Monnier, Eric Philippe (1952–2012)

Eric Philippe Monnier was a pastor, educator, and administrator. He carried out multiple roles during his ministry, serving in different areas and in locations far from his home country, dedicating more than three decades to the Adventist work.¹

Family

Eric was the son of Samuel (1926-2004)² and Yvonne Monnier³, and was born on July 26, 1952, in Paris, France.⁴ Samuel and Yvonne had two more children, Yves and Elisabeth, and were missionaries fully dedicated to the Adventist work, with Samuel being an ordained pastor. They served in many locations and preached God’s word in different contexts. Born into this environment, Eric inherited a family legacy of service to God and was raised in an actively Christian Adventist home. Samuel Monnier even served at the General Conference as an associate in Lay Activities and Sabbath School, while Yvonne worked as a licensed missionary and teacher at the then-Home Study Institute in Washington, D.C., United States.⁵

Education and Marriage

Eric began his education in Haiti and Martinique before completing high school in Brazil and France.⁶ During his time in Brazil, he had his first contact with missionary boats (with which he would work in the future) when he accompanied his father for two weeks on the Paranaguá River. At the university level, Monnier studied Theology, Pedagogy, and Administration at the Adventist University of France (Campus Adventiste du Salève), graduating in 1976. During this time, he met his wife, Françoise Massard, whom he married in September 1975.⁷ He later earned a Master of Divinity degree from Andrews University, located in Michigan, United States.⁸

Ministry and Personal Life

Eric Monnier began his ministry in Brazil in October 1976 aboard the Luzeiro XIV, serving for about three years along the Amazon River as a pilot, mechanic, and pastor. During this time, he and his wife recorded in their travel diary that they extracted more than 32,000 teeth, while also preaching, building churches, and providing a range of training programs.⁹ After this experience, Eric joined the Central Amazon Mission, where he took over the departments of Missionary Activities, Social Assistance, and Sabbath School in addition to the Voice of Prophecy course. On August 23, 1980, he was ordained to the ministry.¹⁰ In 1988 he became its president, a position he held until 1993.¹¹ While still serving as president, Eric Monnier also worked with the Maranhão Mission from 1994 to 1995, thus concluding his ministry in Brazil.¹²

Beginning his international ministry in 1996, Eric became president of the Bolivian Union, taking on the leadership of the Seventh-day Adventist Church throughout the country.¹³ During his time in Bolivia, the Church experienced significant growth, reaching for the first time in its history the milestone of more than 20,000 baptisms in a single year, in 2006.¹⁴ After 11 years in Bolivia, Monnier accepted another international call, becoming president of the Bangladesh Union Mission in South Asia. In addition to serving as president, he also held the position of Religious Liberty and Public Affairs director, serving there from 2008 to 2011.¹⁵

Eric Monnier and his wife, Françoise, adopted two children: Valerie and Gabriel.¹⁶ Françoise was very active throughout her years of service, working in the medical field while on the Amazon River, where she cared for hundreds of people aboard the Luzeiro. ¹⁷ She later served in the Bolivian Union, leading Women’s Ministries and Health Ministries,¹⁸ and in the Bangladesh Union Mission, where she held several responsibilities, including Children’s Ministries, Family Ministries, and Health Ministries.¹⁹ In addition to supporting the mission work both in the field and at the union level, Françoise also wrote an article for Afam magazine entitled Experiences at the Leprosy Hospital (Experiências Vividas no Leprosário), in which she recounted one of her many missionary experiences.²⁰

Final Years and Legacy

Eric Philippe Monnier retired after 35 years of service in the Adventist Church, during which he worked in three different countries, held several positions, and was regarded by his peers and colleagues as a dedicated and selfless leader.²¹ For example, as reported by the then-treasurer of the Bangladesh Union, much of the office furniture, including computers, was donated by Eric.²² He often highlighted the unity of his family as a great source of support, especially the encouragement provided by his wife.²³ Shortly after his retirement, Eric died from cancer and was laid to rest on January 22, 2012, in Collonges-sous-Salève, France.²⁴

Sources

Bignoot, Élisabeth Van. “Hommage à Samuel Monnier.” Adventiste Revue, no. 1714 (September 2004).

Cozzi, Corrado; Costello, Teresa. “Remembrance: Monnier, 59, leaves legacy of mission service.” ANN. Available at https://adventist.news/news/remembrance-monnier-59-leaves-legacy-of-mission-service. Accessed on February 19, 2025.

“Memória.” Revista Adventista, 107, no. 1246 (March 2012).

“M. MONNIER Eric Philippe.” Décès en France. Available at https://www.deces-en-france.fr/resultats/20202051-monnier-eric-philippe. Accessed on February 19, 2025.

Monnier, Françoise. “Experiências Vividas no Leprosário.” Revista Afam, no. 23 (July -September 2006).

Satelmajer, Nikolaus. “An interview with church leaders in southern Asia.” Ministry, 82, no. 10 (October 2010).

“Separado para o Ministério.” Revista Adventista, 75, no. 11 (November 1980).

Seventh-day Adventist Yearbook, various years. https://www.adventistyearbook.org/.

Notes

1. Corrado Cozzi; Teresa Costello, “Remembrance: Monnier, 59, leaves legacy of mission service,” ANN.↩

2. Élisabeth Van Bignoot, “Hommage à Samuel Monnier,” Adventiste Revue, no. 1714 (September 2004): 4.↩

3. Élisabeth Van, “Remembrance: Monnier, 59, leaves legacy of mission service,” ANN.↩

4. “M. MONNIER Eric Philippe.” Décès en France.↩

5. Seventh-day Adventist Yearbook (1980).↩

6. Corrado Cozzi; Teresa Costello, “Remembrance: Monnier, 59, leaves legacy of mission service,” ANN.↩

7. “Separado para o Ministério,” Revista Adventista, 75, no. 11 (November 1980): 36.↩

8. Corrado Cozzi; Teresa Costello, “Remembrance: Monnier, 59, leaves legacy of mission service,” ANN.↩

9. Ibid.↩

10. “Separado para o Ministério.” Revista Adventista, 75, no. 11 (November 1980): 36.↩

11. Seventh-day Adventist Yearbook (1988).↩

12. Seventh-day Adventist Yearbook (1994).↩

13. Seventh-day Adventist Yearbook (1996).↩

14. Dan Serns. “20,000 new Adventists in Bolivia as a result of three harvest cycles.” Dan Serns WordPress. Available at: https://danserns.wordpress.com/2006/11/30/20000-new-adventists-in-bolivia-as-a-result-of-three-harvest-cycles/. Accessed on February 20, 2025.↩

15. Seventh-day Adventist Yearbook (2008).↩

16. “Memória.” Revista Adventista, 107, no. 1246 (March 2012): 37.↩

17. Corrado Cozzi; Teresa Costello. “Remembrance: Monnier, 59, leaves legacy of mission service.” ANN.↩

18. Seventh-day Adventist Yearbook (2004).↩

19. Seventh-day Adventist Yearbook (2007).↩

20. Françoise Monnier. “Experiências Vividas no Leprosário.” Revista Afam, no. 23, (July-September 2006): 12.↩

21. Corrado Cozzi; Teresa Costello. “Remembrance: Monnier, 59, leaves legacy of mission service.” ANN.↩

22. Ibid.↩

23. Nikolaus Satelmajer, “An interview with church leaders in southern Asia,” Ministry, 82, no. 10 October 2010, 14-16.↩

24. Corrado Cozzi; Teresa Costello, “Remembrance: Monnier, 59, leaves legacy of mission service”; ANN; “M. MONNIER Eric Philippe.” Décès en France.↩