Swiss free churches are being invited to devote one of two Sundays in November to the reality of persecuted Christians, in an annual initiative that this year turns particular attention to Nigeria, Syria and Central Asia. The Swiss Evangelical Network asks congregations to give the service of either 1 or 8 November to the subject, and the material prepared for the occasion places the situation in Syria at the centre of the picture.
The figures behind that focus are stark. In the 2026 World Watch List published by Open Doors, Syria climbed from eighteenth place to sixth. At least twenty-seven Christians were killed for their faith over the past year, twenty-two of them in a suicide attack on an Orthodox church in Damascus in June. Under the authorities led by the radical group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, many Christians live in insecurity and are being forced to leave the country, and attacks on religious buildings and Christian symbols have increased. A community estimated at 1.2 million people before the war now numbers roughly three hundred thousand.
Yet some choose to stay, and the account gives them a voice. Father Fadi Azar, a Franciscan of Palestinian origin who is superior and director of the Collège de la Terre Sainte and vicar of the Franciscan parish of Saint-François-d'Assise in Aleppo, says that although Christians are few, "they are more united than ever and encouraged by the opportunities that are born of this crisis." He describes a new interest in the Christian faith among other minorities and religious groups, and a spiritual renewal within the historic communities. He spoke at Open Doors' annual day in Yverdon on 28 August, where he presented Go-Sport, a project run by Open Doors partners in Syria since 2020 in the Sacré-Cœur parish in Lattakia, which combines football and basketball with faith and personal development. Young participants, he said, have deepened their knowledge of Christ and learned the Christian values of forgiveness, sharing and service while developing their own leadership, and some have gone on to become coaches themselves; a women's football team was formed despite the initial reluctance of some who considered the sport reserved for men. He also described the limits under which the work is done: "We cannot evangelise freely; it is forbidden in Syria."
The Sunday material offers congregations a way of holding both realities together — a community under severe pressure, and one that its own members describe as finding new strength. The initiative is organised ecumenically, and congregations of several traditions take part alongside the free churches.
(Originally published in French. Summary translated by CC / Connexion.)
Source: LaFree / Fédération Romande d’Églises Évangéliques — https://lafree.ch/dimanches-de-leglise-persecutee-la-syrie-au-coeur-des-regards/
