The Federation of Evangelical Churches in Italy[1] (Italian: Federazione delle Chiese Evangeliche in Italia, FCEI) is an ecumenical Protestant body in Italy.
History
The FCEI, formed in 1967,[2] includes the historical Protestant churches of Italy, that is to say the Union of Methodist and Waldensian Churches (a united denomination comprising the Waldensian Evangelical Church and the Methodist Evangelical Church, 35,000 members), the Baptist Evangelical Christian Union of Italy (15,000), the Lutheran Evangelical Church in Italy (7,000), and other minor churches.[3] The body includes also two observer members with a large following: the Federation of Pentecostal Churches (50,000 members) and the Italian Union of Seventh-day Adventist Christian Churches (25,000).[4] The FCEI has a total membership of 140,000.
The FCEI's current president is Luca Maria Negro, a Baptist pastor affiliated with the Baptist Evangelical Christian Union of Italy.[5]
Presidents
- Mario Sbaffi (Methodist, 1969–1973)
- Aldo Comba (Waldensian, 1973–1976)
- Piero Bensi (Baptist, 1976–1982)
- Aurelio Sbaffi (Methodist, 1982–1988)
- Giorgio Bouchard (Waldensian, 1988–1994)
- Domenico Tomasetto (Baptist, 1994–2000)
- Gianni Long (Waldensian, 2000–2006)
- Domenico Maselli (Waldensian, 2006–2009)
- Massimo Aquilante (Methodist, 2009–2015)
- Luca Maria Negro (Baptist, 2015–present)
References
- ^ Literal translation. The FCEI has sometimes adopted "Federation of Protestant Churches in Italy" as translation.
- ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2016-04-03. Retrieved 2016-04-05.
- ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2016-03-03. Retrieved 2016-04-12.
- ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2016-04-03. Retrieved 2016-04-05.
- ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2016-04-02. Retrieved 2016-04-05.
See also
- Religion in Italy
- Christianity in Italy
- Protestantism in Italy
- List of Italian religious minority politicians