The Waldensians

The Waldensian Evangelical Church of the Alpine valleys of Piedmont and the cities of Italy, a Reformed church in one synod with the Italian Methodists, descended from the Poor of Lyon, who read the Gospels in the people's own tongue.

Chiesa Evangelica Valdese, Storia / The Waldensians (history, Italian with English version)

Chiesa Evangelica Valdese, Cosa crediamo / What We Believe

Chiesa Evangelica Valdese, Culto e sacramenti / Worship and Sacraments

Chiesa Evangelica Valdese, Una chiesa che canta (the church's page on its singing, Italian)

Chiesa Evangelica Valdese, Domande frequenti (FAQ, Italian)

Chiesa Evangelica Valdese, Organizzazione / Organization

Chiesa Evangelica Valdese, Pastori, anziani, diaconi / Pastors, elders and deacons

Chiesa Evangelica Valdese, Sinodo / Synod

Chiesa Evangelica Valdese, Tavola valdese (the executive board and its officers)

Chiesa Evangelica Valdese, Come sostenerci / Support us: stewardship and the Otto per mille

Synod of the Waldensian and Methodist churches, Act 83/SI/2010, "Atto del sinodo 2010 sulle benedizioni delle coppie dello stesso sesso" (PDF)

A Brief Confession of Faith of the Reformed Churches of Piedmont (1655), French and English, tr. Philip Schaff, Creeds of Christendom, vol. 3

Pope Lucius III, Ad abolendam (Verona, 1184), English translation (Maitland, 1832), The Sabbath Sentinel

"Waldenses," The New Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge, vol. 12 (1911), Christian Classics Ethereal Library

"Waldenses," The Catholic Encyclopedia, vol. 15 (1912), New Advent

Waldenses, Encyclopaedia Britannica

A History of the Waldensians, Musée protestant (Paris)

Luigi Sandri, "Italian Protestants approve same-sex blessings," Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) news, 7 September 2010

"Italian Protestant church says I do to gay 'blessings'," AFP, The Local (Italy), 26 August 2017

Walter Map, De nugis curialium (Courtiers' Trifles), dist. I, ch. 31, "Of the Sect of the Waldenses," tr. Frederick Tupper and Marbury Bladen Ogle (1924), archive.org

The Waldensians began around 1170 in Lyon, where a layman named Valdes gave away his goods and began, with the Gospels translated into the speech of the people, to preach. Rome confirmed his poverty but barred his preaching, and in 1184 it put his followers under a ban. For three and a half centuries they lived in hiding, in the Alps and across Europe, visited by traveling preachers called barbes. In 1532 they joined the Reformation and became a Reformed church. They were massacred in 1655, exiled in 1685, freed in 1848, and joined to the Methodists in 1975.

Valdes gives up his goods

The church's own history says Valdo "started to live his faith radically, sold his possessions to help the poor and to translate large portions of Scripture into the vernacular." The Musée protestant puts it "around 1170." Britannica says he preached in Lyon from 1170 to 1176, and adds that "Early Roman Catholic and Waldensian sources are few and unreliable." The church's account of his aim is that he and his followers "began to preach not to form a new church but to renew the Catholic Church."

Valdes before the Lateran Council

At the Third Lateran Council in Rome, Valdes's followers gave Pope Alexander III a book in French with the text and gloss of the Psalter and many books of both Testaments. Walter Map, an English cleric who was there and mocked them, says they begged the pope "with great importunity" to confirm their license to preach. Map does not record the answer. The Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia, following an anonymous chronicler of Laon, says the pope "confirmed his vow of poverty, but forbade him and his companions to preach, unless expressly invited by the priests," and concludes that "the pope refused them the privilege of preaching." Britannica agrees that the vow of poverty was confirmed and that Valdes "did not receive the ecclesiastical recognition that he sought." So the poverty was confirmed and the preaching was barred, unless the clergy asked for it.

Ad abolendam

On 4 November 1184, at Verona (Schaff-Herzog), Pope Lucius III laid "under a perpetual anathema" a list of groups that included "poor men of Lyons." In the same anathema it put all who "presumed to preach, either publicly, or privately, either being forbidden, or not sent, or not having the authority of the Apostolic See," or "of the Bishop of the diocese." It also condemned all who teach about the sacraments "otherwise, than as the Holy Roman Church teaches and observes," and anyone who refused to swear an oath. The bull does not say which charge it laid on which group, but unlicensed preaching is the one it names first. The Waldensians did not stop. The Catholic Encyclopedia says they "continued to preach on the plea that obedience is due rather to God than to man."

The synod of Chanforan

In 1532 the barbes met at Chanforan, in the valley of Angrogna, with Guillaume Farel and other reformers from Switzerland. After several days of talks "the Waldensians decided to join the Reform Movement," and they "financed the translation into French of the entire Bible," the Olivétan Bible (Musée protestant). Britannica says most of them "agreed to accept only two sacraments (baptism and Holy Communion) and the doctrine of predestination," and the Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia says "The doctrine of election and the Zwinglian doctrine of the Lord's Supper were officially adopted." Not all agreed: two barbes of the old school in Provence went to the Bohemian Brethren for help, but an assembly in the Val San Martino confirmed the decision in 1533 (Schaff-Herzog). The church's own history counts two steps in its joining the Reformation, Chanforan and, "twenty years later," a reformed church with public worship, pastors and consistories.

The Piedmontese Easter and the Confession

In 1655 Duke Charles Emmanuel II of Savoy turned to force (Schaff-Herzog). In the Musée protestant's words, "troops were stationed with Waldensian families and began to massacre the population." The church's history says the massacre known as the "Piedmont Easter" "led to vocal protests by other European Protestant countries and a severe diplomatic crisis between Piedmont and Cromwell's England," and in August the duke was brought to grant peace and an amnesty (Schaff-Herzog). The same year the Waldensians published a Brief Confession of Faith, which the synod of 1855 revived (Schaff-Herzog). The sources agree that it was a massacre but give only differing estimates of the dead, so no number is given here.

