Church History

In the summer of 1966, the Lord led an American missionary named A. Sommerville to start the first Baptist Church in Perpignan, France. A small group of Christians quickly formed, gathering together to listen to the Bible teaching. Several French pastors took care of the church during the years that followed. In the 1980’s J.A. Delpuech became the pastor of the church.

In 1999, he welcomed a Bible student, David Sauvage, as his assistant pastor. One year later, Pastor Delpuech started to take care of another church in Limoges, a central region of France. He went to Limoges three week-ends every month, leaving the young assistant pastor in charge of the Perpignan church. During the fourth weekend, Pastor Delpuech would come back to Perpignan and David Sauvage would go to Limoges. These trips lasted for about one and a half years before Pastor Delquech finally decided to stay in Limoges.

The members of the Central Baptist Church voted David Sauvage as their pastor in 2002. The same year David met a young American missionary, Kimberly Graham, who had come to help the Knickerbocker family in the Christian Camp Rainbow. David and Kimberly were married one year later and started serving the Lord together in the Perpignan church. The church has slowly grown in the years that followed.