Celebration of 200 years of the Waldensian Church Mission( The London Vaudois Committee)
Despite being 18 January, a good number of Committee members and friends gathered at Downing Place URC in Cambridge to listen to Prof. Rev. Euan Cameron, especially arrived from the US. The other guest from abroad, our old acquaintance Rev. Peter Ciaccio, talked about 50 years of Waldensian – Methodist Integration. Afterwards soup and cakes and friendship. It was a really enjoyable event!
Anniversary Day at Downing Place.
The Waldensian Churches and the Church of England, c. 1800 – c. 1860: The Sources of the Waldensian Missions
The Waldensian Churches became the focus of both interest and support from the Church of England in the early nineteenth century. That interest was built on traditions going back nearly two centuries, and on a historical vision of what Waldensian belief was about. This article attempts to trace the rise of the campaign of support which led to the establishment of the‘ Waldensian Committee’ exactly two centuries ago.
The Waldensian Church survived into the 1800s by defiance in the face of violent attacks. The treaty which ended the war with Savoy of 1560 – 61 gave the church limited authority to function in a narrowly defined space. That permission did not save it from the massacres of 1655, or the exile of so many of its people in 1686 – 89. The Napoleonic Empire gave a brief initial period of civil equality to the Reformed Churches, which was rescinded after Waterloo. At the time of the Anglican missions, the Waldenses were again living under the
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