Rome (NEV / CS29), August 22, 2018 – The annual Synod of the Methodist and Waldensian churches opens in Torre Pellice (Turin) on August 26, in the “Waldensian Valleys” of Piedmont. At 15.30 the traditional inaugural worship service will be held in the temple of via Beckwith, with the preaching of pastor Emanuele Fiume. Until August 31, 180 deputies, pastors and lay in equal number, will discuss the role of the church between public presence and community life. Other topics on the agenda: social balance, diakonia between service and preaching, migration and reception, ecumenism. Great expectation for the presentation of the Sociological Research on Respondence and Ecclesiastical Statistics “Ri.So.R.S.E.”, commissioned by the Waldensian Board and the Standing Committee of the Methodist Evangelical Churches’ Work Organization (OPCEMI).
Many religious and institutional guests and authorities, as usual, are reaching Torre Pellice from Italy and from different continents. Among others, the bishop of Lodi, Msgr. Maurizio Malvestiti for the CEI (Italian Bishops Conference), don Cristiano Bettega, Director of the National Office of Ecumenism and Interreligious Dialogue (UNEDI), the President of the Evangelical Church of Hessen-Nassau, Volker Jung, the Vice President of the World Communion of Reformed Churches (WCRC) for the African region, pastor Samuel Ayete-Nyampong, and the vice president of the Methodist World Council, Gillian M. Kingston.
The usual public meeting on Monday, August 27 at 8.45 p.m. at the temple of Torre Pellice, has the title “Communion, mission, justice: being a church today in Europe” and will see the presence, among others, of the Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Emanuela Del Re, of the sociologists Luigi Berzano and Paolo Naso, of the pastor of the Waldensian church of Milan, Daniela Di Carlo and of the moderator of the Waldensian Board, pastor Eugenio Bernardini. “Europe needs greater unity, greater mutual cooperation and greater solidarity both inside and outside the European borders. There is a lot to do for the Christian churches”, declared Bernardini, yesterday, in an interview to the NEV press agency.
The Synodal Assembly, the highest decision-making body of the Union of Methodist and Waldensian churches, closes on Friday 31 August with the election of the moderator and other administrative offices.
The NEV press agency-evangelical news will be present as the Synodal Press Office from Saturday 25 August at the “Casa Valdese” of Torre Pellice, in via Beckwith 2, tel. 0121.950035 cell. 342 113 4700, – www.nev.it