Exile and the return

In 1685 Louis XIV prohibited the reformed religion, and the Prince of Piedmont did the same. The troops defeated the Waldensian resistance and deported them. The few thousand who survived were granted exile in Switzerland, and "three years later, they returned to their valleys to stay, through an armed expedition known as the Glorious Return."

The Letters Patent

On 17 February 1848 King Charles Albert granted the Waldensians civil and political rights, and when the news reached the valleys they lit bonfires, "as opposed to the previously enforced curfew." The anniversary is still kept each year. In the same century thousands emigrated to the pampas of the Río de la Plata and founded churches there.

Women ordained

"Since the 1960s, both men and women can be ordained pastors."

One synod with the Methodists

After the Italian Protestant Congress of 1965 revived cooperation between the churches, the Waldensians and the Methodists signed a covenant of integration ten years later. The Musée protestant calls them "the Waldensian and Methodist Churches, unified in 1975." They keep their separate names but meet in one synod. A news report of 2010 gives 1979 for the joint synod, which does not agree with the church's own history.

The agreement with the Italian State

In 1984 an agreement between the Italian State and the Waldensian Church was ratified under article 8 of the Italian Constitution. Ten years after it, the synod asked to take part in the Otto per mille system.

The Otto per mille begins

"Since 1995" the church has taken part in the system by which taxpayers assign part of their income tax to a church. "By an explicit decision of the Synod, these funds are entirely dedicated to humanitarian, social, and cultural projects." The church's history page dates the request to the synod ten years after 1984, and its support page says 1995.

The synod allows blessing of same-sex couples

On 26 August 2010 the joint synod at Torre Pellice voted 105 to 9, with 22 abstentions, to allow churches to bless same-sex couples where the local church has reached a mature consensus (PCUSA report). The synod's own act (83/SI/2010) invites the churches to study the matter, and then asks that, where members ask for the blessing of a same-sex union, the church go on in sharing and witness, and that a local church which has come to a consensus feel free to act on it. In August 2017 the synod went further, and the church became the first Protestant church in Italy to formally offer to bless same-sex couples in civil partnerships, so long as one partner is a member (AFP).

Valdes (Peter Waldo)

A merchant of Lyon who gave up his goods, had the Gospels put into the speech of the people and preached them. Britannica says "little is known with certainty" about him, and the usual name "Peter" is a later addition, according to the Catholic Encyclopedia, which says the name Peter was given to him from 1368 and was "more likely, attributed to him by his followers." The church's name for the founder is Valdo.

Guillaume Farel

The French reformer of Neuchâtel and Geneva who, according to Britannica, "introduced Reformation theology to the Waldensian ministers (barbes) in 1526," and who, the Musée protestant says, "was later present at the 1532 Waldensian synod in Chanforan."

Joshua Janavel

A farmer who led the guerilla resistance in the Piedmont valleys after the massacre of 1655, and is, in the Musée protestant's words, "a legend in Waldensian history."

Maria Bonafede

The pastor who led the Tavola valdese, the church's executive board, when the synod decided on same-sex blessings in 2010. She said that the issue was not the welcome of homosexual people in the churches but "the blessing of the union of persons who want to witness in front of God and in front of their community of faith their engagement in a journey of life together."

William Jourdan

The pastor elected to lead the Tavola valdese, the board that governs the church between synods; Daniele Palermo is the vice-moderator.

The claim of an unbroken line. Many readers will have met the story in tracts: that the Waldensians are not the followers of Valdes at all but a church of the Alpine valleys older than he, kept pure from the apostles' days, which never bowed to Rome. The Waldensian church does not say this. Its FAQ says that it is "erede spiritualmente del movimento dei “Poveri” nato nel Medioevo dalla testimonianza di Valdo" (the spiritual heir of the movement of the Poor, born in the Middle Ages from the witness of Valdo; translation mine), and its history says Valdo and his followers "began to preach not to form a new church but to renew the Catholic Church." The older story was once told among the Waldensians themselves. The Catholic Encyclopedia records that "some Waldenses claimed for their churches an Apostolic origin," traced to Paul or to the days of Constantine, and that this account "was, indeed, far from being universally accredited among the Waldenses." It adds that Protestant historians long accepted it, until critics in the nineteenth century found that the documents behind it "had been tampered with." The record begins with Valdes of Lyon, and the church today tells its own story from there.

What changed in 1532. Britannica says that before 1532 the Waldensians "confessed regularly, celebrated Communion once a year, fasted, and preached poverty," and that their baptism "was to be by full immersion in water and was not administered to infants." After Chanforan they became "in effect a Swiss Protestant church." The church today baptizes the children of members and confirms them around age eighteen (FAQ). The church's history says its reformed church of pastors, public worship places and consistories came some twenty years after the synod, and the Musée protestant says that in the seventeenth century they had to accept "the customs of the Church of Geneva" and French as their church language until the mid nineteenth century.

The 1655 Confession today. The 1655 Brief Confession ends by receiving the Apostles' Creed, the Lord's Prayer and the Decalogue and by agreeing with the doctrine of the Reformed churches of France, England, the Low Countries, Germany and Switzerland. The synod of 1855 revived it as the church's confession (Schaff-Herzog). At the 2010 synod, opponents of the blessings said that the 1655 statement had been "never changed by any synod" (PCUSA). That is their claim, not the church's.

A note on what the sources do not give. The church's own pages give no membership figure. The two outside counts shown above differ: the Musée protestant gives about 25,000 for the Waldensians and Methodists together, and a 2010 report gives about 25,000 Waldensians and 5,000 Methodists. The counts of the dead in 1655 differ too, and none is given here.

The Word of God is the sole authoritative word that guides the church. The 1655 Confession receives the Apostles' Creed, the Lord's Prayer and the Decalogue as fundamentals, and the synod is the highest human authority in doctrine and governance.

The Waldensian church says that Scripture alone guides it. Its statement of belief calls the Word of God "the sole authoritative word that guides the church," against superstition and every abuse that human history has produced. The 1655 Confession, which the Waldensians issued after the massacre of that year, receives the Holy Scripture "for the constant rule of our faith and life."

