Christian Open Door Church

Coordinates: 47.7702°N 7.3266°E

The Christian Open Door Church (Mission du Plein

Évangile – Église Porte Ouverte Chrétienne [POC]) is a
Église Porte Ouverte
French Evangelical charismatic multi-site megachurch Chrétienne
whose main place of worship is located in Mulhouse. It is
the second largest Evangelical church in France, with over
2,200 people. The church is a member of the Francophone
part of the Federation of Full Gospel Churches and the
Conseil national des évangéliques de France. The senior
pastor is Samuel Peterschmitt.

History
The church was officially founded by Suzanne and Jean Worship in 2017
Peterschmitt in Mulhouse in 1966.[1] This assembly was
registered under its current name as cultural charitable
organization. In 1972, the church had between 60 and 80
members.[2]

In 1987, Samuel Peterschmitt succeeded his father as senior

pastor of the church.[3] This same year, the premises were
relocated to a former supermarket in Mulhouse, with a
capacity of 600 seats.[4]

In 1989, the church established its new premises in a former

supermarket with a capacity of 1,500 seats.[1] Location Mulhouse
Country France
In 1995, the sanctuary was enlarged to provide 1,900
Denomination Evangelicalism
seats.[4]
Website porte-ouverte.com (http
In 2005, 1,500 people were regularly attending the s://porte-ouverte.com/)
church.[5][6][7]
History
By 2010, about 4,000 people were watching the church's Founded 1966
broadcast of worship on the church's official site.[8] Founder(s) Jean Peterschmitt
Worships are broadcast by satellite in 37 countries and in
Clergy
Internet.[9]
Senior Samuel Peterschmitt
In 2015, the church had expansion work done in its building pastor(s)
to create a capacity of 2,500 seats.[10][11]

In 2017, the attendance had reached 2,200 people.[12]

In 2023, it had opened 8 campus in different cities in France,
Switzerland and Bulgaria.[13]

Beliefs
The beliefs of the church are shared with that of the Federation of Église Porte Ouverte Chrétienne
Full Gospel Churches in Francophonie, an evangelical charismatic building
denomination.[14]

Social programs
The church is involved in the city with humanitarian aid and, in
this, is recognized by the town hall; the church also provides school
support, clothing donation and administrative assistance.[15][16]

Philadelphia
The church choir and its pastor,
In 1999, the church created the Philadelphia Cultural Association Samuel Peterschmitt.
(Association Culturelle Philadelphie) which sells many books,
DVD and CD.[17]

Controversies
In the 1990s, the church was criticized by former members, their families, anti-cult associations and by the
Catholic Church. In 1993, the group "Religious Evolution and New Spiritualities" ("Évolution Religieuses
et Nouvelles Spiritualités"), led by the Catholic Church, added to the criticisms. Then, in 1996, the anti-cult
association CCMM, received the first complaints from former members. In 1999, Claude Omnibus, the
husband of a deceased follower, accused the movement of having killed his wife after her refusal of an
organ transplant, and created an association of victims named Association of Victims of the Christian Open
Door (Association des Victimes de la Porte Ouverte Chrétienne, AVIPOC).[18] He participated in many
television programs to warn against the COD, and was supported by the ADFI and CCMM, two anti-cult
associations (the CCMM asked the Mission interministérielle de vigilance et de lutte contre les dérives
sectaires to add the COD in the 1995 list of cults). The COD was described as "a dangerous cult" in a book
by two journalists[19] and in many press articles.[20] Activities of the group that are criticized include anti-
social speech, family breakdowns, false promises of healing which led to abandonment of medical
treatments, theological deviances and financial disclosures. Meanwhile, the COD sought support from
French Evangelical Association (Association Évangélique Française [AEF]) and unsuccessfully tried to
integrate the Protestant Federation of France.[21]

Pastor Peterschmitt and members denied these accusations when they were interviewed in the media.[22]
The pastor said his church was a victim of religious discrimination.[23]

Two sociologists who studied this church in 2002 rejected these criticisms and said in their conclusion that
any group might experience deviances.[24]

