The protestant Seventh-day Adventist Church celebrated in Paris the official opening of the "House of Hope". This is the new spiritual and cultural center for more than 8.000 000 adult baptised Adventist Christians, living in the Northern part of France.

During the opening ceremony, November 27, the deputy Mayor of Paris, Mr. Jean Tibeiri, said, "It's good that a church like yours is open to society. It's a good thing to have created such a cultural and spiritual center, and I am delighted that a house like yours is situated in the Latin Quarter of the 5th district of Paris."

Purchased in 2005, the "House of Hope" facility was reconstructed in order to comply with regulations for public buildings and allow access to people with disabilities. The cost for the purchase and reconstruction of the "House of Hope" totaled 3 million Euros. The money was supplied from the building funds of the North France Conference and a special offering given by 20 million Adventists around the world.

The "House of Hope" is a meeting place to promote cultural diversity and help people discover the ways of God and of other people. Every Satrurday (the biblical Sabbath), four different Adventist congregations will share the facilities: the French speaking Church of Hope, the Romanian church, the Portuguese church and the Hispanic church. Also a Baptist congregation will rent the facilities on Sunday mornings. Each of these congregations has 80-100 members. The building has room for over 300 visitors. During weekends, the center will offer a variety of biblical, social, educational and health programs in collaboration of a variety of partners.

The minister of the Baptist community that will use the center, Roger Abotsivia, expressed his hope that other similar "Houses of Hope" will be erected in France and also thanked the center's director, Philippe Leduc, for leading this initiative in the heart of Paris.

The President of the Adventist church in the Euro-Africa region, Bruno Vertallier, stated, "We want to live together with Christian hope in the heart of the city instead of with the stress that our society usually suffers."

On November 28, Adventist pastors of the Paris region gathered at the center for a religious ceremony. Officials from the Euro-Africa Division of Seventh-day Adventists, Franco-Belgian Union and North France Conference presented messages of exhortation and gratitude, and the "Crescendo" choir and others performed musical selections.

The Seventh-day Adventist Church is member of the Protestant Federation of France (FPF).