Christelle comes from Mus, a small village located between Nîmes and Montpellier, at the gates of the Camargue. She grew up in a Christian and committed environment. Her father was a pastor before becoming a marriage and family counselor. He specializes in Christian counseling and training with Protestant churches. Her older sister is a theologian and Bible translator. When she was a child, her parents had opened a small Christian bookstore in Clermont-Ferrand, adjoining their church. “At home, she says, we were surrounded by books. My mother is a very big reader, she was a proofreader in the world of publishing. For her, working in the middle of the book was almost normal.
At the service of the Church in the world
Being a bookseller in a religious bookstore has a lot of meaning for Christelle. “It’s my way of serving the Church and my contemporaries,” she says with a big smile. This job allows her to be open to the outside world and to testify in the city. Christelle wants to serve all Protestant Churches that share the same vision as the Protestant Federation of France. “I like the diversity of the people I meet and the opinions expressed, she says, even if sometimes I don’t agree with everything that is written. » Christelle and her colleagues display their stands at synods, conferences, congresses and church festivals. It is an important part of their activity and a way for them to get closer to clients and parishes. Meeting the pastor, the young people with a Culture pass, the believer for a week or thirty years, from a Lutheran-Reformed background or from an Evangelical Church, in the bookstore or outside, is a great pleasure for her. “I like my work in the bookstore because it is varied and I like this variety”, she concludes!
With committed faith
For four years, Christelle has been involved in the association A place for them. The purpose of this association is to raise awareness of domestic violence. For the record, a woman is killed every two days in France, under the blows of her spouse or ex-spouse. This association wants to make visible, by a symbolic gesture, the place that should have been occupied by this woman who is no longer there, by covering a chair with a red fabric. “We can do this operation in all public places. Moreover, she says, I had the opportunity to set up this chair during regional or national synods of the United Protestant Church of France, of the Congress of Baptist Churches, or in my bookstore. Christelle’s commitment began at a very young age. First, in the scout movement of the Evangelical Baptist Church of Nîmes, where his uncle was pastor. Then, in colonies for about fifteen years, as a participant and then as an instructor, after having passed her BAFA. Since her youth, Christelle has had a great sensitivity to injustice. “My parents gave me this taste for activism. They themselves are very committed to the fight against sexual and spiritual abuse within the Churches. »
Faced with large websites and their promises of fast delivery, Christelle and her colleagues want to provide something else: advice and reception. The Internet and social networks allow them to maintain this plus, by being active and keeping in touch with their customers. They want to keep an open and committed editorial line.
Christelle Poujol, director of the Protestant bookstore 7ici and committed – Regards protestants