After several years of inner loneliness due to Alzheimer’s disease, Lucien Ringoot died on 4 August 2024 at the age of 89.
At a very young age, he met Christiane Vancauwenberghe, whom he married in 1959 and from whom he had two children, Erik and Eddy Ringoot.
Lucien began his career as an engineer. In the 1960s, he get in touch with Noel Delaplace, then an Adventist pastor in Belgium. Noel introduced the Adventist message to Lucien and Christiane, who welcomed it with joy. They were baptised and began their Christian life.
A few years after his baptism, Lucien felt called to serve the Adventist Church as a pastor. At the end of the 1960s, Lucien and Christiane went to the Adventist seminary in Collonges to study theology and prepare for the pastorate.
On his return to Belgium in 1972, Lucien officially entered the service of the Church and was given responsibility of the church in Leuven. In 1978, he was consecrated to the pastoral ministry. Over the years, he managed several communities in Flanders, including the churches of Bruges, Ostend, Courtrai, Roeselare, Dendermonde, Ypres, La Panne, Ghent and even Mouscron in Hainaut.
Lucien was passionate about the Church and, throughout his ministry, he influenced and touched the lives of many people with the Gospel message, notably by organising many seminars on health (physical, social, mental and spiritual health) as well as 5-day plans.
One of Lucien’s special qualities was that he took serious things seriously, but he also liked to joke. Those who knew him always enjoyed his company and his good humour. Despite the difficult times, he remained optimistic about the future and relied on the hope of eternal life offered by the Gospel.
We share this hope and offer Lucien’s family and friends our most sincere condolences, as well as our gratitude for Lucien’s ministry among us.