The first Methodist missions in Hungary were established in 1898 in
the German-speaking Bácska region (since 1918 part of the Serbian
province of Vojvodina) and in 1905 in Budapest. The church in
Hungary split in 1974-5 over the question of interference by the
communist state.
Today, the Hungarian Methodist Church has 40 congregations in 11 districts.[31] The seceding Hungarian Evangelical Fellowship also considers itself a Methodist church. It has 8 full congregations and several mission groups, and runs a range of charitable organizations: hostels and soup kitchens for the homeless, a non-denominational theological college,[32] a dozen schools of various kinds, and four old people's homes. The Fellowship was granted official church status by the state in 1981. Both Methodist churches lost official church status under discriminatory legislation passed in 2011, limiting the number of recognized churches to 14.[33] However, the list of recognized churches was lengthened to 32 at the end of February 2012.[34] This gave recognition to the Hungarian Methodist Church and to two other Methodist-derived denominations – the Salvation Army, which was banned in Hungary in 1949 but returned in 1990, and currently has four congregations, and the Church of the Nazarene, which entered Hungary in 1996 – but not to the Hungarian Evangelical Fellowship. The legislation has been strongly criticized by the Venice Commission of the Council of Europe as discriminatory.[35]
The Hungarian Methodist Church, the Salvation Army, and the Church of the Nazarene have formed an association mainly for publishing purposes.[36] The Hungarian Evangelical Fellowship also has a publishing arm.[37]
Italian Methodism has its origins in the Italian Free Church, British Wesleyan Methodist Missionary Society, and the American Methodist Episcopal Mission. These movements flowered in the second half of the nineteenth century in the new climate of political and religious freedom that was established, with the end of the Papal States and unification of Italy in 1870.[40]
Bertrand Tipple, pastor of the American Methodist Church in Rome, founded a college there.[41]
Today, the Hungarian Methodist Church has 40 congregations in 11 districts.[31] The seceding Hungarian Evangelical Fellowship also considers itself a Methodist church. It has 8 full congregations and several mission groups, and runs a range of charitable organizations: hostels and soup kitchens for the homeless, a non-denominational theological college,[32] a dozen schools of various kinds, and four old people's homes. The Fellowship was granted official church status by the state in 1981. Both Methodist churches lost official church status under discriminatory legislation passed in 2011, limiting the number of recognized churches to 14.[33] However, the list of recognized churches was lengthened to 32 at the end of February 2012.[34] This gave recognition to the Hungarian Methodist Church and to two other Methodist-derived denominations – the Salvation Army, which was banned in Hungary in 1949 but returned in 1990, and currently has four congregations, and the Church of the Nazarene, which entered Hungary in 1996 – but not to the Hungarian Evangelical Fellowship. The legislation has been strongly criticized by the Venice Commission of the Council of Europe as discriminatory.[35]
The Hungarian Methodist Church, the Salvation Army, and the Church of the Nazarene have formed an association mainly for publishing purposes.[36] The Hungarian Evangelical Fellowship also has a publishing arm.[37]
Italy[edit]
Main article: Italian Methodist Church
The Italian Methodist Church (Italian: Opera per le Chiese Metodiste in Italia;[38]
Entity for Methodist Churches in Italy) is a small Protestant community
in Italy, with around 7,000 members.[39]
Since 1975 it is in a formal covenant of partnership with the
Waldensian Church, with a total of 45,000 members.[39]
Waldensians
are a Protestant movement which started in Lyon, France,
in the late 1170s.Italian Methodism has its origins in the Italian Free Church, British Wesleyan Methodist Missionary Society, and the American Methodist Episcopal Mission. These movements flowered in the second half of the nineteenth century in the new climate of political and religious freedom that was established, with the end of the Papal States and unification of Italy in 1870.[40]
Bertrand Tipple, pastor of the American Methodist Church in Rome, founded a college there.[41]
No comments:
Post a Comment