The same Confession also says that the church ought to receive "the symbol of the Apostles, the Lord's Prayer, and the Decalogue as fundamentals of our faith and our devotion," and it agrees with the doctrine of the Reformed churches of other countries. Among men, the final word on doctrine belongs to the synod. The church's rules call it "the highest human authority of the Church in matters of doctrine, legislation, jurisdiction and governance," and its members meet "as an assembly of believers seeking the guidance of the Holy Spirit."

The Word of God is the sole authoritative word that guides the church, standing against all superstition and every abuse produced by human history

we ought to receive the symbol of the Apostles, the Lord's Prayer, and the Decalogue as fundamentals of our faith and our devotion

It is the highest human authority of the Church in matters of doctrine, legislation, jurisdiction and governance.

The 1655 Confession on the Scriptures: "That we ought to receive this Holy Scripture (as we do) for divine and canonical, that is to say, for the constant rule of our faith and life." It describes its own articles as "a short declaration of our faith … conformable to the Word of God" (the preface in the saved text). The FAQ puts the same thing in its own words: for the Waldensians the only true criterion for knowing God and the sole norm for Christian life is the Holy Scripture, and no sign, person or institution can stand on the same level and have its authority (translated from the Italian; translation mine). Britannica says the medieval Waldenses "accepted the Bible as the sole, total authority of all doctrine."

Salvation is God's free gift to all who believe in Christ, with no precondition or merit. Baptism is a sign, given to the children of members and confirmed around age eighteen, by sprinkling or immersion; "it is not baptism that makes us Christians, but faith in Jesus Christ."

The Waldensian church teaches that human beings cannot save themselves, and that salvation, bought by the death of Christ on the cross, is given freely to sinners. It is "given to all those who believe in Christ, without the need for any precondition or merit." The 1655 Confession says it is "by virtue of his merits only, and not of our works, that we are absolved and justified in his sight," and it teaches that God chose some to be saved and passed by the rest.

Of the two sacraments the church keeps, baptism is "a testimony of our adoption," in which "we are cleansed from our sins by the blood of Jesus Christ." The church says that baptism, "whether by sprinkling on the head or by immersion," announces something that does not depend on the person: "it is not baptism that makes us Christians, but faith in Jesus Christ." The children of members are baptized as infants and confirm their baptism around age eighteen, when the catechism class ends and they become members.

Salvation is given to all those who believe in Christ, without the need for any precondition or merit.

That Christ has instituted the sacrament of Baptism to be a testimony of our adoption

it is not baptism that makes us Christians, but faith in Jesus Christ

The 1655 Confession on justification: "it is by virtue of his merits only, and not of our works, that we are absolved and justified in his sight" (Art. XVI). On baptism it adds that "therein we are cleansed from our sins by the blood of Jesus Christ, and renewed in holiness of life" (Art. XXIX). On election: "That God saves from this corruption and condemnation those whom he has chosen" (Art. XI). The FAQ on the catechism class, in Italian: "per i figli dei membri avviene intorno ai 18 anni con la confermazione del loro battesimo" ("for the children of members it takes place around 18, with the confirmation of their baptism"; translation mine). The church's Worship page says that the Lutheran, Reformed and Anglican churches baptize infants and defer "full membership until a later personal confession of faith during 'confirmation'," while Baptists baptize only adults; it counts the Waldensian church with the first group.

The Supper is a remembrance of Christ's gift of his life and does not repeat his sacrifice. A member of the church leads it, not a priest. It is part of the order of service but is not held at every service; each congregation follows its own custom.

The Waldensian church keeps two sacraments, baptism and the Lord's Supper. The Supper is for the nourishment of the soul, "by a true and living faith." The church says the bread and wine commemorate "the gift of Jesus' life," and that the Supper "does not repeat Christ's sacrifice which, as written in the Letter to the Hebrews, is a once-for-all event."

Because there is no repetition of a sacrifice, the church says that "the celebration of the Protestant rite is led by a member of the church, rather than by a minister invested with a permanent sacred character, such as a priest." There is no altar. The Supper has its place in the order of service, after the confession of faith, but the church says: "The Lord’s Supper is not celebrated at every service, but according to the practices of each individual congregation."

That he has instituted the Holy Supper, or Eucharist, for the nourishment of our souls

It does not repeat Christ’s sacrifice which, as written in the Letter to the Hebrews, is a once-for-all event.

The Lord’s Supper is not celebrated at every service, but according to the practices of each individual congregation.

The 1655 Confession on the Supper: "to the end that eating effectually the flesh of Christ, and drinking effectually his blood, by a true and living faith, and by the incomprehensible virtue of the Holy Spirit, and so uniting ourselves most closely and inseparably to Christ, we come to enjoy in him and by him the spiritual and eternal life" (Art. XXX). The Worship page says for the Protestants as a whole that "the bread serves as a reminder of the sacrifice of Jesus’ life and is a sharing in his body," and that the Protestant rite carries "no saving merit … that can be transferred to deceased believers." Britannica says the medieval Waldenses "celebrated Communion once a year." The pages read do not say who may come to the table.

The church is governed by assemblies in a presbyterian-synodal model: a church council of pastor, elders and deacons in each congregation, circuits and districts, and a yearly synod. Women and men are ordained pastors, and members who are not pastors preach.

The Waldensian church says it has "one only head and foundation, which is Jesus Christ," and that it ought to have pastors, "together with elders and deacons, after the manner of the primitive Church." It teaches the priesthood of all believers: "the leadership role does not belong to one person, but to the assembly of believers."

