Pentecostalism, a new branch of Christianity focusing on the welcoming of the Holy Spirit, evolved in the US after 1900 (In Topeka and then in Azusa Street Revival, Los Angeles).

He convinced him, together with Bertrand Lepesant (who was later to become the founder of the Communauté du Puits de Jacob [fr]) to spend two days in prayer asking for the presence of the Holy Spirit in Le Touvet.

On their return, they organized a week-end attended by sixty people; seven of them celibates, four men and three women between 22 and 32 years of age, from amongst whom Laurent Fabre decided to form a lifelong community.

In the beginning, they favoured a name taken from the Bible, but the members of the new foundation quickly realised that in the eyes of their visitors, due to their geographical location they were known as the "Chemin Neuf".

[10] The community also began to grow on an international level, welcoming its first non-French members (Polish, German and Madagascan) and setting up a base in Brazzaville in the Congo.

This influence of the Chemin Neuf on diocesan life was sometimes criticised but the archbishop responded that Charismatics were only available for certain missions, notably the hospital chaplaincy of Pierre Garraud.

[15] In 1992, the apostolic section of the Communion of the Chemin Neuf was created which brought together people wishing to live the spirituality of the community without being involved in all its commitments.

This crisis coincided with the publication of the books The shipwrecks of the Spirit (Les naufragés de l'esprit [fr]), which were very critical towards a number of charismatic communities.

[19] Henri Tincq believes that these criticizes are hardly appropriate[20] concerning "The Chemin Neuf, reputed to be the wisest community, recognized by the State with the status of congregation and by the Church…".

[21] Since 1989, the sociologist Martine Cohen stated, with regard to the Chemin Neuf, "We are not only far from a strictly charismatic legitimisation of power but the distrust towards a unique 'inspiration from the Holy Spirit' has created, far beyond a usual recourse to tradition or to authorities already in place, a sort of control by the grass roots".

An international choir was established in 1996 to prepare for the World Youth Days in Paris in August 1997:[23] it notably gave concerts in 2000 on the Piazza di Spagna and on the Pope's podium at the final gathering of the World Youth Days in Rome (on the future site of the University of Rome Tor Vergata)[24][25] as well as from 2001 to 2003 in Chartres Cathedral, France.

[38] Several student halls of residence were entrusted to the Chemin Neuf by parishes, dioceses, ecclesiastical organisations, or they were established by the community (particularly in Africa in the case of the latter).

[39][40] Bishops from several symbolic places of the Christian faith also asked the community, without entrusting them with the responsibility of the buildings, to sing the daily liturgical offices, especially vespers, like in the Cathedrale Notre-Dame de Chartres,[41] in the cathedral of Saint-Jean of Lyon[42] or in the Basilica of Ecce Homo [fr] in Jerusalem.

[44] For Paul Destable, assistant secretary general at the Bishops' Conference of France, the Cana mission is an example which shows "the dynamism of the lay communities".

It is offered in parishes as well as in other suitable places[46] In the geographic region of the two islands of Réunion and Mauritius, Valerie Perretant-Aubourg notes that the Cana Sessions are a particularly important social melting pot, bringing together doctors or teachers or illiterate building workers.

[47] At the beginning of the 1980s an active mission for young people aged between 18 and 30 was set up and was reinforced in 1985 with the launching of World Youth Days by Pope John Paul II.

The young people, generally in large numbers (about five thousand) were also accommodated in Perugia (Umbria, Italy) in 2000, in Volkenroda, Thüringen, Germany, in 2005,[49] in Guadarrama (Madrid, Spain) in 2011,[50] in Łódź (Poland) in 2016[51] .

[citation needed] The community is composed of lay and religious persons from many Christian denominations: Catholic, Anglican, Reformed, Eastern Orthodox.

[citation needed] In France, the community has several branches located in Lyon, Anse (Rhône department),[55] Soleymieu (Isère),[56] Hautecombe (Savoie),[57] Le Plantay (Abbey Notre-Dame-des-Dombes, Ain),[58] Sablonceaux (Charente-Maritime), Tigery (Essonne), Chartres (Eure-et-Loir), Bouvines (Nord), Marseille (Bouches-du-Rhône), Levallois (Hauts-de-Seine), Paris, Villeurbanne (Rhône), Lucé-Mainvilliers (Eure-et-Loir), Lille (Nord), Reims (Marne), Sophia-Antipolis (Alpes-Maritimes), Angers (Maine-et-Loire).

[citation needed] The community is also present in Belgium, Brazil, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Canada, Chad, Congo, Côte d'Ivoire, the Czech Republic, Egypt, Germany, Hungary, Israel, Italy, Lebanon, Madagascar, Martinique, Mauritius, the Netherlands, Poland, Réunion, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom.

Ruth Gledhill of Christian Today wrote that "The year-long programme will include prayer, study, practical service and community life.

Members will live a spiritual discipline compared to that of medieval monks, drawing closer to God through a daily rhythm of silence, study and prayer.

At the same time they will also be immersed in the modern challenges of the global 21st century church, witnessing to the power of a pared-back disciplined faith in managing the demanding business of contemporary high-tech life.