Union of Methodist and Waldensian Churches
Encyclopedia
The Union of Methodist and Waldensian Churches is an Italian
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

 united church
United and uniting churches
United and uniting churches are churches formed from the merger or other form of union of two or more different Protestant denominations.Perhaps the oldest example of a united church is found in Germany, where the Evangelical Church in Germany is a federation of Lutheran, United and Reformed...

.

It was founded in 1975 with the union of the Waldensian Evangelical Church
Waldensian Evangelical Church
The Waldensian Evangelical Church is an Italian historical Protestant denomination.After Protestant Reformation, the small church absorbed Calvinist theology and became the Italian branch of Reformed churches....

 (a reformed
Reformed churches
The Reformed churches are a group of Protestant denominations characterized by Calvinist doctrines. They are descended from the Swiss Reformation inaugurated by Huldrych Zwingli but developed more coherently by Martin Bucer, Heinrich Bullinger and especially John Calvin...

 church which has pre-Lutheran
Martin Luther
Martin Luther was a German priest, professor of theology and iconic figure of the Protestant Reformation. He strongly disputed the claim that freedom from God's punishment for sin could be purchased with money. He confronted indulgence salesman Johann Tetzel with his Ninety-Five Theses in 1517...

 roots) and the Italian Methodist Church
Italian Methodist Church
The Italian Methodist Church was a non-episcopal Methodist church which was integrated in 1975 into the Waldensian Evangelical Church, in order to form the Union of Methodist and Waldensian Churches.-See also:*Waldensians*Christianity in Italy...

.

It has 50,000 members (45,000 Waldensians
Waldensians
Waldensians, Waldenses or Vaudois are names for a Christian movement of the later Middle Ages, descendants of which still exist in various regions, primarily in North-Western Italy. There is considerable uncertainty about the earlier history of the Waldenses because of a lack of extant source...

, of whom 30,000 in Italy and some 15,000 divided between Argentina
Argentina
Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...

 and Uruguay
Uruguay
Uruguay ,officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay,sometimes the Eastern Republic of Uruguay; ) is a country in the southeastern part of South America. It is home to some 3.5 million people, of whom 1.8 million live in the capital Montevideo and its metropolitan area...

, and 5,000 Methodists
Methodism
Methodism is a movement of Protestant Christianity represented by a number of denominations and organizations, claiming a total of approximately seventy million adherents worldwide. The movement traces its roots to John Wesley's evangelistic revival movement within Anglicanism. His younger brother...

) and it is member both of the World Alliance of Reformed Churches
World Alliance of Reformed Churches
The World Alliance of Reformed Churches is a fellowship of more than 200 churches with roots in the 16th-century Reformation, and particularly in the theology of John Calvin...

 and of the World Methodist Council
World Methodist Council
The World Methodist Council, founded in 1881, is an association of churches in the Methodist tradition which comprises most of the world's Wesleyan denominations.- Extension and organization:...

.

It is a founding member of the Federation of Evangelical Churches in Italy
Federation of Evangelical Churches in Italy
The Federation of Evangelical Churches in Italy is a religious body in which are represented many Italian Protestant denominations....

.

See also

  • Christianity in Italy
    Christianity in Italy
    Roman Catholicism is the largest Christian Denomination in Italy. According to a 2005 survey by Eurispes, 87.8% of the population identified themselves as Catholic; of those, 36.8% considered themselves practicing Catholics and 30.8% said they attended church every Sunday.-Catholicism:Nested in...

  • Religion in Italy
    Religion in Italy
    Catholicism is by far the largest religious group in Italy. However, there are also some important religious minorities....

  • List of Italian religious minority politicians

External links

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