The summer months of July and August have been for ITA preparation for several of the events soon up and coming in September and the fall season.
We have more boots on the ground in Rome, and this is a good achievement! We need them for the plans that await us here.
To begin with our team has labored hard to develop our nascent church plant soon to be launching next Sunday evening the 4th of September, a date to remember. History is worth recalling in these circumstances. Better yet, or better said, God’s providential guiding merit’s glancing back on.
Just short of six months from arriving in Rome (we the Gravino’s), over two years ago now, back in late November of 2020, the first seeds of the likely establishment of a new local church in Rome were sewn. Through our next-door neighbor, we met an amateur theater owner who was interested in the Gospel and whose theater was (and still is) situated in a popular neighborhood of Rome.
That further led ITA to hold a series of meetings on the Fundamentals of the Faith. From these was born a small mid-week Bible study for a few of those who had attended the ITA sessions. In the meantime, others joined the team, such as the Albanesi family, returning from Ceaser’s seminary studies at TMS, and Simone (Italian for Simon 😊) Marini, serving ITA and the Bible Church of Messina in Sicily, moved to Rome to assist the continued work of ITA. The rest, as they say, is history.
Imago Christi is the name of the new church plant and future local church. As we thought about what name to give our nascent group and imminent church, the biblical theme of the Image of Christ caught our attention. Scripture (NT) instructs us that the Image of God, from the beginning, is now represented by the Image of Christ, through the incarnation, death, and resurrection of Christ. The Image of Christ is, moreover, represented by His body on earth, the Church, Christ’s new creation. It is in that same image that 2 Corinthians 3:18 tells us we “are being transformed” (2 Cor 3:18). Our prayer and persuasion is that this be the aim of our new church body and to this image may we point those who don’t know Christ in Rome.
We are also very grateful for the send off that the Chiesa Berea (Berean local church) in Rome, historic church body in the city, and our momentary host church family, will give us on that same Sunday, September 4th. At their Sunday morning worship service, the elders of the church will invite the Imago Christi team up before everyone so that we can be prayed for.
More to come in the next ministry update. Needless to say, we are all very resolved in beginning well and being used of the Lord in the city of Rome, and the rest of the country, by God’s grace, to sound forth the Word of the Lord in every place our faith toward God goes forth!
