OCTOBER 2024
Dear prayer companions,
As we watch with admiration and a sense of awe the changing colors around us, we observe at the same time the falling leaves returning to the ground out of which they were taken. This aesthetic experience is an annual parable that teaches us to live in time in the light of eternity. Therefore, in considering this newsletter our fall activities, visits, and conferences, we reflect on ourselves and watch our present life while it slowly (or more rapidly!) returns to the ground out of which we’ve been taken. May the Spirit of Life help us to contemplate the resurrected Lord who ascended at the right hand of God the Father, and who is expecting to welcome us after we finish our earthly pilgrimage.
Fall Activities
After the summer internship of MARS student Bryce Klassen, in September I resumed the exposition of the Books of Psalms (my last sermon was on Psalm 35), while this October I’ll resume our Sunday school on the Heidelberg Catechism. In September, I intentionally began to preach an explicit evangelistic sermon once a month, as if none of the people assembled on Sunday were Christians, or even professing Christians. Besides that, some ladies of our church began to meet for a Ladies’ Tea once a month to foster their friendship. Our ladies will be reading together The Practice of the Presence of Jesus written by Joni Earckson Tada while trying to invite also some relatives and friends to their meetings. Also, on October 1, I was part of a meeting organized by the leaders of several Christian churches in Perugia. It was the first time for me to be part of this sort of “Christian City Council” and I considered this invitation as a demonstration of respect and esteem by these church leaders for the testimony of our church. Besides myself, the panel was composed of a Roman Catholic priest, a Greek Orthodox priest, a Seventh-Day Adventist pastor, and the chairman of the Consistory of the Waldensian church.
Fall Visits
This Fall has been blessed by two important visits. The first is that of our son Simone and his wife Alison, who – along with our granddaughters Matilde and Lucilla – visited us from Australia. It was a great joy for us to have had them staying with us for a while and celebrating Cristina’s birthday on October 1, having also our second son, Daniele, and my mother being able to be present with us. The second is my visit to the US in mid-October to be with a couple of sister churches and to attend the Missions and Evangelism Conference organized by the Mid-America Reformed Seminary. I am very grateful for the edifying addresses, the communion of the saints at the Center for Missions and Evangelism of MARS, and the warm welcome by its director, Dr. Eric Watkins (OPC). On October 13, I had the privilege of preaching and giving a presentation on the Perugia church plant at Faith URC in Beecher, Illinois, and at Community URC in Schererville, Indiana. It was a great joy for me to share in the gratitude of these brothers and sisters as we contemplated together God’s faithfulness in blessing our common efforts in the past: first, in planting and organizing the Reformed Church in Milan and secondly, in doing the same in Perugia at the present time.
Fall Conferences
After the COVID-19 epidemic, we’ve been busy organizing an annual conference that will coincide with the anniversary of the Protestant Reformation. It is a project aimed at creating a space to foster in the city of Perugia a spiritual dialogue with different Christian theological and spiritual traditions, in the context of our secular age. Therefore, on October 26 and November 2, we’ll host two conferences on “The Experience of the Word: the Protestant Reformation as a Religious Revival”. On October 26 the speakers will be Rev. Dr. Daniel Borvan (Minister of Christ Reformed Church in Anaheim, CA), and Roman Catholic historian Dr. Domenico Segna. On Saturday, November 2 the speakers will be Rev. Michael Brown (Minister of the Reformed Church Filadelfia, Milan), and Roman Catholic biblical scholar Dr. Ludwig Monti. These conferences will be held in a public hall in the center of the city of Perugia to raise the interest of our co-citizens as we try to bring the Word of God into the public square.
Please, pray with us for the following prayer requests:
that the Lord may assist us in the various activities of the church for the edification of our members and the strengthening of our witness among relatives and friends;
that the Lord may bless spiritually our sons Simone (and his family) and Daniele and strengthen my widowed and aging Mother;
that the Lord may use our Fall conferences to extend the range of our gospel witness in the city of Perugia.
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