News from Milan and Novara
Daniel Pratt Chapman-Morris was presented, with his wife Grace, during the opening
of the 2016 Synod. They are missionaries and they are posted by the Methodist Church
UK wherever there is need. I met them in Torre Pellice with their young family, and
this is what he writes after one year.
Daniel, Grace and family.
My name is Daniel and I am a British Methodist Mission partner serving in
Italy. I am serving in two churches which contain diverse groups of people
from several different countries. In Milan the church has at least 10 nation-
alities. In Novara (a city near Milan) there are also many different countries
represented. Our services are bilingual (in English and Italian). The vision
is to encourage the different groups of people all to come together in Christ.
My wife Grace is also serving as a Mission partner. Her role is different
to my own. She serves on the intercultural and education committees. Her
job is to work with these national committees and one of the tasks is to help
create Sunday School material which reflects the diverse cultural traditions
in the church. Grace is from Ghana and grew up in Gambia (near Senegal)
and has enjoyed participating in these meetings very much.
The goal of the Italian Church is neither assimilation, nor parallel co-
existence. The vision is that, in being together, we will all learn from each
other. It is not an easy task. By no means. All the normal church difficulties
about styles of music and worship are there. When you add different cultural
perspectives and languages into this mix it can make for a very interesting
recipe. However, with God all things are possible, and we believe the Holy
Spirit is with us. We pray we will always move in step with God’s presence.
Rev. Dr Daniel Chapman-Morris
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