The French-speaking free churches of Switzerland have named David Richir as the new adult-formation coordinator of FREE College, the training programme of the Fédération Romande d'Églises Évangéliques (LaFREE). The role focuses on forming the volunteer lay leaders who guide local congregations — elders, church-council members and pastoral counsellors — while also holding down ordinary jobs. In an interview published by the federation on 18 September, Richir said the college exists to answer a simple question: who trains the churches' volunteer leaders?
FREE College addresses a distinctive need in the Swiss free church landscape. The federation's roughly fifty congregations differ widely in size and style, and until now the college has reached only a small proportion of those who serve or will serve in them. Richir likens the programme to "a Camp Passion for adults" — a place where leaders learn together, ask hard questions and sharpen one another rather than simply absorbing content. He intends to begin by surveying the churches to find out how many volunteer leaders there are, what training they need, and how much time they can give.
Alongside the appointment, the college is promoting a new "FREE College Fondements" formula offering accessible, para-professional training to anyone considering church responsibility, whatever their age. Richir was himself formed at the Vaux-sur-Seine theology faculty in France, and he credits Marc Luthi, a long-time professor at the Emmaüs Bible Institute, as a mentor who shaped his own call to become a trainer. He points to 1 Corinthians 2:5 as the verse that has accompanied him: faith must rest on the power of God rather than on human wisdom.
(Originally published in French. Summary translated by CC / Connexion.)
Source: Fédération Romande d'Églises Évangéliques (LaFREE) — lafree.ch
