EVANGELICAL CHURCH OF ITALY ADDRESS of Rev.» D AMT A AO BORGIA ^ AT THE NINTH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE OP THE EVANGELICAL ALLIANCE IN FLORENCE on 7 th April 1891. Honored Brethren in Christ, I gladly respond to the request to give a short statement as to the Evangelical Church of Italy. To the most of you I can say nothing that is new, especially to my fellow-labo¬ rers and friends here present, who have been eye-witnesses of the birth and development of this infant work in Italy, but to so many illustrious friends and brethren, gathered from every part of the world, who cannot be expected to tnow about us, it is right I should explain who we are, apd what we desire to do, with God’s blessing, in our native land. First of all, what is the Evangelical Church of Italy ? It is the Union of the separate evangelical Churches, which sprang up all over Italy in the early days of liberty, through the reading of the Word of God. These various Churches, moved by the desire of united action in the work of Evangelization, met in General Assem¬ bly at Bologna in 1865, and laid the basis of their organi¬ zation, under the title of the " Free Christian Church in Italy.” But it was only in Milan in 1870 that, properly speaking, the movement took shape and initiative, for it was in that - 2 — Second General Assembly that the compact of Union was ratified by the adoption of a Confession of Faith, or Declara¬ tion of principles common to all the congregations. In 1871, at Florence, the third General Assembly sanc¬ tioned the accomplished Union by means of a Constitution, or body of Rules for the work of Evangelization. Finally, in 1889, by unanimous consent of all the Chur¬ ches, in order to respond to the ardent desire of the pio¬ neers in the work, and also to the history and special disposition of our Church, the General Assembly by accla¬ mation assumed for itself and for those Churches which might hereafter be joined with it, the name of the Evan¬ gelical Church of Italy. This Church has for its sole and infallible Head, Jesus Christ and Him Crucified, — for doctrine and rule of faith and conduct, the Word of God contained in the canonical books of the Bible, —• for motto in all its actions, " Truth in Love,” and for its guide in all social and civil life, " Honor all men. Love the brethren. Fear God. Honor the King.” The great aim of this Church is the salvation of souls and the welfare and prosperity of our beloved country, by means of the preaching of the Gospel. Such is the Evangelical Church of Italy and such her noble purpose, with the divine blessing! It is a young Church, with little more than 20 years of life, but it has the conscientious conviction of having accomplished much good, by carrying the message of redemption into many towns and villages and bringing many souls to the foot of the cross of Christ. Nor has this been achieved without serious difficulties. If you, my hearers, had been present in many a Meeting of our Committee here in Florence, you would have seen us gathered together with sad thoughts, amid uncertainty and discouragement, amid earnest prayer and supplication: to God. You would have seen us all, from the lamenteil Gavazzi to the Rev. Mr Mac Dougall, on to the humblest member of the Committee, who lias now the honor of addressing you, with tears in our eyes, like a father when he sees his beloved children without bread. Yet God has always heard our prayers, and brought us out of all our difficulties, so that the Evangelical Church of Italy goes on its way as if nothing had happened. All these trials have done us good, because they have strengthened our faith and brightened our hope in the promises of God. The victory achieved over so many dif¬ ficulties has convinced us still more that our Church is of God and that He has called us to do His Work. Hence - 3 — our greater activity and more lively zeal, hence the increase of the spirit of self-sacrifice in all our Churches and the ever growing desire for the wider diffusion of the Gospel. I will say nothing about the sufferings endured by the individual Churches, and by the members of the same, for the sake of the truth. We enjoy much liberty in Italy, but the Clericalism of the Vatican is still very powerful and wages continual war against us, and raises up mountains of difficulties to the progress of the Gospel cause. But God isn with us, and, despite all the persecutions suffered, the testimony for Jesus is maintained by all and the banner of our salvation is every where floating in the breeze. After these general considerations, I shall now give you a few particulars as to the past and present condition of the Evangelical Church of Italy: 1 st The past. When our Church presented itself to the Christian World, it was a very poor stripling indeed. The first two or three years were consecrated to the work of harmonizing