The Methodist presence

In Italy The Methodist presence started in the XIX century. The British Wesleyan Methodist Mission with Superintendent Henry James Piggott worked for years and set up a number of schools and some thirty congregations throughout the peninsula. Later on the General Missionary Committee of the Methodist Episcopal Church was waiting for a new mission opportunity and in late 1870 authorized the setting up of a mission in Italy. Rev. Leroy Monroe Vernon of the Missouri-Arkansas Conference was charged during the Conference meeting in St. Louis, in March 1871, to go "as the pioneer missionary of our church to Italy." Mission in Italy began first in Bologna, Rome, Florence and Genoa. However, Methodism was already present in Italy since 1861.. In September 1874, Vernon called for the first Conference. A group of twelve evangelists met in Bologna together with Leroy Vernon and the founders of the Italian Methodist Episcopal Church. In 1878, the Italian Publishing House was founded and it began the printing of the monthly newspaper “La Fiaccola” (later the “Evangelista”). Boarding schools, elementary schools, kindergartens, health centers and evening classes for adults were started. The Theological Seminary began classes in1880 in Florence. It later moved to Rome in 1893.
The Italian Episcopal Methodist Church reached its highest level soon after World War I with about 4,000 members. The Wesleyan Methodists also had over 2,000 members. From the beginning, mission and outreach work was mainly done by Italian evangelists and pastors who were supported by a small number of very committed missionaries. One of the outstanding missionaries was Dr. William Burt, who was the Superintendent from 1886 until 1904 when he was elected Bishop for Europe.
With the rise of fascism and the renewal of Catholic domination in the 1920s, churches, educational and social centers were forced to close. Evangelization become more difficult and financial support was often lacking. The Italian Government sent pastors away from their churches and revoked permission to preach. The decade from 1935 to 1945 could be defined by the motto "resist at all cost."
After World War II, the two Methodist groups agreed to bring their organizations together in order to become more efficient in fostering mission in Italy. The Wesleyan Methodist Church and the Episcopal Methodist Church united into the Italian Methodist Church in May 1946. They became connected with the British Methodist Conference and were administered as a District.
The Italian Methodist Church became autonomous in 1962 and organized its own Annual Conference. It is a member of the European Methodist Council, the World Methodist Council and is invited as a guest at the General Conference of the United Methodist Church. It has an excellent relationship with the Protestant Church Federation in Italy. In 1948 it was one of the founding Members of the World Council of Churches. 1979 saw the Methodist Church in Italy entering into a Federation with the Waldensian Church. Waldensians and Methodists have a united Synod, but they still have maintained their own organizations and financial autonomy. The two Churches have a common policy in ecclesiastical life, full recognition of the pastors and share the Faculty of Theology in Rome.