Its government is built of assemblies. Each local church has an assembly of all its members, which elects the pastor and the other ministers. The pastor, the elders and the deacons form a church council that governs the local church and is accountable to the assembly. Neighboring churches form a circuit and a district, and the synod, with equal numbers of pastors and lay delegates, is the highest governing body on earth. It elects the executive board, the Tavola valdese, led by a moderator. The church says that "no single individual holds governing authority; governance is always collective." Pastors are trained and usually serve full time. Elders have jobs and serve without pay, and some of them are local preachers. Both men and women are ordained pastors, and pastors may marry.

together with elders and deacons, after the manner of the primitive Church

The Waldensian and Methodist churches are organized according to a hierarchical system of assemblies known as the presbyterian-synodal model.

the leadership role does not belong to one person, but to the assembly of believers

The Organization page: "The synod elects an executive body called the Waldensian Board, led by a man or woman moderator," and "no office is held indefinitely (terms are annual and renewable up to a maximum of six years, or last five years renewable twice); all officeholders are accountable to an assembly." On elders: "The Elders normally have a job and perform their ministry voluntarily and free of charge." Pastors are ordained at the opening of the synod "through the laying on of hands by all members of the assembly." The FAQ, in Italian, on the clergy: pastors are not called "priests" in any special sense, "perché non sono dei mediatori tra Dio e i fedeli" ("because they are not mediators between God and the faithful"; translation mine), and "il ministero pastorale non è prerogativa maschile" ("the pastoral ministry is not a male prerogative"; translation mine).

Worship is plain and centered on the sermon: a psalm, confession of sin, Scripture, a sermon, a confession of faith, the Supper, prayers and a blessing. The congregation sings hymns together. The church's page on its singing lists instrumental pieces among Protestant worship.

Waldensian worship is plain. The church says its marks are "simplicity and sobriety." The worship spaces are not consecrated, there is no altar and no place where consecrated bread is kept, and the pulpit shows the importance of the sermon. The Sunday service is for Bible readings, prayers, the singing of hymns, preaching and the Lord's Supper. A man or a woman called by the congregation presides.

The church calls the singing of hymns by the congregation a "highly important moment," a form of common prayer. It traces its hymns from Luther's chorales and Calvin's metrical psalms through Pietist and revival hymns to African American spirituals and songs written after 1968. Its page on its singing says that in Protestant worship, besides the congregation's hymns, there are "brani strumentali (preludio, interludio)," that is, instrumental pieces such as a prelude and an interlude. On the Sundays before Holy Week and in that week the church meditates on the passion of Christ, and the FAQ says it does so "senza però riti simbolici particolari," that is, without special symbolic rites.

A highly important moment is the congregational singing of hymns.

Esso consiste in letture bibliche, preghiere, canto di inni, predicazione e celebrazione della Cena del Signore

oltre a brani strumentali (preludio, interludio)

The Worship page gives the order of service: "Opening with a Psalm and a Prayer," "Confession of Sin," "Scripture Reading," "Sermon," "Confession of Faith," "The Lord's Supper," "Collection," "Prayer of Intercession," "The Lord's Prayer," "Blessing." The pages read do not say which instruments, if any, a given congregation uses. The singing page quotes the Reformers on song: it is "espressione non solo dell’intelligenza e del sentimento della creatura ma di tutta la sua persona perché è modulato sulla voce" ("an expression not only of the mind and feeling of the creature but of the whole person, because it is shaped on the voice"; translation mine) "a differenza della musica strumentale." The FAQ on holy days: the Sundays before Holy Week and that week "senza però riti simbolici particolari."

Faith is the work of the Holy Spirit, who gives gifts to all members. The synod meets "seeking the guidance of the Holy Spirit," in the conviction that the Spirit guides the decisions reached collectively. The pages read teach no tongues or healing gifts today.

The Waldensian church teaches that faith "is the gracious and efficacious work of the Holy Spirit," who enlightens the soul and leads it to rest on the mercy of God. All members, says the church, "have received gifts from the Spirit that, together, sustain the life of the community."

The Spirit's guidance is also sought in decisions. The synod acts "as an assembly of believers seeking the guidance of the Holy Spirit," and its proceedings rest "on the conviction that the Spirit guides the decisions reached collectively." The pages read do not teach that tongues, prophecy or miraculous healing are given to the church today, and they do not say they have ceased.

That this faith is the gracious and efficacious work of the Holy Spirit

as an assembly of believers seeking the guidance of the Holy Spirit

based on the conviction that the Spirit guides the decisions reached collectively

The Pastors page: "All community members have received gifts from the Spirit that, together, sustain the life of the community." The 1655 Confession on faith, Art. XVIII, continues: "who enlightens our souls, and persuades them to lean and rest upon the mercy of God." The synod statement of 2010 on same-sex blessings says: "The words and practice of Jesus, as seen in the Gospel, call us to welcome each experience and each choice marked by God’s love, freely and consciously chosen" (PCUSA report).

God will come to judge the world, reveal the kingdom of his righteousness in a new world, and raise the dead to eternal life. The 1655 Confession says the Lord rewards good works with eternal life. The pages read give no statement on the fate of the lost.

The Waldensian church confesses that "God will come to judge the world, to reveal the kingdom of his righteousness in a new world, and to raise the dead to eternal life, for the endless joy of all those who believe in him." The 1655 Confession adds that although good works "can not merit any thing," the Lord "will reward or recompense them with eternal life, through the merciful continuation of his grace." It calls those already in eternal life "saints and glorified persons" who ought to be praised and imitated, but "neither worshiped nor invoked," for God alone is to be prayed to, through Jesus Christ. The pages read give no teaching on the fate of the lost, on purgatory or on a prayer for the dead.

God will come to judge the world, to reveal the kingdom of his righteousness in a new world, and to raise the dead to eternal life, for the endless joy of all those who believe in him.

yet the Lord will reward or recompense them with eternal life

but neither worshiped nor invoked, for God only is to be prayed unto, and that through Jesus Christ

The FAQ, in Italian, says that the church has no priests and that the two sacraments are signs of divine grace and not means to obtain it (translation mine). The Worship page says of the Supper that there is "no saving merit within the service that can be transferred to deceased believers." The Britannica article says the medieval Waldenses "rejected the notion of purgatory and of prayers offered for the dead."

The Gospel in the people's own language, and no silence

The Poor of Lyon gave up their goods, had the Gospels put into the speech of the people and preached them as laymen, and when Rome forbade them to preach they went on. The church still carries Bibles to ordinary readers and keeps preaching at the center of its worship.

