

How many communities are part of EPA?

There are 32 today, about 20 more are on their way to joining. The churches are full, with between 100 and 150 members on average; some have double that. The church buildings have become too small for many of them. In spite of the new legislation issued in 2006 governing how places of worship are organised, the authorities refuse to authorise the creation or setting up of new places of worship in conformity with this legislation.

Is the EPA experiencing growth?

Yes, growth in keeping with a normal development, but in no way is this a "new" growth as claimed by the media and the authorities. The EPA cannot see why the 32 small churches of which it is made up appear so alarming to the 35,000 mosques, for the most part in Kabylia! The media tend to exagerate and caricature the situation regarding the number of Protestant Christians when all that the Christian communities want is to live in peace. The EPA refuses to enter into the discussion as it would only be contributing to the diversion of attention.

How are the Pastors trained?

Some have been students at Theology faculties such as Vaux sur Seine, Aix en Provence or l'Institut Protestant de Paris. Others train on the field. Most Pastors have a professional activity in addition to their ministry enabling them to earn their living. The EPA would like to create a training centre in Algeria and sessions are already planned.

What is the inter-religious situation like?

The Catholics are hardly involved; the initiative comes more often from the Protestant camp. We do not have special discussions with the Muslim community but informal meetings do happen from time to time, however.

What expectations do you have of your relationship with  the France Protestant community?

Their solidarity, Christian fraternity and their prayers. We are relying on you to help us apply Article 18 of the Declaration of Human Rights in Algeria, guaranteeing freedom of thought, conscience and religion, and thus the freedom of worship.

What inspires you with hope in your walk of faith today?

The world of the media goes way beyond our frontiers and enables us to say what was impossible to say until very recently.  Everyone has access to information; each one can decide for himself.  Satellite television plays an important rôle in communicating ideas, including those concerning religion.

The Information Service of the FPF gives an account of President Mustapha Krim's (EPA) and Claude Baty's (FPF) speech to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on behalf of the Christians of Algeria.

Pastor Claude Baty, President of the French Protestant Federation (FPF), visited the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on the 6th February along with Pastor Mustapha Krim, President of the Algerian Protestant Church (EPA). The objective of this meeting was to make the members of the ministerial cabinet aware of the EPA's situation. Claude Baty announced that Algerian Christians were experiencing difficulties regarding freedom of worship despite the conventions ratified by Algeria and the ordinance adopted by the country in 2006. The cabinet members appeared interested in and attentive to the concerns expressed by the two Pastors.

Information received since then by the FPF underlines this feeling of concern regarding the situation of Algerian Christians. Three Algerians were condemned to three years imprisonment and a fine of 500,000 Dinars (5,000 Euros) for "attacking the religion of the Prophet and his person".

The extremely rigorous implementation of the laws governing places of worship puts a large number of communities in particularly difficult if not impossible situations when it comes to attending worship. In addition, Christians are regularly stigmatized by the media, being accused of proselytism which is even compared with terrorism.

Source
This article appeared originally in French in Eglise Evengélique Méthodiste Nouvelles Internationales (EEMNI), 15th February 2008.
Translated by Raficka YASSUR 20th February 2008.