the various elements in our union and of study and preparation, while we were carrying the Word of God far and near throughout Italy. But soon we found our¬ selves in presence of three great difficulties: 1 st The want of a good Theological College for training aspirants for the Ministry; 2 nd The need of suitable places of worship, if possible our own property, and 3 rd The opening of day and night Schools in connection with each of our Churches. To provide at one and the same time for so many neces¬ sities was no light matter. But it is written: " Seek and ye shall find.” We sought and God has blessed us, and in this wise: Theological College. To tell the truth, there was always a small College in our Church from its earliest origin. In 1867, thanks to the help of Bev. Win. Clark of America, r^College was opened in Milan, from which excellent laborers went forth, among others the lamented Zucchi, Girola, Manin and others. In 1870, this first effort w T as closed, and immediately another was opened in Pisa, under the direction of Pro¬ fessor Paolo De Michelis, where several faithful servants of Christ were trained, among others Mariani and the lamented Pierallini, who founded the Church at Airolo, on the St. Gothard and later on the Evangelical Italian Church in Marseilles. In 1873 the Pisa College was closed and a more tho¬ roughly equipped establishment was opened in Rome, directed by Gavazzi, with whom was associated in 1876 the excellent Henderson, whom God saw fit so soon to take to Himself. — 4 — Among the Professors we may mention Rev. Cav. Karl Roen- neke, Chaplain of the German Embassy, and Rev. Henry Piggott, Superintendent of the Wesleyan Mission in the North of Italy. A directing Council, presided over by the Rev.Mr Mac Dougall, watched over the progress of the Clas¬ ses, and as a result many Pastors, Evangelists and Teacher- Evangelists were sent forth, a goodly number of whom have passed into other denominations. This has caused no regret. The principal aim of preparing able Evangelists has b^en attained. If some of these are enrolled in other regimeid|\ we are comforted by the thought that we are all soldiers of one army, guided by one Leader, fighting under the same banner and called to defend the same great and holy cause. Owing to circumstances which we could not control, the Roman College has been closed for a time, to be soon reopened either there or in some other city. The sad loss of Gavazzi and the decreed demolition of our building, in the general plan for the improvement of Rome — these are the reasons for the momentary closure of the College. In the meantime the students are placed under the care of Pastors in different towns. We hope, through God’s blessing and the sympathy of friends, that the decision to reopen a Seminary in Rome, Florence or elsewhere, will soon be carried out, and that many will be prepared within its walls who shall be worthy of the high Mission and of the Gospel, as well as of the Church and of Italy. Places of Worship. The plain matter of fact is, that when our Church presented itself to the Italians, it was well nigh unprovided with everything, and especially with places of worship. The Meetings were held in shops, ware¬ houses, in the upper rooms of houses and sometimes we were even driven to assemble in dark, prisonlike places, which made it easy for the priests to discredit the Gospel/ cause. We were also under constant threat of being turneu out, and finding it next to impossible to secure any other place. The Clerical party was ever on the alert, creating immense difficulties for us. Even for these poorest of meet¬ ing-houses, we were obliged to pay large rents, which drained our small finances. Then it was that our excellent friend Mac Dougall, to whom our Church is debtor for the immense services he has rendered, began to carry out his noble plan of purchas¬ ing properties for various Churches. From 1873 until to¬ day, thanks to the munificence of many friends, he has acquired buildings in Rome, Florence, Leghorn, Milan, Bas- signana, Venice (two), Bergamo, Udine, Fara Novarese and 5 Pisa. He has also to-day in hand for the purchase of other places of worship the following sums: 8000 fr. for Bari, 8000 fr. for Savona, and 7000 fr. for Sassari. We earnestly hope in a few years to see suitable buildings provided in the towns where we have large congregations and Schools, such as Genoa, Bologna, Naples and Palermo. This is but one part of the service rendered by our Honorary Treasurer. I say one part, for his activity is seen in all departments of the Evangelical Church of Italy. Bftw he has been able in so short a time to overcome so many obstacles, it is difficult to understand. Asking him¬ self, the only reply is: " Pray, always pray.” Schools. It was also the intention of the Evangelical Church of Italy, that alongside of each of the congregations