The Waldensians began with a Bible that ordinary people could read. The church's history says Valdo "sold his possessions to help the poor and to translate large portions of Scripture into the vernacular," and the Musée protestant says he had the New Testament translated "into the language which was commonly used at that time." The followers he gathered took up poverty and preached as laymen, and when they were forbidden to preach they did not stop; even the Catholic Encyclopedia says they "continued to preach on the plea that obedience is due rather to God than to man." The traveling preachers who came after them, the barbes, "knew large parts of the Scriptures by heart." In the nineteenth century the church sent colporteurs through Italy to sell Bibles in Italian, a book that Rome had forbidden, and the church says they spread around twenty million Bibles and New Testaments.

sold his possessions to help the poor and to translate large portions of Scripture into the vernacular

To help the non-clergy understand the New Testament he had it translated into the language which was commonly used at that time

selling Bibles in Italian (a book forbidden by the Catholic Church at the time) managed to disseminate around 20 million Bibles and New Testaments across the country

howbeit in the church I had rather speak five words with my understanding, that I might instruct others also, than ten thousand words in a tongue.

Jesus said unto him, If thou wouldest be perfect, go, sell that which thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come, follow me.

But Peter and John answered and said unto them, Whether it is right in the sight of God to hearken unto you rather than unto God, judge ye: for we cannot but speak the things which we saw and heard.

But Peter and the apostles answered and said, We must obey God rather than men.

Here the Poor of Lyon stood close to the text, and it should be said plainly. Paul would rather speak "five words with my understanding, that I might instruct others also, than ten thousand words in a tongue" (1 Corinthians 14:19), so a Gospel put into the people's own speech was the apostles' aim, and a Bible kept in a language the people could not read was not. Valdes heard "go, sell that which thou hast, and give to the poor" (Matthew 19:21), and he did it. When the clergy forbade them to preach, his followers gave the apostles' answer, "Whether it is right in the sight of God to hearken unto you rather than unto God, judge ye: for we cannot but speak the things which we saw and heard" (Acts 4:19-20), and "We must obey God rather than men" (Acts 5:29); no council had the right to silence the Gospel, and they were right to go on. The church that still carries Bibles to ordinary readers keeps what they began.

The line is not wholly clear in every part of the medieval movement. The Catholic Encyclopedia says that the Waldensian "perfect" wandered "from place to place preaching," that "to the profession of poverty they added the vow of chastity," that they took a vow of obedience to superiors and that they were "divided into the three classes of bishops, priests, and deacons" (CE). The Musée protestant says that the preachers took the Sermon on the Mount as their chief inspiration and that "lay people, including women, were allowed to preach." The New Testament leaves a man free to give up his goods, but it does not bind a vow of poverty on a preacher, and its elders are husbands of one wife, who are told, "Tend the flock of God which is among you" (1 Peter 5:2). Those parts of the medieval order were a rule of its own, and the church of the Reformation did not keep them.

No priest, and all believers as ministers

The church has no priests. Preaching is not confined to pastors, a member leads the Supper, and pastors may marry. It rests this on the priesthood of all believers.

The Waldensian church does not call its pastors priests. The FAQ says that pastors are not mediators between God and the faithful, since all are children of God in Christ, and that preaching is also done by believers who are not pastors (translated from the Italian). The church calls this "general service or universal priesthood of believers." A member of the church leads the Supper, "rather than by a minister invested with a permanent sacred character, such as a priest." Pastors may marry: the church cites the apostles, Peter first among them, who had wives, and 1 Corinthians 9:5. Elders have jobs and serve without pay, and some are local preachers.

In this context, this is described as general service or universal priesthood of believers.

la predicazione viene fatta anche da credenti che non sono pastori

Gli apostoli, Pietro per primo, ebbero la propria moglie

But ye are an elect race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, that ye may show forth the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvellous light:

Have we no right to lead about a wife that is a believer, even as the rest of the apostles, and the brethren of the Lord, and Cephas?

forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from meats, which God created to be received with thanksgiving by them that believe and know the truth.

Take heed unto yourselves, and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit hath made you bishops, to feed the church of the Lord which he purchased with his own blood.

On the priesthood the church stands on the line. Peter wrote to the whole church, "ye are an elect race, a royal priesthood" (1 Peter 2:9), and the New Testament knows no class of priests between God and a Christian other than Christ himself. A church that has no priest, lets a member lead the Supper and does not forbid a pastor a wife follows the apostles, who had the right "to lead about a wife that is a believer" (1 Corinthians 9:5), and the Spirit's warning against "forbidding to marry" (1 Timothy 4:3). Here the church is nearer the text than Rome and than the old Catholic custom that it left. Where it falls short is in the office itself. The New Testament calls the shepherds of a church its elders, and it makes them the overseers: "the Holy Spirit hath made you bishops, to feed the church of the Lord" (Acts 20:28). In the Waldensian church the shepherding of a congregation rests with one pastor, a man or a woman, and the elders serve beside the pastor as helpers rather than as the flock's overseers.

Women ordained as pastors

Since the 1960s the church has ordained women as pastors on the same terms as men, and women may serve as moderator.

The Waldensian church ordains women as pastors. Its history says: "Since the 1960s, both men and women can be ordained pastors, indicating a new sensitivity about women's empowerment." The FAQ, in Italian, says that the pastoral ministry is not a male prerogative and that women too are consecrated to it. A woman may also lead the church's executive board: the Tavola valdese is "led by a man or woman moderator," and Maria Bonafede held that office in 2010.

Since the 1960s, both men and women can be ordained pastors, indicating a new sensitivity about women

il ministero pastorale non è prerogativa maschile

led by a man or woman moderator

But I permit not a woman to teach, nor to have dominion over a man, but to be in quietness. For Adam was first formed, then Eve;

The bishop therefore must be without reproach, the husband of one wife, temperate, sober-minded, orderly, given to hospitality, apt to teach;

And on the morrow we departed, and came unto Cæsarea: and entering into the house of Philip the evangelist, who was one of the seven, we abode with him. Now this man had four virgin daughters, who prophesied.

