The English Committee in aid of

The Waldensian Church Missions

The committee was founded in 1825 as a support group for the Waldensian Church in Italy and since 1979 has been a UK registered Charity. The Committee seek to arouse interest and financial support in England and Wales for the Waldensian Church. Twice yearly we publish a Waldensian Review and occasionally other literature. We also arrange meetings for Waldensian pastors visiting this country and support students of theology who want to spend the compulsory “year abroad” studying in this country. There are similar Waldensian support groups in Scotland, Ireland, USA and in various European countries.

The English Committe in Aid of the Waldensian Church Missions

This committee was founded in 1825 as a support group for the Waldensian Church in Italy. Since 1979 its finances, together with those of the Vaudois Pastors Fund, have been administered by Trustees under the terms of the Scheme drawn up by the Charity Commission and dated 18 January that year.

The committee seek to arouse interest and financial support in England and Wales for the Waldensian Church. Our funds are used to support projects in the Waldensian Church in Italy, with a particular focus on bringing student pastors to the UK for training.

Twice yearly we publish a Waldensian Review, which can be viewed in the news section of this website and occasionally other literature, which can purchased in the shop.

We also arrange meetings for Waldensian pastors visiting this country and support students of Theology who want to spend their compulsory “year abroad” studying in this country.

There are similar Waldensian support groups in Scotland, Ireland, USA and in various European countries.

The Waldensian Church

The Waldensian Church is the native Protestant Church of Italy whose origins pre-date the Reformation. It arose from an evangelical movement founded in the 12th century by Waldo, a rich merchant from Lyon, who was to inspire St Francis: he gave all away to the poor and started preaching the Gospel in the vernacular, which caused conflict with the Papacy. Travelling in pairs the Waldensian itinerant preachers, having learnt the Scriptures by heart, set off to found underground communities from Sicily to Russia. The ensuing persecution by the Inquisition drove them into their mountain fastness in the Alpine Valleys of northwest Italy, where they remain in what are still called the Waldensian Valleys. At their Synod in 1532 they voted to join the Genevan Reformation, a decision that brought even more persecution upon this exposed outpost of Protestantism. Their sufferings were recorded in Milton’s famous sonnet “On The Late Massacre in Piedmont”. Their survival down to the present has been a remarkable testament of faith.

The Waldensian community was emancipated in 1848, but did not reach full freedom until 1984. Since the Italian unification in 1860 they have established churches throughout Italy and, following emigration, in the USA, Argentina and Uruguay. In 1979 the Italian Methodist Church combined with them and they hold a common annual Synod, which is the controlling authority of the Church and takes place in Torre Pellice. The Churches of Rio de la Plata have their own Synod, Board and Moderator.

The 60 parishes have founded 120 outreach activities ranging from schools, hospitals, children’s and old people’s homes, radio stations, and ecumenical community centres, often catering for the needs of the most deprived and mafia-ridden parts of Italy, especially the disadvantaged South and the new immigrant communities. The Waldensian Church has a theological college in Rome, a publishing house, Claudiana, and a weekly paper, Riforma.

The guest house in Torre Pellice has an excellent short history of The Waldensian Church available in English:

https://www.foresteriatorre.org/en/history-of-the-waldensian-church/

For more information, you can order one of a series of booklets in the English language from our online shop.

Who is on the committee?

A full list of the current charity trustees is available on The Charity Commission website.

Our committee also comprises the following positions of responsibility:

Patron: The Rev'd Dr. Leslie Griffiths, The Lord Griffiths of Burry Port

Chairman: Ian Nimmo-Smith; chair@waldensian.org.uk

Executive Secretary: Erica Scroppo Newbury; secretary@waldensian.org.uk

Honorary Treasurer: Mark Stephens; treasurer@waldensian.org.uk

Website: Alastair Morris; website@waldensian.org.uk