Quick Facts:

Languages: German, French, Italian, Rheto-Roman
Religion:
Christian 86.56%
non-Religious 8.2%
Muslim 3.1%
Time Zone: GMT +1 hours
Currency: Franc
Population: 7.5 Million
Income/person/year: $26,270
Urban population: 73%

Overview:

The great reformers, Calvin and Zwingli, expounded the truths of Scripture in this land, but few today have any interest or understanding of what real Christianity is. Wealth, comfort, indifference and a vague religiosity have become the norm. The socio-politico upheavals towards the end of the 20th Century stirred an uncertainty and identity crisis in the hearts of many, but it is the occult and eastern religions that the younger generation is exploring. Many baptized as children no longer retain any church link, and enrolled membership of Protestants and Catholics has halved in 30 years. Lack of clergy in the Catholic Church and widespread espousal of liberal and neo-orthodox ideas in many of the Cantonal Reformed Churches have sapped the spirituality of many congregations.

The Swiss Evangelical Alliance, Free Churches and other agencies are working on a renewed vision for the evangelization of Switzerland. Research in 1998 revealed many hundreds of towns and villages without a resident evangelical congregation. The national Federation of Free Evangelical Churches set a similar goal for the country and is growing at 6% a year. The International Christian Fellowship has grown through multiplying cell churches. In the Catholic cantons, predominantly in the south and center of the country, the small evangelical witness is growing; centuries-old prejudices and religious polarizations are breaking down.

Switzerland has many evangelical theological schools, but the number of students is declining. The German-speaking evangelical churches of Switzerland have sent out more than 1,000 missionaries. A strong, growing prayer movement that is raising expectancy for revival — 3 national 40-day fasts have been held, and the 24-7 prayer movement is gaining momentum among young people.
 

We have developed a partnership with the Geneva Bible Institute to implement distance learning courses in the French language. These courses will be used throughout the entire French-speaking world. To see what else GEM is doing in Switzerland click here.

For more demographic information on Switzerland click here