COVID-19
A gathering organised by the church in mid-February 2020 in Mulhouse and attended by about 2,000
faithful became a significant event in the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic across France. On 3 March,
seven local participants had tested positive for the virus;[25][26] [27] five returnees from the Mulhouse event
were confirmed positive in French Guiana on 4 March.[28] On 5 March a retired couple from Lot-et-
Garonne and another person from Deux-Sèvres who had attended the same gathering were declared
positive for the disease;[29] five new cases from this cluster were registered in Corsica,[30] and three more
in Normandy the same day.[31]

On 6 March, it was announced that 81 cases had been detected in the previous 24 hours in Mulhouse.[32]
The department of Haut Rhin, in which Mulhouse is situated, imposed strict limits on the gatherings; all
schools were closed henceforth.[33] Physical church services were suspended in favour of internet
worship.[25]

During the spring of 2020, the church received blame for the spread of the virus in France, and its pastor
and other members reported receiving threats.[34] However, a May 2020 study by a doctor at the Albert-
Schweitzer hospital in Colmar suggested that the impact of the church meeting had been overstated,
reporting that the virus had been present in the region since November 2019, and that the Church was
"only one link in the chain of virus transmission".[35]

See also
Evangelical
Christianity portal

List of the largest evangelical churches

List of the largest evangelical church auditoriums
Worship service (evangelicalism)

Sources
Willaime, Jean-Paul; Amiotte-Suchet, Laurent (October 2004). " " La pluie de l'Esprit " —
Étude sociologique d'une assemblée pentecôtiste mulhousienne: " Mission du Plein
Évangile. La Porte Ouverte Chrétienne " " (http://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/docs/00/12/49/02/P
DF/Willaime-Amiotte-Lapluiedelesprit-rapportFPF.pdf) (PDF) (in French). Groupe de
Sociologie des Religions et de la Laïcité. Retrieved 14 August 2009. {{cite journal}}:
Cite journal requires |journal= (help)