I commend unto you Phoebe our sister, who is a servant of the church that is at Cenchreae:

The New Testament honors women and gives them real work: Philip's four daughters "prophesied" (Acts 21:9), and Paul commends "Phoebe our sister, who is a servant of the church that is at Cenchreae" (Romans 16:1). It does not give a woman the pastor's office. "I permit not a woman to teach, nor to have dominion over a man, but to be in quietness. For Adam was first formed, then Eve" (1 Timothy 2:12-13), so the ground is the order of creation and not the custom of a city, and the overseer must be "the husband of one wife" (1 Timothy 3:2). The church's FAQ says the apostolic church made no distinction of sex, and Paul did write "there can be no male and female; for ye all are one man in Christ Jesus" (Galatians 3:28), but that verse is about who are God's children through faith, not about who shepherds a congregation, and the same apostle wrote both. In ordaining women as pastors and calling it "a new sensitivity," the Waldensian church goes against what the apostle wrote, and the New Testament has not left the matter open.

Blessing same-sex couples

In 2010 the synod allowed churches to bless same-sex couples where a local church has reached a consensus, and in 2017 it formally offered the blessing to couples in civil partnerships.

The Waldensian and Methodist synod of August 2010 voted to authorize the blessing of same-sex couples in church under certain conditions. The synod statement, as the PCUSA report gives it, says: "The words and practice of Jesus, as seen in the Gospel, call us to welcome each experience and each choice marked by God’s love, freely and consciously chosen." It leaves the decision to each local church: "where the local church has reached a mature consensus and is respectful of different positions." In 2017 the synod formally recognized "the plurality of different models of coexistence and family life in society" and offered the blessing to couples in civil partnerships, at least one of whom must be a member.

The words and practice of Jesus, as seen in the Gospel, call us to welcome each experience and each choice marked by God’s love, freely and consciously chosen.

laddove la chiesa locale abbia raggiunto un consenso maturo e rispettoso delle diverse posizioni

the plurality of different models of coexistence and family life in society

And he answered and said, Have ye not read, that he who made them from the beginning made them male and female, and said, For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife; and the two shall become one flesh? So that they are no more two, but one flesh. What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder.

For this cause God gave them up unto vile passions: for their women changed the natural use into that which is against nature: and likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another, men with men working unseemliness, and receiving in themselves that recompense of their error which was due.

Or know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with men, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you: but ye were washed, but ye were sanctified, but ye were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, and in the Spirit of our God.

Let marriage be had in honor among all, and let the bed be undefiled: for fornicators and adulterers God will judge.

The Lord answered a question about marriage by going back to the beginning: "he who made them from the beginning made them male and female, and said, For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife" (Matthew 19:4-5). Paul names sexual relations between women and between men as sin, "their women changed the natural use into that which is against nature" and "men with men working unseemliness" (Romans 1:26-27), and he says "abusers of themselves with men" shall not inherit the kingdom, then adds, "And such were some of you: but ye were washed, but ye were sanctified, but ye were justified" (1 Corinthians 6:9-11). The synod rests its act on "the words and practice of Jesus," but his words on marriage are Matthew 19, and his practice toward every sinner was to receive him and call him to repent, as Paul's churches received those who had been washed. The church is right to welcome every person, and that welcome should be kept; but to bless a same-sex union in God's name is to bless what his word calls sin, and the act goes against the plain text. It also shows what the church's rule of authority comes to in practice: the 1655 Confession receives Scripture as "the constant rule of our faith and life," yet a vote in synod has set that rule aside on this point.

A treasury spent outside the church

Worship and ministry are paid for by members' free gifts. The share of Italian income tax that taxpayers assign to the church is, by decision of the synod, spent wholly on humanitarian, social and cultural work, with none of it used for worship or the church's own needs.

The Waldensian church pays for its own work out of its members' gifts. Its support page says that the worship activities "are funded exclusively through the donations of those who participate in the life of the local church," and that the church chose this to safeguard "the autonomy of our preaching." Separately, since 1995 the church has received the share of Italian personal income tax that taxpayers assign to it through the Otto per mille. "By an explicit decision of the Synod, these funds are entirely dedicated to humanitarian, social, and cultural projects, with a significant portion directed toward the poorest regions of the world," and: "None of this money may be used for worship-related or strictly ecclesiastical purposes."

are funded exclusively through the donations of those who participate in the life of the local church

By an explicit decision of the Synod, these funds are entirely dedicated to humanitarian, social, and cultural projects

None of this money may be used for worship-related or strictly ecclesiastical purposes.

Let each man do according as he hath purposed in his heart: not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver.

Upon the first day of the week let each one of you lay by him in store, as he may prosper, that no collections be made when I come.

So then, as we have opportunity, let us work that which is good toward all men, and especially toward them that are of the household of the faith.

And the disciples, every man according to his ability, determined to send relief unto the brethren that dwelt in Judea:

The first half of this practice is the New Testament's own pattern. The church's work is paid for by the free gifts of those who belong to it: "Let each man do according as he hath purposed in his heart: not grudgingly, or of necessity" (2 Corinthians 9:7), "Upon the first day of the week let each one of you lay by him in store, as he may prosper" (1 Corinthians 16:2). A church that will not take the State's money for its preaching has kept its preaching free, and there it stands on the line. The second half is generosity toward the poor, which the apostles also commanded: "as we have opportunity, let us work that which is good toward all men" (Galatians 6:10). The disciples at Antioch sent relief to the brethren in Judea (Acts 11:29). Where the church falls short is small: the money does not come from disciples' gifts but from the tax system, and the apostle's rule in the same verse puts first "them that are of the household of the faith," whom this fund by policy does not serve. The good done with it is real and should not be belittled.

The plumb line is the New Testament: what the apostles commanded, and what the churches practiced with their approval. Each position above is set against it, and the wall below shows how far each one stands from it. Choose a course to read the Scripture and the reason. The church weighed here is the Waldensian Evangelical Church as it stands now, a mainline Reformed church in one synod with the Italian Methodists. It is not the twelfth-century order of the Poor of Lyon, who read the Gospels in the people's language and preached them as laymen; where they stood close to the text they are credited, and where the church of today has left that ground it is said plainly.

