NOVEMBER 2022
From left to right, Rev. Michael Cuneo, Rev. Fikret Bocek, and Rev. Andrea Ferrari.
Dear prayer companions,
Cristina and I are deeply grateful for your continuing interest in the life of the Chiesa Riformata di Perugia and for your prayers on our behalf, for the glory of God the Father, in the Son, and through the Spirit. We ourselves pray for you that the grace of Christ may cause you to taste ever more deeply the love of God and the communion of the Spirit in your families and in the church. And it is a joy to share some of the latest news from Perugia.
Ministry of the Word
After a season of “topical preaching” on “The Spiritual Experience of the Desert” and on “The Christian Practice of the Agape Meal”, I am preparing my sermons for the Christmas season on “God’s Descent and the People’s Exodus”. In January, I’ll be starting what will be a demanding expository series on the whole book of Psalms. Thus far, the general plan is to expound each psalm on three main aspects: 1) a biblical explanation, 2) a Christological interpretation, and 3) an ecclesial application. All of this should be intertwined with the experiential nature and dimension of each psalm, keeping particularly in mind Calvin’s characterization of the Psalms as “an anatomy of all parts of the soul”. Ever since the COVID-19 pandemic, we’ve had a few visitors and we expect others to attend church during the Christmas season praying that the Word may come to them.
European Pastors’ Retreat and commemoration of the Reformation
In October, I had the privilege to attend the European Pastors’ Retreat in Sighisoara, Romania. There were 18 ministers in attendance from Romania, Italy, Germany, Hungary, Scotland, and Turkey. We had some doctrinal discussions, as well as times of fraternal sharing and praying together. My wife Cristina accompanied me and she spent a few days with Lidia Corcea (the wife of Rev. Mihai Corcea who is serving as a URCNA minister in Romania) and their little son, Albert. Later on, at the end of October, we had the privilege of receiving a visit from Rev. Fikret Bocek and his wife, Darlene, from Izmir, Turkey. Rev. Bocek, the minister of the Protestant Church of Izmir, presented two lectures on Saturday to us and preached twice on the Lord’s Day commemorating the Reformation. We enjoyed great fellowship and the Lord blessed the ministry of the Word to our souls. It is our hope to continue to invite other European ministers to Perugia so that our church members may know that they are not alone but are a part of a growing fellowship of churches abroad.
Presbyterian and Reformed Churches in Italy
At present, I am preparing for our next meeting of ministers and elders of the churches of Milan, Perugia, and Lecce. Lord willing, all of us will meet for prayer and discussion on December 7-8, and later on in the week, Rev. Michael Brown, Rev. Vincenzo Coluccia, and myself will continue our labors to prepare our own Italian Church Order. On the occasion of this visit, I’ve been invited to preach for the Reformed Church Filadelfia, the church that I served for 16 years. We rejoice as we contemplate these small beginnings of an Italian denomination of Reformed churches and we look forward to seeing how God will work through our weakness using our five loaves and two fishes.
Please, pray with us for the following prayer requests:
pray for Cristina and me, and that I may be a faithful Christian, husband, father, grandfather, church member, and minister;
pray for the blessing of God upon the preaching of the Word;
pray for the efforts being made to form an Italian denomination of Reformed churches, especially for a true spiritual bond among our ministers and elders.
On behalf of all the members of the Chiesa Riformata of Perugia, I express a felt sense of gratitude for your faithful prayers and generous support.
Those of Italy greet you (Hebrews 13:24) ☺
Yours sincerely in Christ,
Pastor Andrea Ferrari