The Rev. Matthew A. Laferty, director of the Methodist Ecumenical Office Rome and representative of the World Methodist Council to the Holy See, attended the annual Italian Methodist consultation, held from 29-31 May 2026 at the Methodist retreat center Ecumene in Velletri outside Rome.
Each year, clergy and laity from Methodist churches in Italy gathering May for a time of worship, fellowship, and discussion. The Evangelical Methodist Churches in Italy united with the Waldensian Evangelical Church in 1975 and now have one synod, one set of church order, and a shared identity. In the union, the Methodists were a minority and were permitted to maintain their own international and ecumenical relations as well as their own patrimony. The annual consultation does not have decision-making authority but recommends decisions to the Permanent Committee of the Evangelical Methodist Churches in Italy and the Synod of the Methodist-Waldensian Church.
The 2026 consultation received reports from the Permanent Committee of the Evangelical Methodist Churches in Italy with a particular focus on their international Methodist relations, reflected on migration in Europe and the gift of multiculturalism to the Italian Methodist churches, heard historical reflections on the development of Methodism in Italy, and commemorated the legacy of U.S. pastor and civil rights leader Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Rev. Laferty who is a member of the Synod of the Methodist-Waldensian Church in Italy commented, “the annual Methodist Consultation remains a critical instrument of the Methodist-Waldensian union by preserving and promoting Methodist identity in Italy. I am grateful for the opportunity to attend this auspicious gathering and to reconnect with Methodist pastors and lay persons from across Italy.”
Methodist Ecumenical Office Rome 