LCMS World Mission partners in the mission outreach of the LCMS partner church, the Evangelical Lutheran Church—Synod of France, by supporting a mission outpost in Paris, France.

Rev. Roger Jones serves the only confessional Lutheran congregation in the capital city of France. Installed as pastor on Sunday, Sept. 16, 2007, at Holy Savior Evangelical Lutheran Church in Paris, France, he and wife, Emily, arrived in Paris from London, England, where Roger served as head pastor of St. Paul's Lutheran Church.

Having spent ten years in modern language study and mastering French dialect during frequent seasons in residence in a small French village, Jones comes to the pulpit fluent in French, German, and English. His wife, Emily, was born Emily Cheng in Hong Kong and is fluent in English and Cantonese. She hopes to reach out to first- and second-generation Chinese immigrants in France through a language school on the church grounds. Their multilingual repertoire, they believe, will continue to attract an already multi-cultural, multi-lingual congregation.
 
Holy Savior is already a bustling fifty strong-an impressive number considering the anti-religious climate cultivated in France since its eighteenth century Revolution. "I've only been here three days, and I've already had two people knock on the door," Jones said. Interest in Lutheran Christianity is an anomaly for France, where more than 30 percent of the population identify themselves as atheist or agnostic, and Lutheran as a denomination is virtually unheard of. "In the month that I've been here, we've had six new people attending church regularly," said Jones.

"It goes back to a deep distrust of the church itself. In the past, The Catholic Church was so mixed up in politics, that it really infiltrated every aspect of a person's life. It was very controlling. So after the wars and the revolution, the French people really stepped back and pushed the church away, because it meant freedom for them at last. And it continues in people's mentality; people remember," said Jones.
 
This culture of doubt is a typical challenge among church workers in Europe, and especially in France. But, Roger and Emily Jones have come prepared with an enthusiastic perspective. Ambitions of an international congregation have already taken shape. Families from French-speaking Africa, England, China, and the United States are among the church's members.