HISTORY

It all started in 1986 when a small group of Christians, who mainly attended Holy Trinity Church in Geneva, met regularly for prayer and Bible study in the La Côte region. Encouraged by Fr. Sunipa Tevi, Assisting Priest at Holy Trinity, they realized that there were a good number of them scattered along the shores of the lake Léman and that there could be scope for more.  Thanks to their efforts, La Côte has grown into the church family we have today, with two worshipping centres in Gingins, Switzerland and in neighbouring France at Divonne-les-Bains.

The first Anglican service was held in the Temple de Trelex, Vaud, in November 1986, and thereafter at the larger church at Gingins. Mervyn Puleston, the chaplain of Holy Trinity, Geneva at that time, conducted the services which were held once a month, later moving to two services a month. We maintained our close links with Holy Trinity, supported by succeeding chaplains, who all helped us towards our goal of becoming an independent congregation led by our own chaplain. This was achieved in 2003, and by that time we were holding weekly services in Gingins.

Our first La Côte chaplaincy council and churchwardens were elected and our first chaplain – Paul Holley – was appointed in October 2003. In 2005, a second congregation was established at Divonne. This demonstrated the efforts of Paul Holley and the dynamic Christian faith in the lives of many who have attended.  Julia Chambeyron, who was ordained deacon in 2006 and priest in 2007, became assistant chaplain and the two congregations each ran a lively Sunday Club for our youngsters. The first of our four youth interns arrived in 2004. They helped with the development of our work with young people together with many other dedicated volunteers from both congregations.

In 2010 a new Constitution was adopted and La Côte finally achieved the status of an independent chaplaincy within the Diocese in Europe. After Paul left in 2010 to follow another career direction, Carolyn Cooke was appointed chaplain. Julia Chambeyron continued to be assistant chaplain of La Côte for several years but eventually had to withdraw from this role due to illness.

In June 2024, Betty Talbot, a member of La Côte Church, was ordained at the diocesan pro-Cathedral in Brussels. A year later (July 2025) Betty was priested at La Côte and now serves as a non-stipendiary chaplain.

During the past 15 years, La Côte Anglican Church has greatly increased its support for asylum seekers and has become involved in a variety of caritative activities with local organizations – such as a foodbank in Nyon, Switzerland, and a charity for the very poor in France. We have also extended the number of church buildings to which we have access in the region. Our church is a family, not a building. In fact, we do not own any of the buildings in which we meet. Rather, we have arrangements with the Evangelical Reformed Church of the Canton of Vaud[1] in Switzerland and the United Protestant Church of France[2]to use their local church buildings regularly for our own services and celebrations.

The area we serve has no major city. It lies between Geneva and Lausanne, both of which have their own Anglican churches. Our area consists of small towns (such as Nyon in Switzerland and Divonne-les-Bains in France) and many picturesque villages (each with its own auberge) where many English-speaking people live.

Today, 40 years after we began, La Côte Anglican Church, is well-known in the region. We are a founding member of the Federation of Anglican Churches in the Canton de Vaud, which has recently been formally recognized by the cantonal government.[3] This gives the six Anglican member churches, and one Old Catholic church, an official status vis-à-vis the Vaud authorities (which was not the case pre-Brexit).