References
1. Sébastien Fath, Dieu XXL, la révolution des mégachurches, Édition Autrement, France,
2008, p. 151
2. Laurent Amiotte-Suchet, Jean-Paul Willaime, GSRL, hal.archives-ouvertes.fr, La pluie de
l’Esprit – Étude sociologique d’une assemblée pentecôtiste mulhousienne – Mission du
Plein Évangile. La Porte ouverte chrétienne (http://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/docs/00/12/49/02/
PDF/Willaime-Amiotte-Lapluiedelesprit-rapportFPF.pdf), France, 2004
3. Francis Messner, Anne-Laure Zwilling, Formation des cadres religieux en France: une
affaire d'Etat?, Labor et Fides, Genève, 2010, p. 96
4. Patrice de Plunkett, Les évangéliques à la conquête du monde, Éditions Perrin, France,
2009, p. 161
 5. Sébastien Fath, Du ghetto au réseau: Le protestantisme évangélique en France, 1800–
2005, Édition Labor et Fides, Genève, 2005, p. 221
6. Poiraud, Franck (2007). Les évangéliques dans la France du XXIe siècle (https://books.goo
gle.com/books?id=eoB2fHmTcaEC&pg=PA102) (in French). Edilivre. p. 102.
ISBN 9782356070326. Retrieved 17 August 2009.
7. Sauvaget, Bernadette. "Une Mega Church à la française" (https://web.archive.org/web/2008
1123201007/http://www.reforme.net/archive2/article.php?num=3099&ref=155). Réforme (in
French). Archived from the original (http://www.reforme.net/archive2/article.php?num=3099&
ref=155) on 23 November 2008. Retrieved 14 August 2009.
8. Baer, Sébastien (3 February 2010). "Le mouvement évangélique s'enracine en France" (htt
p://www.france-info.com/chroniques-le-plus-france-info-2010-02-03-le-mouvement-evangeli
que-s-enracine-en-france-399728-81-184.html) (in French). France Info. Retrieved
10 September 2010.
9. Emilie Blachere, parismatch.com, La vague évangélique (http://www.parismatch.com/Actu/S
ociete/religion-evangelistes-protestants-ile-de-france-culte-eglise-147326), France, 8
January 2010
10. Anne Ducellier, lalsace.fr, Une église évangélique de 7000 m² inaugurée à Mulhouse (http://
www.lalsace.fr/actualite/2015/05/10/une-eglise-evangelique-de-7000-m2-inauguree-a-mulh
ouse), France, 10 May 2015
11. AFP, leprogres.fr, Une «megachurch» évangélique inaugure ses locaux agrandis à
Mulhouse (http://www.leprogres.fr/france-monde/2015/05/09/une-megachurch-evangelique-i
naugure-ses-locaux-agrandis-a-mulhouse), France, 9 May 2015
12. Warren Bird, World megachurches (http://leadnet.org/world/), Leadership Network, USA.
Retrieved 29 October 2017
13. POC, Église filles (https://porte-ouverte.com/eglises-partenaires/), porte-ouverte.com,
France, retrieved October 2, 2023
14. William Kay, Anne Dyer, European Pentecostalism, BRILL, Leiden, 2011, p. 141
15. Élise Descamps, la-croix.com, A Mulhouse, 7 000 m2 pour célébrer Dieu (http://www.la-croi
x.com/Religion/Actualite/A-Mulhouse-7-000-m2-pour-celebrer-Dieu-2015-05-06-1309842),
France, 6 May 2015
16. Christian Open Door Church, Le social (http://www.porte-ouverte.com/jaime-mon-prochain/le
-social/), porte-ouverte.com website, France. Retrieved 31 October 2017
17. Laurent Amiotte-Suchet, Jean-Paul Willaime, GSRL, hal.archives-ouvertes.fr, La pluie de
l’Esprit – Étude sociologique d’une assemblée pentecôtiste mulhousienne – Mission du
Plein Évangile. La Porte ouverte chrétienne (http://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/docs/00/12/49/02/
PDF/Willaime-Amiotte-Lapluiedelesprit-rapportFPF.pdf), France, 2004, p. 59
18. "Les "miracles" de la POC – Fonds de commerce de cette enterprise familiale pentecôtiste:
la guérison divine. Des associations et une Église protestante parlent de dérives sectaires"
(https://web.archive.org/web/20100415053009/http://avipoc.org/presse/express.pdf) (PDF).
L'Express (in French). Archived from the original (http://www.avipoc.org/presse/express.pdf)
(PDF) on 15 April 2010. Retrieved 14 August 2009.
19. Stucki, Jean-Pierre. Les Sectes dans l'Est de la France (https://web.archive.org/web/201107
07081700/http://www.actu-sectarisme.com/IMG/pdf/l_etat_des_lieux_dans_l_Est_cle043a2
a.pdf) (PDF) (in French). Actu-sectarisme. p. 8. Archived from the original (http://www.actu-se
ctarisme.com/IMG/pdf/l_etat_des_lieux_dans_l_Est_cle043a2a.pdf) (PDF) on 7 July 2011.
Retrieved 14 August 2009.
