16.05.2024 – 07.01 – After the babel of languages and dialects of Piazza Garibaldi and the succession of ethnic shops and oriental markets in the first part of Viale Gabriele D’Annunzio, you come across the tall skyscraper of Largo Disney Sonnino and, not far away, from the beginning of Via Rigutti 1.
The gaze then focuses on a building colored a bright purple red, surrounded by two round windows. This is the headquarters of Seventh Day Adventist Christian Churchone of the components of the Protestant presence in Trieste.
Born in 1863 from an offshoot of the American Millerite movement, the Adventist Church soon spread to Italy and, in the same period as the arrival of the Methodists, also found a home in Trieste. The presence was limited to private accommodation, to a cult not yet officially recognized by the Austrian Empire; then with the growth in the number of faithful, the community found hospitality at the church of Scala dei Giganti and finally, in 1948, it settled in its current location.
A building, the one in via Rigutti, far from being just a church; if there is certainly the temple inside, full of the essential simplicity of Protestant worship, there is also space for a multiplicity of rooms and functions typical of a self-sufficient community; spaces for prayer, study, teaching and for welcoming and serving those most in need.
The pastor, Dr. Michele Gaudio welcomes us into the ‘home’ of the Adventists, shows us the environment and thus unfolds the history of a community that is still very active and lively in the Trieste panorama.
How is the Adventist community of Trieste characterized? How is it organised?
We are currently around 150 members in Trieste. The Adventist church has a worldwide organization based in Washington DC (USA), called the ‘General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists’. This is divided around the world into thirteen areas, called ‘Divisions’, each of which has its own headquarters. Here in Europe the headquarters are in Bern, Switzerland (Inter-European Division). Each state, within these macro geographical areas, in turn has a national headquarters, called ‘Unions’; in the case of Italy corresponding with the Italian Union of Seventh-day Adventist Christian Churches (UICCA) whose headquarters is in Rome. Within each nation the Adventist church is organized into ‘Federations/Camps’; in Italy we find four (north, centre, south and Sicily), we are in the Northern Federation, with its headquarters in Milan. The Northern Federation is in turn divided into four territorial zones, called ‘Areas’ and, finally, each into ‘pastoral districts’. Therefore, we in Friuli-Venezia Giulia are in Area 4 and the pastoral district includes the communities of Trieste, Udine and Pordenone, with the capital Trieste as district head. It could be defined as a concentric distribution.
The Adventist Church also has a top-down authority, but from the bottom up, in the sense that the authority resides in the assembly of believers, which, through procedures regulated in the ‘Church Manual’ and in the ‘Working Policy‘, appoints by delegation its managers at the various higher levels of the administration described above. The structure is therefore very capillary, democratic and representative.
What distinguishes Adventists from other Protestant churches?
Before any characterization, it is important that we feel we are an integral part of the great family of Christianity. We then share all the principles of the Reformation with the Protestant churches; Specifically, the Adventist Church stands out among these for some peculiarities, among which perhaps the most evident is the observance of the Sabbath rest. But there is also an emphasis on preparing for Jesus’ return; the non-belief in the immortality of the soul, in hell and purgatory; baptism by immersion in adulthood; we celebrate the Lord’s Supper with the washing of the feet; particular attention to the holistic health of the individual, moderation is recommended in every area of life, Adventists for example do not consume alcoholic beverages, do not smoke and tend to follow a vegetarian diet; and finally, the application of the ‘biblical tithe’, through which the church subsidizes itself for the exercise of worship. The Adventist Church in fact participates in the distribution of the 8×1000 and 5×1000 funds but uses them only and exclusively for humanitarian, social, cultural and artistic purposes, never for the support of its own religious activities.
What are the origins of the Seventh-day Adventist Church?
The Adventist movement originated and developed in the United States following the preaching of William Miller (1830) which revived the importance of the study of biblical prophecies. Miller therefore became convinced that Jesus would return on October 22, 1844. A notable number of faithful, belonging to different confessions, gathered around Miller. Following the failure of Christ’s return, this movement fell apart; from a group of 3 people (Ellen G. White, James White and Joseph Bates) who had belonged to the Millerite movement was born in 1863 the Seventh-day Adventist Church, which will never formulate dates for the return of Jesus, but which will maintain, within it, the great importance for the study of the Bible and evangelical preaching.
Nowadays the Adventist Church in the world has many universities, schools of all kinds and levels, hospitals, clinics, nursing homes, food industries, television stations, associations and foundations dedicated to scientific research, with the aim of responding to people’s needs, to the study of the Bible and the communication of the gospel.
What is the composition of the local Adventist community?
The community is mainly well rooted among the people of Trieste; then there are also Adventists from abroad, for example from Romania, Ukraine, Serbia, Slovenia and from the African and Latin American world.
