Luxemborg

Grand Duchy of Luxembourg

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Among the smallest countries of Europe is the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg. Nestled between France, Belgium and Germany, Luxembourg occupies and area of about 2,600 sq km (1000 sq miles) and boasts a population of about 430,000. Beginning in the tenth century Luxembourg was a part of the Holy Roman Empire, before becoming an independent duchy in 1354. While one of hundreds of such states in the medieval period, today Luxembourg is the only one to have survived as an independent nation. It has long been the object of European desire for land acquisition and successively came under Austrian, Spanish, French and Dutch rule. During both world wars it was occupied by Germany. Luxembourg has been an advocate of European cooperation and was the first to ratify the Maastricht Treaty in 1991. Grand Duke Henri I is the constitutional monarch; the Chamber of Deputies is the nation’s single legislative body.

One third of the country is covered in dense forests, known as the Ardennes. The southern two-thirds consist of rich soils known as the Gutland, which is still largely agricultural. The cattle and hog population number in the millions, an important segment of the agricultural industry. Iron and steel, as well as chemical manufacturing and food processing are important industries. Banking heads Luxembourg’s growing service economy, which is one of the strongest in Europe and the world.

The Grand Duchy is strongly Roman Catholic with only three percent of the population claiming either Protestant or Jewish traditions.

Sometime since 1990 Foy Smith and Russell Bell of the American a cappella Churches of Christ, together with several other workers, conducted a gospel campaign in Luxembourg that succeeded in locating and bringing together three expatriate families to constitute a Church of Christ. These families were: the Paul Maxwells and the Mark Householders of the United States and the Ross Simons of New Zealand. The Gospel campaign team distributed thousands of notices advertising the campaign and offers for Bible correspondence courses. The congregation in Bitburg, Germany later began sending someone to Luxembourg on a weekly basis to encourage the small group.

Clinton J. Holloway
National Profiles Editor
May 2004

For further historical reference:

Churches of Christ Around the World, Lynn, Mac, 21st Century Christian Publications, Nashville, TN, 2003.

Contact Information

For online directories of a cappella Churches of Christ see:
Website: http://www.churchzip.com/otherdirectories.htm