A Walk of Faith toward the City of Light
By: Alfonso Sjogreen
Tags: Faith, Church, Fatherhood, Christianity, Paris

On a chilly December morning in the 10th arrondissement of Paris, I met my good friend and pastor Emmanuel (he goes by “Manny”) to discuss his faith journey and how that led him from his native Sydney to the city of light. We agreed to meet at Republique of Coffee, a restaurant that feels like you’ve entered a coffee shop in Los Angeles. We had French toast (we’re in France so I suppose we can simply call it “toast” — his joke, not mine). Before beginning the interview, we caught up on the latest. He listened to me lament for a solid hour about the tragic woes a 33-year-old grad student endures. And like the amazing person and pastor he is, he listened intently, nodded, empathized, and gave sound advice. Finally, we began the interview.

“We grew up in Sydney. My mother is a woman of faith, my grandmother is a woman of faith. I had faith at a young age. We went to church when I was younger. I really believed that there were big seeds of faith and in my heart at a young age.” A very integral part of Hastings’s life, Christianity is the largest religion in Australia and is also home to well-known churches such as Hillsong and C3 Church Global.

And though he came from a Christian household, at some point he and his mother had stopped attending church, yet still very much believed. In his teenage years life took him in another direction. He didn’t entirely lose his faith, but he did lose focus somehow, which happens to so many of us. It led to a lifestyle of partying and things of the like, which ultimately led to some drug abuse.

“The city was amazing, I felt very comfortable here…I felt like I found my style and rhythm of life.”

“It was at that point I wanted to leave Sydney because the problem was not me, the problem was the people I was around,” as he chuckles recalling the naivety of this youth. He had always loved Paris, for some reason. So, in search of a new life and even himself, he left Sydney for the French capital at 20 years old.

Aside from always wanting to move to the city of lights, his biological father, whom he had never met, also lived in France. He arrived and immediately felt at home. “The city was amazing, I felt very comfortable here…I felt like I found my style and rhythm of life.” And thankfully he finally reconnected with his father.

This feeling of home, it seemed, was maybe not enough, as soon after he found himself again in a similar lifestyle as that in Sydney. It was in this season of loneliness and desperation that he was somehow reminded of not only his faith upbringing but what that could mean for him as an adult. He engaged in various conversations and even streamed some YouTube clips, sometimes sending him down a “rabbit hole,” but in a positive way, of course. He visited an established church, Hillsong Paris, not long after. And after arriving home that evening, he had a moment of realization of God’s omnipresence, which led to a heart-to-heart moment directly with Him.

“God, if you’re there, Jesus, if you’re there, I want to know you. And I’m sorry for the way I’m living my life.” Upon doing so he felt a physical presence in his home, one he hadn’t felt––and maybe longed for––in a very long time. This spurred his heart to share this experience with his then-girlfriend, now wife, Emily (she goes by “Em”). She was ambivalent after coming to church with him while visiting from London. But over the course of time, she had an encounter and came to believe herself. Eventually they both moved back to Sydney where he attended his church’s bible college for 3 years, studying ministry and theology.

During this time, Em was studying design and got a promising, but unpaid, three-month internship in New York City. Encouraging her to go, Manny stayed behind to work to support them both. Her internship later turned into a job opportunity, which allowed them to be reunited and to begin a new chapter of their lives in New York.

“I always saw myself as someone who would support ministry and support pastors…I was very timid and shy. I never thought I could become a pastor.”

Interestingly, their home church of C3 was in the process of planting an extension in Brooklyn led by two friends of theirs who were also from Sydney, Josh and Georgie Kelsey. Naturally they began volunteering and hosted dinner parties, which are small weekly gatherings where people connect around food, and often pray or read the word together. Life seemed to be going well, and though they had a newfound rhythm with a community of believers and a steady income in one of the world’s most expensive cities, Paris kept tugging at Manny’s heart. It was a feeling he could never quite shake, even before moving to New York.

Soon after he spotted his name on the speaking schedule to give a short message around the church’s tithes and offerings. “I always saw myself as someone who would support ministry and support pastors…I was very timid and shy. I never thought I could become a pastor.” But this proved to be a positive encouragement for him as it put him in an uncomfortable, yet necessary position of overcoming this fear — it allowed him to step outside of what he was used to and into something more.

All the while thriving in a new city and position, Paris was still on his heart. In 2016 he brought it to Josh’s attention, explaining the possibility of starting a C3 branch in Paris, though he admitted to not even being ready to lead such an endeavor. But he humbly asked his pastor to help nurture that desire if he felt it was from God. Josh’s response was, “great. Noted. Let’s let it die for now.” Though on the surface it sounds harsh and cutting, it was the complete opposite. Manny used the example of Mary reflecting on the words spoken over her newborn son Jesus’s life, as read in the book of Luke. “It says in the scriptures that Mary pondered these things in her heart. It’s just keeping things between you and God. Because if it’s a thing of God, you won’t be able to stop it. You just have to let it come to the surface.”

