The Methodist Evangelical Church in Italy ( it, Chiese Evangelica Metodista in Italia), known also as Italian Methodist Church (''Chiese Metodista Italiana''), is a

Protestant Protestantism is a Christian denomination, branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Reformation, Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century agai ...

church in the

Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a group of historically related denominations of Protestant Christianity whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's ...

tradition active in Italy that was independent until it united with the historical Waldensian Evangelical Church to form the Union of Methodist and Waldensian Churches. As such, it was part of the World Methodist Council. The first Italian Methodist churches were founded by British and

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

missionaries in the 19th century. The missionary work became difficult during the

Fascist Fascism is a far-right, authoritarian, ultra-nationalist political ideology and movement,: "extreme militaristic nationalism, contempt for electoral democracy and political and cultural liberalism, a belief in natural social hierarchy and the ...

regime, but finally in 1946 the Methodist Evangelical Church of Italy was born as a district of the Annual Conference of the

Methodist Church of Great Britain The Methodist Church of Great Britain is a Protestant Christian denomination in Britain, and the mother church to Methodists worldwide. It participates in the World Methodist Council, and the World Council of Churches among other ecumenical as ...

. In 1962 the Methodist Church became fully independent and its structure was organized with a non- episcopal

congregationalist polity Congregationalist polity, or congregational polity, often known as congregationalism, is a system of ecclesiastical polity in which every local church (congregation) is independent, ecclesiastically sovereign, or " autonomous". Its first articu ...

.http://www.studivaldesi.org/dizionario/evan_det.php?evan_id=173 In 1975 the Methodist Church was united with the Waldensian Evangelical Church, resulting in the Union of Methodist and Waldensian Churches. The two churches have since been one church, governed by one synod, but they have maintained their own identity, ecumenical relations, administration and projects. In fact, contextually with the formation of the Union, the Action for the Methodist Evangelical Churches in Italy (''Opera per le Chiese Evangeliche Metodiste in Italia'') was established in order to maintain ecumenical relations and those with world Methodism, administer Methodist properties such as churches, and finance the work of pastors and deacons. As of today, the Methodist Evangelical Church in Italy includes 4,000 members and 50 congregations.

References

External links

Official website
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Methodism in Europe Methodist denominations Religious organisations based in Italy

See also

References

External links