In other places in Italy the Adventist church has entirely ethnic communities; there is one Russian, another Ukrainian, there are different communities in Romanian, Filipino, Ghanaian, Latin American and so on. The Adventist church is after all one of the most widespread Protestant churches in the world; we have around 50 million members.
How does Adventist evangelism work today?
For us Adventists, evangelization is not so much a method, it is not proselytism or conquering others, it is rather a lifestyle based on the example of Christ, a living preaching. Each method can be useful for testifying to one’s experience of faith and the gospel. Knowing and using today’s language and communication codes is essential to avoid being anachronistic: today in addition to publishing, we are present through radio, television, the web and on all the main social networks. But perhaps what is substantial for communicating Jesus is the relational aspect, friendships, family meeting groups, being and meeting others, face to facein his daily reality.
What are the social activities of the Adventist community?
In Trieste the section of ADRA. This Adventist association deals with the distribution of food, clothing and toys to the most needy. Furthermore, we welcome an association of Ukrainian women, who offer assistance in carrying out administrative, health and school procedures to women refugees from the war for the inclusion of their children in school and in society. A course for teaching the Italian language to foreigners is active in the Adventist church.
The issue of personal health is also very important and consequently that of the society that welcomes us. The church, through its Vita e Salute Foundation, organizes courses and seminars to combat smoking, stress, nutrition and every aspect that can undermine the well-being of individuals and families.
Towards the world of the little ones the Adventist church with theAISAthe scouting association with which we aim to raise young people’s awareness of nature, creation and ecology.
We are very present in the ecumenical field; relations with all the Trieste churches are excellent. The same on the interreligious front, excellent relations are maintained based on respect, dialogue and friendship with all other religious faiths. The same thing can be said about relations with civil and military authorities.
The Adventist church of Trieste has its own choir: ‘Adventum Choir of Trieste‘, who, in addition to serving during the Sabbath liturgy, can go to other churches or retirement homes, penitentiary institutions to bear witness to the gospel and be a bearer of hope through music and singing.
What are the cultural activities of the Adventist community of Trieste?
The Adventist church, together with the Methodist and Lutheran churches, is part of the Albert Schweitzer Cultural Center of Trieste, therefore, involved in the conferences that are proposed annually. However, we also hold conferences and meetings independently. We are within the Association of Jewish-Christian Friendship (AEC). Furthermore, we have monthly inter-religious meetings at the Sakya Tibetan Buddhist center in Trieste with other religious faiths present in Trieste.
From a musical point of view we regularly participate in the Worship Musicthe annual edition of the cycle of concerts in places of worship organized by the Municipality in collaboration with the FVG Region.
Also in the cultural sphere we highlight the ‘Franz Einspieler’ library, the Documentation and Historical Archive Center of the Adventist church and the Bible Museum.
The library is small, but significant, it is made up of three rooms which house around 8,000 volumes. The texts present are both scientific study books on the Sacred Scripture, texts of the various branches of theology and analysis tools of the biblical text, and texts on the History of the Church, Patristics, Reformation, antiquity and archeology and evangelical movements. Additionally, there is a section on Adventist literature. It is a niche, ultra-specialised library, which therefore does not have a large audience, but constitutes a significant resource for specialists and lovers of the religious and biblical sector in the city of Trieste. The Adventist library, together with the Methodist and Lutheran ones, constitutes the Polo delle Libraries Evangeliche di Trieste (PBE) which adheres to the Julian Library System and to the SBN.
The Documentation Center and Historical Archive of the Adventist Church collects all the local and national documentary material of the Adventist Church: magazines, publications, mimeographed documents, manuals, posters, pamphlets, various studies, in short, everything that has circulated in the Italian Adventist churches. The local section hosts acts from the life of the Trieste community; the minutes of councils, meetings, registers, lists of positions, correspondence, accounting documentation, and so on. The Adventist archive has been protected by the FVG Archival Superintendency since 1993, in line with the historical archives of other Christian and religious communities.
How did the idea of a Museum of the Bible come about?
The idea of a Museum of the Bible it was an important project for us Trieste Adventists; our beautiful city of Trieste, a crossroads of peoples, cultures, religions and languages, had to have a space dedicated to the book whose inspiring values have marked the genius of inventors, artists and the general history of humanity and modern civilization: the Bible. We believed that the Bible can be seen as a tool for cultural mediation and encounter. Every person can feel represented by this sacred text, feel ‘questioned’ by it, so collecting the Bible in many languages is in itself representative. The word of God is as if it were reflected in all its linguistic and cultural heritage. The Museum is a very small reality and currently collects 105 languages, due to its typology it is, at present, unique in Italy.
[La Chiesa Cristiana Avventista del Settimo Giorno è situata in via A. Rigutti n. 1 ed è contattabile allo 040 2034736 e alla mail [email protected]. The library is open Tuesday. 09.00-13.00; Sat. 12.00-17.00; Sun. 09.00-12.00]
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