I have been fortunate to enjoy a lovely break away for the training organised for "young" ministers and international ministers. (Young as in, in ministry for less than 4 years). I travelled to Rome and quickly left again to the satellite commuter town of Velletri. On the hills outside town is Ecumene, a youth/retreat/conference centre owned and run by the Methodist Church. It is mostly quiet (there's a neighbourhood dog that tends to bark at night and we had an incredible wind storm), with well-kept premises, grounds and wonderful cooking. We were the only group so could occur the snug bar with large wood fire without interrupting anyone else.
The theme of the week was being a pastor in a multicultural church. Italy, like other countries in Europe (including UK) is struggling to adapt to being a country of immigration. For the churches, the challenge is not only how to welcome a handful of migrants, but in some places, how to create an identity for a church that can be bi-cultural, with the Italians in the minority. There was a clear desire for communal worship to be in Italian, with many churches offering free language lessons to the whole community. There are tensions between churches that offer two services (Italian and the English) and churches who experiment with largely Italian worship, but the preaching that re-offered in English, by an African (usually Ghanaian) preacher. So many models, so much to celebrate, and still, many struggles. But who said that the Kingdom of God was going to be easy?
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