Christian Open Door Church
Charismatic megachurch linked to a major COVID-19 cluster.
Headquartered in Mulhouse, the Christian Open Door Church is a charismatic evangelical megachurch with multiple sites. It ranks as France’s second-largest Evangelical church, counting over 2,200 attendees. Samuel Peterschmitt serves as its senior pastor. The church belongs to the Federation of Full Gospel Churches in Francophonie and the National Council of Evangelicals of France.
Quick Facts
- Denomination
- Evangelicalism, charismatic
- Founded
- 1966
- Founder
- Jean Peterschmitt
- Location
- Mulhouse
- Country
- France
Facts from the source article.
History
The church was officially founded in Mulhouse in 1966 by Suzanne and Jean Peterschmitt and registered as a cultural charitable organization. By 1972 it had 60 to 80 members. Samuel Peterschmitt succeeded his father as senior pastor in 1987, the same year the congregation moved to a former supermarket with 600 seats. A larger former supermarket with 1,500 seats was acquired in 1989, and the sanctuary was expanded to 1,900 seats in 1995. Regular attendance reached 1,500 in 2005, and by 2010 about 4,000 people watched the church's broadcast online. Expansion in 2015 created 2,500 seats, and attendance was 2,200 in 2017. By 2023 the church had opened eight campuses in France, Switzerland and Bulgaria.
Controversies
In the 1990s the church faced criticism from former members, their families, anti-cult associations, and the Catholic Church. In 1993 the group "Religious Evolution and New Spiritualities" added to the criticisms, and in 1996 the anti-cult association CCMM received complaints from former members. In 1999 Claude Omnibus, whose wife had died after refusing an organ transplant, accused the movement of causing her death and founded the Association of Victims of the Christian Open Door. He appeared on television with support from ADFI and CCMM, which asked that the church be added to the 1995 list of cults. The church was described as a dangerous cult in a book and press articles. Criticized activities included anti-social speech, family breakdowns, false promises of healing leading to abandonment of medical treatment, theological deviances, and financial disclosures. The church sought support from the French Evangelical Association and tried unsuccessfully to join the Protestant Federation of France. Pastor Peterschmitt and members denied the accusations, with the pastor claiming religious discrimination. Two sociologists who studied the church in 2002 rejected the criticisms, concluding that any group might experience deviances.
COVID-19
A church event in Mulhouse in mid-February 2020, drawing roughly 2,000 attendees, later became a notable factor in France's COVID-19 outbreak. By March 3, seven local participants had tested positive. The next day, five people returning from the gathering were confirmed infected in French Guiana. On March 5, a retired couple from Lot-et-Garonne and another person from Deux-Sèvres who had attended were declared positive, while five new cases linked to the event appeared in Corsica and three more in Normandy. The following day, 81 cases were reported in Mulhouse within 24 hours. Haut Rhin responded by restricting large gatherings and closing all schools. The church shifted to online services. Blame for the virus's spread fell on the church, leading to threats against its pastor and members. However, a May 2020 study by a Colmar hospital doctor argued that the meeting's role was exaggerated, noting the virus had been circulating in the region since November 2019 and that the church was "only one link in the chain of virus transmission."
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