Leaders of the Italian Evangelical Alliance gathered in Rome to reaffirm the biblical Gospel as the foundation of church life and public witness, warning against political, cultural and motivational substitutes that have displaced it in many Christian communities.
The Federal Assembly of the Italian Evangelical Alliance, known by its Italian acronym AEI, drew together pastors and denominational leaders from across Italy on May 16 for a day of reports, theological reflection and panel discussions on mission, church planting and evangelical formation, according to Ideaitalia, a publication of the IEA.
In his presidential report, Giacomo Ciccone grounded the day's theme in Psalm 125, stating that "the church is at the centre of God's care insofar as it places the Gospel at the centre."
Several speakers warned that the Gospel is being displaced in Italian churches. Samuele Pellerito, president of Elim Churches in Italy, cautioned against what he described as a non-Christocentric gospel — one stripped of the cross and of repentance. "Political, cultural, and motivational gospels are being preached today," he said, arguing the church can only occupy its proper place when the biblical Gospel is at its centre.
Doris Meister, secretary of the Union of Christian Biblical Churches, drew a parallel with the biblical account of scrolls of the Law being rediscovered during the reign of King Josiah — a text the people had long possessed but no longer knew. She identified three dangers facing Italian evangelical churches: a gospel that addresses only material needs, a Christianity lived in purely individualistic terms, and the absence of genuine discipleship that produces mature believers.
A theological address by Pietro Bolognesi, a former member of the World Evangelical Alliance's theological commission, set the day's tone. Drawing on Psalm 11, he called for a public theology firmly rooted in the Gospel rather than in civil religion or simplistic answers to social problems. The believer's response to a world where foundations are being destroyed, he argued, begins not with panic or self-sufficiency but with the recognition that God has not relinquished his rule.
The AEI also presented developments in its Forum of Evangelical Theological Formation Bodies in Italy, known as FEFTI, formally established at last year's assembly. The forum currently includes five member institutions and exists to build collaboration among evangelical Bible schools and seminaries. Giuseppe Rizza, who introduced the session, described theological formation as the "necessary infrastructure" for the healthy growth of the church. The forum's first joint initiative — a webinar on the catechetical work of theologian J.I. Packer, marking the centenary of his birth — is scheduled for September 28.
The AEI reported significant activity over the past year, including a religious freedom conference held at the Italian Senate in February 2025 and a letter to the President of the Republic concerning public school involvement in Catholic Jubilee activities. The Alliance also issued a statement following a Constitutional Court ruling recognising two mothers, and expressed solidarity with the Assemblies of God in Italy after what it described as stereotyped media coverage.
The day concluded with a panel on church planting and urban witness, prompted in part by the recent Italian publication of Tim Keller's Center Church. Participants raised concerns about a culture of competition between evangelical communities. Michele Passaretti, a pastor from Aversa, warned against what he called "ecclesial cannibalism," in which churches relate to one another as rivals rather than collaborators. Others pointed to Italian parochialism taking root inside evangelical churches, and to a tendency to plant new congregations out of division rather than missional vision.
The recurring thread across all contributions was a call to build bridges — not only theologically, but at the local and civic level. Healthy collaboration, speakers argued, requires churches to develop genuine roots in their communities, learning to read the spiritual needs and cultural pressures particular to each context. Only then can the evangelical witness move from competition to a shared mission.