20. "Porte ouverte aux excès – D'anciens fidèles de la Porte ouverte chrétienne évoquent des
dérives sectaires" (https://web.archive.org/web/20040910193511/http://cuej.u-strasbg.fr/arch
ives/ndi/ndi_pdf/ndi49.pdf) (PDF) (in French). News d'Ill. September 1999. p. 4. Archived
from the original (http://cuej.u-strasbg.fr/archives/ndi/ndi_pdf/ndi49.pdf) (PDF) on 10
September 2004. Retrieved 14 August 2009.
21. Willaime, Amiotte-Suchet, 2004, pp. 128–63.
22. Naegelen, Lucien (21 April 1996). "Le supermarché de Dieu" (https://web.archive.org/web/2
0100415052321/http://avipoc.org/presse/Alsace-21-04-1996.pdf) (PDF). Alsace (in French).
Archived from the original (http://www.avipoc.org/presse/Alsace-21-04-1996.pdf) (PDF) on
15 April 2010. Retrieved 14 August 2009.
23. Kounkou, Dominique; Poulat, Émile (2005). Les discriminations religieuses en France:
situation à partir des églises... (https://books.google.com/books?id=jSMixh1Jl9wC&pg=PA8
5) L'Harmattan. pp. 85–90. ISBN 9782747562379. Retrieved 17 August 2009.
24. Willaime, Amiotte-Suchet, 2004, pp. 163-76.
25. "Mulhouse : sept cas de coronavirus après un rassemblement religieux à Bourtzwiller" (http
s://www.francebleu.fr/infos/sante-sciences/mulhouse-sept-cas-de-coronavirus-apres-un-rass
emblement-religieux-a-bourtzwiller-1583266509) [Mulhouse: seven cases of coronavirus
after a religious gathering in Bourtzwiller]. France Bleu (in French). 3 March 2020. Retrieved
3 March 2020.
26. "Alsace : Un médecin de Bernwiller contaminé par le coronavirus" (https://www.francebleu.f
r/infos/sante-sciences/alsace-un-medecin-de-bernwiller-contamine-par-le-coronavirus-1583
254571). 3 March 2020.
27. "DIRECT. Coronavirus : le CIO n'évoque "ni annulation ni report" des JO de Tokyo" (https://w
ww.lunion.fr/id136004/article/2020-03-04/direct-coronavirus-un-nouveau-foyer-de-contamina
tion-mulhouse) [DIRECT. Coronavirus: the IOC does not mention "neither cancellation nor
postponement" of the Tokyo Olympics]. Journal L'Union (in French). 4 March 2020.
Retrieved 20 March 2020.
28. Catherine Lama (4 March 2020). "Coronavirus : cinq cas à Saint-Laurent du Maroni" (https://l
a1ere.francetvinfo.fr/guyane/coronavirus-5-cas-saint-laurent-du-maroni-807139.amp)
[Coronavirus: five cases in Saint-Laurent du Maroni] (in French). Guyana: FranceTV.
Retrieved 20 March 2020.
29. "Coronavirus : deux cas confirmés en Lot-et-Garonne" (https://www.sudouest.fr/2020/03/05/c
oronavirus-deux-cas-confirmes-en-lot-et-garonne-7281373-10861.php) [Coronavirus: two
cases confirmed in Lot-et-Garonne]. SudOuest.fr (in French). Retrieved 5 March 2020.
30. "Trois premiers cas du nouveau coronavirus confirmés en Corse" (https://www.20minutes.fr/
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31. "Coronavirus EN DIRECT : Trois premiers cas dans les Hautes-Alpes… Les écoles ne
fermeront pas en cas de stade 3…" (https://www.20minutes.fr/monde/2732955-20200305-co
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32. Ronan Tsorière (6 March 2020). "Coronavirus : comment le Haut-Rhin et la ville de
Mulhouse font face à l'explosion de l'épidémie" (http://www.leparisien.fr/politique/coronaviru
s-comment-le-haut-rhin-et-la-ville-de-mulhouse-font-face-a-l-explosion-de-l-epidemie-06-03-
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33. Florence Grandon (6 March 2020). "Coronavirus dans le Haut-Rhin : la totalité des écoles,
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35. Emilie Blachère, Coronavirus : Le rassemblement évangélique de Mulhouse accusé à tort.
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evangelique-de-Mulhouse-accuse-a-tort-Nos-revelations-1686140), Paris Match, France, 30
May 2020

External links
Porte Ouverte Chrétienne, official site (https://porte-ouverte.com/)
Porte Ouverte Chrétienne de Strasbourg, official site (http://web.me.com/schelskemichael/w
ww.porte-ouverte-strasbourg.com/Bienvenue.html)
Association sportive de la Porte Ouverte Chrétienne, official site (http://aspoc.free.fr/)
AVIPOC, official site (http://www.avipoc.org/) Archived (https://web.archive.org/web/2009100
9081741/http://www.avipoc.org/) 9 October 2009 at the Wayback Machine

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