Every scripture inspired of God is also profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for instruction which is in righteousness: that the man of God may be complete, furnished completely unto every good work.

Now these things, brethren, I have in a figure transferred to myself and Apollos for your sakes; that in us ye might learn not to go beyond the things which are written; that no one of you be puffed up for the one against the other.

Beloved, while I was giving all diligence to write unto you of our common salvation, I was constrained to write unto you exhorting you to contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered unto the saints.

But in vain do they worship me, Teaching as their doctrines the precepts of men. Ye leave the commandment of God, and hold fast the tradition of men.

The Waldensian church says that Scripture alone guides it: "the sole authoritative word that guides the church," the "constant rule of our faith and life." That is the confession of the line, and the church's fathers died for it. It stands short in what it sets beside the Word. The 1655 Confession receives the Apostles' Creed, the Lord's Prayer and the Decalogue "as fundamentals of our faith," and declares its agreement with the doctrine of the Reformed churches. The synod is "the highest human authority of the Church in matters of doctrine, legislation, jurisdiction and governance." Paul told the church "not to go beyond the things which are written" (1 Corinthians 4:6), and Jude says the faith was "once for all delivered unto the saints" (Jude 1:3), so a synod has nothing to make law and nothing to revise. A creed bound beside the text and a synod that legislates on doctrine are the two places where the church's practice does not match its profession.

The Britannica article says the medieval Waldenses "accepted the Bible as the sole, total authority of all doctrine." The church today has kept the words and added the confession and the synod. The result shows in the way the synod of 2010 decided on blessing same-sex couples (see the distinctives below): the confession was not changed, and the Scripture it names as the rule was read in a way that the church had not read it before.

And Peter said unto them, Repent ye, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ unto the remission of your sins; and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

But when they believed Philip preaching good tidings concerning the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women.

We were buried therefore with him through baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we also might walk in newness of life.

for by grace have ye been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not of works, that no man should glory.

The church is right that no one earns salvation: "by grace have ye been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not of works, that no man should glory" (Ephesians 2:8-9). It stands far from the line on baptism. In the New Testament the people who were baptized were those who had heard and believed: "when they believed Philip preaching good tidings … they were baptized, both men and women" (Acts 8:12). An infant can neither repent nor believe, so baptizing the children of members and confirming them at eighteen is a rite the New Testament does not know. Sprinkling is not the burial of Romans 6:4: "We were buried therefore with him through baptism into death," and the church's own Confession says that in baptism "we are cleansed from our sins," while Peter commanded it "unto the remission of your sins" (Acts 2:38), and the church teaches it as a sign of a grace already given. The line gives baptism to the believer and for forgiveness. The church gives it to infants and as a sign.

Here the history cuts hard. Britannica says the medieval Waldenses held that baptism "was to be by full immersion in water and was not administered to infants." The Poor of Lyon stood on the text, and the church that joined the Reformation in 1532 gave it up for the Reformed practice. The Confession's article on election, that God saves "those whom he has chosen" and passes by "all the rest," also goes beyond a gospel that "would have all men to be saved" (1 Timothy 2:4).

And upon the first day of the week, when we were gathered together to break bread, Paul discoursed with them, intending to depart on the morrow; and prolonged his speech until midnight.

And they continued stedfastly in the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, in the breaking of bread and the prayers.

For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink the cup, ye proclaim the Lord’s death till he come.

but he, when he had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God;

The Waldensian church keeps the Supper as the Lord left it. It is a remembrance, it "does not repeat Christ’s sacrifice," and "he, when he had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God" (Hebrews 10:12). There is no altar and no priest, a member of the church presides, and the Supper has its place in the order of the Sunday service. On what the Supper is and who leads it, the church stands on the line. It stands short in how often. The disciples at Troas came together "upon the first day of the week … to break bread" (Acts 20:7), and the first-day Supper is binding. The church says its Supper "is not celebrated at every service, but according to the practices of each individual congregation," and in that, custom is allowed to settle what the apostles' example fixed. The Poor of Lyon, who communed once a year according to Britannica, were no nearer.

The church's own page shows the Supper in the order of every Sunday's service, after the confession of faith, so the pattern is not far away: a Waldensian congregation that took it every first day would be doing what its liturgy already assumes. The pages read do not say who may come to the table.

And when they had appointed for them elders in every church, and had prayed with fasting, they commended them to the Lord, on whom they had believed.

The elders therefore among you I exhort, who am a fellow-elder, and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, who am also a partaker of the glory that shall be revealed: Tend the flock of God which is among you, exercising the oversight, not of constraint, but willingly, according to the will of God; nor yet for filthy lucre, but of a ready mind; neither as lording it over the charge allotted to you, but making yourselves ensamples to the flock.

But I permit not a woman to teach, nor to have dominion over a man, but to be in quietness.

The church says it will have pastors "together with elders and deacons, after the manner of the primitive Church," and it keeps no priest, no bishop and no pope. Each congregation's assembly elects its pastor and holds its council accountable, and members preach. In this it stands near the line, as the apostles "appointed for them elders in every church" (Acts 14:23). It stands short where its government goes above the congregation. The church calls itself "a hierarchical system of assemblies": circuits, districts and a synod that is "the highest human authority" over all the churches, and an executive board, the Tavola valdese, that governs between synods. The New Testament puts no assembly above the congregation, and the elders of a church are told, "Tend the flock of God which is among you" (1 Peter 5:2). It rests the shepherding of each congregation in one pastor rather than in its elders, and it ordains women as pastors, against "I permit not a woman to teach, nor to have dominion over a man" (1 Timothy 2:12) and the rule that the overseer be "the husband of one wife" (1 Timothy 3:2).

The popular story that the Waldensians are a church older than Valdes, unbroken from the apostles, answers a question the New Testament does not ask. A church does not stand by a chain of churches back to the apostles, for Christ's people are "built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the chief corner stone" (Ephesians 2:20), and they stand wherever the apostles' teaching is received. The record shows no such chain for the Waldensians in any case: their own history begins with Valdo, and what is told of an older Alpine church was a later claim. It is no reproach to them. The same text ends the opposite claim, that a church lacking such a line is not a church.

speaking one to another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody with your heart to the Lord;

Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly; in all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts unto God.