The next day, Manny got word from his family in Sydney that his mother suffered a severe brain aneurysm leaving her in a comatose state. During that season he read the story of Lazarus in the gospel of John. Like many of us, he believes in miracles, signs and wonders and that God can change things in an instant. But over time as her condition remained the same, he developed a new understanding of that story. Though it is about a physical resurrection, it is more so an illustration about the truth of the resurrecting nature of Jesus and the hope of a resurrection for every believer at the end of life. So, either way, the promise still stands of seeing her again.

He flew home to be with her and upon returning found that he had been rostered for the next few weeks to preach full 30-minute sermons, which took him aback. But he was faithful with this new responsibility, and was later given a bigger one: location pastor of the new Manhattan campus. He asked pastor Josh, “One: what is a location pastor? And two, I think you’re making a terrible mistake.” He laughs as he shares this story. But he ultimately agreed, and he saw the church grow exponentially shortly after. “Pastoring has never felt comfortable, but it’s always felt right.”

Three years later, to Manny and Em’s surprise, Josh and Georgie Kelsey initiated plans to launch global C3 locations, Paris being one of the first. And without hesitation, they immediately thought of Manny and Em.“They had Paris on their hearts, and we had Paris still on our hearts. It’s like God was weaving a beautiful tapestry of lives together.”

They finally began to make plans for services and events in Paris. Through short trips to Paris they started to gather and foster a close-knit community of believers who would call C3NYC Paris home, but those plans were obviously and unfortunately interrupted by the Covid-19 pandemic. To add to the stress, his US visa expired and it could not be renewed because the embassies were closed. His only option was to either return to his native Australia or move to France, as he has citizenship here as well. In July, he and Em moved to France to try to begin the community again while also handling some pastoral duties back in the US.

Sometime later, Manny felt strong impressions to read portions of scripture that specifically had to do with boats — the book of Jonah, Jesus walking on water and him sleeping on the boat, and others. Then 10 weeks later, his brother-in-law, William Mainprize, was lost at sea along with 38 others during the capsizing of a ship off the coast of Japan. Though two people survived out of a crew of 43, the ship was never recovered. It forced them to return to Australia for 5 months, where they organized a media campaign and crowdfunded a private search-and-rescue. $250,000 was raised, but to no avail. “That really kicked us in the guts and we’re still feeling the ramifications of that.”

A part of him wishes God made those impressions clearer, if in fact they had something to do directly with William’s disappearance. “But what I found comfort in was the fact that my spirit was prepared for the storm I was about to enter into. It’s made me realize that our intuitions aren’t as random as we feel at times, and that following God is not a life void of pain.”

“The church should be beautiful and diverse because heaven is beautiful and diverse.”

Afterward, he and Em returned to Paris in early 2021 in middle of confinement to again begin the endeavor of church planting. Building a church in a secular nation with a history and tradition of Catholicism is an interesting notion. “I have a lot of respect for the Catholic traditions in France. I don’t want to be some sort of external cowboy pointing the finger at structures.” Though churches like C3 have a different expression of worship, the church is not here to shame or disregard what’s been held important for so long. C3 is here to simply be part of the story of bringing Christ to Paris.

“I come here humbly, but also knowing that there is maybe a part of society whose heart is closed off to the way faith is expressed.” The outward expression may look different for the sake of comfortability, but core message is always the same. Two languages telling the same story. “Jesus’s mission was conformity of character, not conformity of expression. The church should be beautiful and diverse because heaven is beautiful and diverse. I praise God for the catholic church here because we’re all brothers and sisters in it.” Overall, C3 has a calling to preach the gospel to all nations and encourage people to commit to following Christ.

Last September, his wife Em gave birth to a little boy, Oslo. He initially thought that having a child would take so much from him––time, energy, which it does require. “But it doesn’t take anything. You actually have more love to give and it’s so indicative of who God is to us.” Precious moments like watching Oslo fall asleep in his arms reminds him of the love of God because there is nothing we have to do for Him to love us. “Oslo doesn’t have to be anyone or perform in anyway. He just is. It’s such micro example of the love God has for his children through Christ. But ultimately, it’s up to us as to whether we receive it or not.”

Paris, for Manny, is also a special place when it comes to fatherhood. “It’s where I met my biological father, encountered my Heavenly father, and became a father.”

Interestingly enough, I visited C3NYC back in 2017 and met Manny only once outside of the venue for less than 5 minutes. We never saw each other again. But like the beautiful tapestry of life as Manny described, five years later life brought us back together on the other side of the world. I now have the privilege of calling him my pastor and friend. Catching up with Manny is always a joy and brings refreshment to my mind and soul. I look forward to having “toast” with him again soon.