there should be established elementary and night Schools, as well as Sabbath Schools, for the future of the evangeli¬ zation of the country largely depends on the rising genera¬ tion, if a truly Christian education is imparted to it. For this purpose the Committee of Evangelization set itself to the study of the problem of providing Teachers, who should feel in their innermost heart the importance of their noble profession, and be faithful and well proved Christians, and so fitted to shed the sweet odour of Christ in the heart of the little children. Sabbath Schools were at once begun in all the Churches through the earnest efforts of the Evangelists, aided by many brethren and sisters in Christ as Monitors. In 1870, however, there were only two Hay Schools, one founded by De Sanctis in Turin and another by Ferretti in Florence. Since 1872 many other flourishing Schools have been established, in Rome, Leghorn, Naples, Fara No- varese, Bassignana, Venice, Carrara, Spezia, Palermo and latterly at Forano Sabina and Montefiascone. 1 2 nd Now I come to the present condition of the Evangelical u,lurch in Italy. Here it would be convenient to make a journey together which would not occupy many minutes, and pass in review all our Churches, Stations and Schools from the North of Italy to Palermo. But time presses and there¬ fore to complete my statement I shall only add a few statistics. The Evangelical Church of Italy at this date has: 1820 Members (Communicants); 450 Catechumens; 1295 Children in the Hay Schools; 1210 Children and adherents, whom I baptize by the name of Nicodemus. The Church is composed of: 31 Churches or Congregations; 24 Stations and 50 places regularly visited; 30 Sabbath Schools; 10 Day Schools and 5 Night Schools; 1 Industrial Institution; 3 Young Men’s Christian Associations; 8 Committees of Beneficence and Societies for mutual help. % The Buildings purchased are 13, and 3 are in process of acquisition, of the value of.Fr. 916,000 Furniture of Church and Schools. *■ 75,850 Reserve Funds. » 232,625 Making a total of.Fr. 1,224 ,475 During the past year (1890) the Churches have collected: For the work of Evangelization.Fr. 4,891.63 For local purposes. » 16,326.25 Making a total of.Fr. 21,217. 88 or an average of fr. 9. 20 per member. This is all made up of the pence of poor working men, given for the work of Cod in Italy, and it is not a small offering. Now let me bring my address to a close with two observations: 1 st A word of thanks to all those friends who have aided us with their prayers and sympathies, and who will not fail us, we trust, in the future. Our gratitude remains eternal towards all of them, and especially to our great friend, Rev. John R. Mac Dougall, who has spared neither labors, nor sacrifices nor health for the work of God ft Italy. _ Praise and honor and glory to God for His divine aid and for all the blessings which He has showered down upon us to this very day. All our trust is placed in Him for the future, and all our care is cast on Him, knowing that He cares for us. 2 nd The Evangelical Church of Italy has for its basis the Union of the Churches. You will find this principle in the first pages of its history, as in the early days of its existence. Without such a principle indeed, an Evangelical Church of Italy would not be possible. Not only so, but we were among the first to make pro¬ posals of Union to all the Churches in the first instance, — 7 — and to the Waldensian Church afterwards, as all in Italy can testify. We have held Conferences and Special Assemblies for studying the way to effect this noble purpose. Our efforts have failed. It is said that the time had not yet come for this. Has the time now come for this much-desired Union ? God grant it may. Notwithstanding the shipwreck of these noble aims, we still feel and desire the Union of all the Churches in Italy. long to be, and to be seen to be, one body in Christ, called to a common effort, for the glory of Christ, in our fatherland. This Union of the Churches is longed for by all our brethren. It is a voice which sounds in the Italian air from the Alps to Sicily. It is desired by our Italian fellow- citizens, as you heard from the authoritative words of Pro¬ fessor Mariano yesterday. It is desired by our friends abroad, and, above all, it is desired by God. Let us respond nobly to this divine and universal call. In one word, the Evangelical Church of Italy sincerely, earnestly, resolutely desires union with all the Sister Churches, and prays that this Great Conference may send forth the word of command, that such a project may be speedily consummated, in order that we may in one serried rank send up the unanimous cry: " We wish all Italy for Christ.” Possessed by this delightful expectation, the Evangelical Church of Italy, through me, offers you its fraternal re¬ gards. FLORENCE, Printed by G. Barber a.