God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship in spirit and truth.

Waldensian worship is plain, and the plainness is real: a room that is "not consecrated," no altar, no priest, no relics, a pulpit at the center and the sermon as the main thing, and a congregation that sings together. That is the worship of people who "worship in spirit and truth" (John 4:24), and on these points the church stands near the line. It does not stand on it. The service follows a fixed order that includes a recited confession of faith, the singing is of metrical psalms and hymns drawn from the Reformers and from later centuries, and the church's own page on its singing lists instrumental pieces such as a prelude and an interlude among Protestant worship. The New Testament gives the church "singing and making melody with your heart to the Lord" (Ephesians 5:19), and an instrument is an addition to that. The pages read do not say which congregations use instruments, so this course is set where the church's own rule puts it, and no further.

The Worship page traces the church's hymns through Luther's chorales and Calvin's psalms to songs written after 1968 with lean melodies and fresh rhythms, which shows how freely the church has changed the shape of its singing. Paul asks that "the word of Christ dwell in you richly" with "psalms and hymns and spiritual songs" (Colossians 3:16); the words are the thing. The church's own page on its singing says the Reformers held that song, unlike instrumental music, is shaped on the voice, and that Calvin allowed only metrical psalms.

Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he shall guide you into all the truth: for he shall not speak from himself; but what things soever he shall hear, these shall he speak: and he shall declare unto you the things that are to come.

seeing that his divine power hath granted unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that called us by his own glory and virtue;

Love never faileth: but whether there be prophecies, they shall be done away; whether there be tongues, they shall cease; whether there be knowledge, it shall be done away.

The church teaches that faith is "the gracious and efficacious work of the Holy Spirit" and that every member has a gift from the Spirit, and it does not make tongues or healing the sign of a believer. On these points it stands near the line. It stands short in where it looks for the Spirit's guidance today. The synod acts "as an assembly of believers seeking the guidance of the Holy Spirit," in "the conviction that the Spirit guides the decisions reached collectively." The Lord promised the apostles that the Spirit "shall guide you into all the truth" (John 16:13), and that guidance is finished in the written word, for "his divine power hath granted unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness" (2 Peter 1:3). A vote of the synod is not a new word from the Spirit, and the result of 2010 shows the danger: the Spirit is appealed to for a decision that the Spirit's own word does not support. The church also treats baptism as a sign, where Peter joined it to the gift: "be baptized … and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit" (Acts 2:38).

The miraculous gifts came through the apostles' hands and ceased with them, as 1 Corinthians 13:8 says that tongues "shall cease." The pages read teach no such gifts today and make no claim for them, which is where the line stands. The church's error here is one of source and not of claim: it grants the Spirit to the assembly's deliberation where the New Testament grants him to the word.

And inasmuch as it is appointed unto men once to die, and after this cometh judgment;

Marvel not at this: for the hour cometh, in which all that are in the tombs shall hear his voice, and shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of judgment.

And these shall go away into eternal punishment: but the righteous into eternal life.

For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven, with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first;

The church confesses what the Scriptures teach about the end: "God will come to judge the world … and to raise the dead to eternal life." It teaches no purgatory, no prayer for the dead and no invocation of saints, and holds that "it is appointed unto men once to die, and after this cometh judgment" (Hebrews 9:27). Its Confession says good works will be rewarded "with eternal life" by grace, and the dead in Christ "shall rise first" (1 Thessalonians 4:16). The line is plainer than the church's statement. The Lord said that "they that have done good" will come forth "unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of judgment" (John 5:29), and "these shall go away into eternal punishment: but the righteous into eternal life" (Matthew 25:46). The pages read speak only of the joy of those who believe, and say nothing of the lost. A church that confesses a judgment ought to say what the judgment is, and here it is silent.

This placement rests on the church's statement of belief and the 1655 Confession, and on what those texts leave unsaid. A fuller teaching on the lost may exist in the church's catechisms or sermons that the pages read do not carry.

The Waldensians hold much that Scripture also teaches, and it should be said plainly. They confess the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit as the ancient church believed. They hold that salvation is a free gift of God to those who believe in Christ, not earned by any merit, and that Christ's sacrifice on the cross is finished and never repeated. They keep two ordinances, with no priest, no altar and no sacrifice, and no saints to pray to. They put the Bible into the people's language and carried it to people who were forbidden to read it. They have no pope and no bishop, they let members preach, and their pastors may marry. They worship in a plain room with the sermon at the center and the whole congregation singing, and they pay for their own preaching with the gifts of their members. And for some eight centuries, through the ban of 1184, the massacres of 1655 and the exile of 1685, they have kept the Gospel at the cost of home and life.

Measured by the New Testament alone, the Waldensian church stands close to the line on the Bible in the people's language, on lay preaching, on a Supper without sacrifice, on a ministry with no priest, and on a treasury that serves the poor. It stands short in six places: the baptism of infants and its confirmation at eighteen, the Supper not taken every first day, the creed and the synod bound beside Scripture, the assemblies set above the congregation, the ordination of women, and the blessing of same-sex unions. Baptism is the immersion of a believer for the forgiveness of sins, and sprinkling a child is neither. The Supper belongs to every first day of the week. A synod cannot legislate where the apostles have written, and a vote cannot call sin a blessing.

These are not the failings of a church that never opened the book. The Poor of Lyon went to the Gospels first, put them into the speech of the people, obeyed God rather than men when Rome forbade them to preach, and paid for it with their lives. In 1532 their church gave up the believer's baptism of the medieval Waldenses for the Reformed pattern, and it has gone on to add the synod's decisions. What remains is to go back to what Valdes began: "To the law and to the testimony! if they speak not according to this word, surely there is no morning for them" (Isaiah 8:20). Wherever the church reads its own Confession, "the constant rule of our faith and life," and lets it settle the baptism, the Supper, the pastor and the marriage, it will stand where the first Waldensians wanted to stand.

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