Lifesprings LSM-Zoe Lyon Leadership training school

NEW EVENT

We are pleased to invite you to join us for a Lifesprings Training Day which will take place at Espace Bancel on Saturday 25th November 2023.

The programme for the day will be:

  • Morning: Rhythm of Life Diana Anton (Lifesprings International) (Teaching in English)
  • Afternoon: Peace Amid Conflict Training Theresa Anderson (Lifesprings France) (Teaching in French)

There are no prerequisites for participation in these sesssions.

You can register now for this event on the Helloasso website (Registration for Lifesprings Day). Do not let financial problems prevent you from participating, please contact us if you need financial support. Alternatively if you would like to help others attend, you can include a donation to Lifesprings France when signing up. We will use donations to provide sponsorship where needed.


A number of our members are actively involved in this ministry. Read on for the full story, including details of the School of Ministry run here at TCL from 2021 to 2023.

It all began in 2006 in Grenoble, France, when an American missionary who felt deeply in need of fellowship with women started a bible study, which grew to include a weekend retreat for English-speaking women. The first retreat was held in Lyon in May 2007, attended by 70 women from all over Europe. It was there the first retreat speaker Janice Gutierrez caught the vision, and Lifesprings International was born.

Before Lifesprings, Janice had been involved with The School for Women in Ministry (SWM) in her home state of California, a school developed by Pamela Heim. Pamela was a former director of Women’s Ministries of the Baptist General Conference, U.S. (now called Converge International). In her position as director, Pamela observed that even good leaders often felt inadequately prepared for ministry leadership. Many of the women expressed a desire to take college or seminary courses, but it was not always possible for them due to family responsibilities, time, and financial constraints. Pamela believed that if the church was to fulfil Christ’s mission, women needed help to become more confident and competent in ministry. In 1997, SWM was born as a leadership and personal ministry training program for women. It was designed to provide a solid academic program of practical course work in a way that was accessible, affordable, and immediately applicable to ministry. SWM has now trained thousands of women throughout the U.S. and Canada for ministry.

In 2008, Janice suggested that Lifesprings bring the School to women in Europe. Pamela Heim gave her whole-hearted approval and blessing to Lifesprings and a Lifesprings School of Ministry (LSM) was born. The first school (called Formation Zoé in French) was held in Grenoble, France from 2009-2011. Since then, we have held schools in:

  • Zurich, Switzerland: 2012-2014,
  • Geneva, Switzerland: 2014-2016,
  • Grenoble, France (in French): 2014-2016,
  • Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia: 2017-2019.
  • Edmonton and BC, Canada 2019-2021;
  • Kampala, Uganda 2021-2023

Lifesprings’ goal is to see women become spiritually and emotionally whole and mature, living lives which testify to their faith, responding compassionately to a suffering world, and impacting their communities with the love of God. Our church community has been actively involved with Lifesprings throughout the years, from attending the retreats to sponsoring women for various schools.

Currently, a number of us are involved in running LSM-Zoe Lyon, the first bilingual French-English school which began on 6th November 2021.

As in previous schools, this teaching has developed in its present form (6 Saturdays over 18 months) in order to allow students to participate without disrupting their family and professional life. The themes for the first 3 days of teaching were:

  • 6/11/2021: God and His Daughters in Biblical and Spiritual History (Mary Cotes and Lula Deroeux, www.servirensemble.com) – an overview of women characters in the bible and in spiritual history.
  • 29/01/2022: Spiritual Formation and Transformation (Anne and Louis Schweitzer) – the stages of the spiritual life ; Organisational Principles and a Rhythm of Life (Daphne Clifton)
  • 19/3/2022: The characteristics of servant-leaders (Janice Gutierrez); Seeking God’s will together – building Kingdom Ministry teams (Gudrun Reeves)

The second session started in November 2022 and was completed in March 2023. The themes for the second 3 days of teaching were:

  • 19/11/2023: Bible Study Methods (Brother John of Taizé); Peace Amidst Conflict Training (Theresa Anderson of Lifesprings)
  • 28/01/2023: Evangelism – Good News for the World (Carole Chomel); Healthy People Helping (Kim Platt)
  • 25/03/2023: Your Story Matters (Leslie Leyland Fields); Making Disciples (Pierre Ledent); Helping Followers of Jesus Grow (Elspeth Burrell)

More events are already being planned. Look out for details of sessions planned for 25th November 2023.

All sessions are now held at 50 rue Bancel, 69007 Lyon