< The Italian DNA

People of all kinds

written by jonathan gilmore

Think of people in Italy and you may instinctively think of a loud room full of people of all ages talking, waving their arms, eating and generally, passionately enjoying each other’s company. Look at Italy today and you still see that scene but increasingly you see people of all kinds.  

Go out, for example, for a walk in any busy city and you’ll see people of all kinds, all ethnicities, all ages. Go, on the other hand, for a walk in a small remote village and you may see no one! Visit a popular tourist location and you may struggle to even find an indigenous inhabitant. Visit a northern Italian city and in certain suburbs you will find modified southern Italian communities recreated with all the richness of accents, cuisine, interests, social dynamics.  

No doubt, Italy is a country full of a million wonderful sights, tastes and experiences. But supremely, in thinking about Italy through the gospel lens, we think of 60 million faces each in need of the Better Story. 

In seeking to establish and be healthy, multiplying churches throughout the country we must take into account a number of elements connected  to the changing demography.

AN OLDER COUNTRY

Italy is an aging country. The national average life expectancy is 82.4 years. There are an estimated 7 births and 12 deaths for every 1000 people, and the birth-rate is positioned around 1.25 children per woman. Better healthcare and the proverbial Mediterranean diet (with a glass of good wine!) seems to work. Sport, health, politics and family life fill the lives of the seniors. Religion is important too, but generally has a decreasing impact.  

Grandparents are often involved as babysitters. As health and strength decline, older parents become of less help and they, in turn, require already stretched families to become more supportive and present. Loneliness can easily and quickly kick in and community, for many older people, in a fast-paced society, becomes something they struggle to have and enjoy. 

Church planting and being church means responding to this growing older generation. At times, however, they can be forgotten along the way. So how can the older generation effectively be engaged with? In what way is the gospel good news for them and how can it shape and redefine their latter years?

VERY NEET

NEET stands for ‘Not in Education, Employment, or Training’ and usually refers to younger people who are unemployed and are not involved in further education or training. 1 in 4 Italians, between the ages of 15-34, in some areas 1 in 2, fall into this category. And we’re talking of 3 million people. Of those only 1 million are actively seeking for employment.  Italy is the western European country with the most NEETs. Despondency and fatalism easily kick it. Active pursuit of creative employment opportunities is made difficult by bureaucracy and other difficulties. 

Churches are invariably affected by the instability NEET produces. Being church and planting churches means also questioning how best to respond to the needs of the NEETs.  What creative ideas can be generated to give work? What opportunities are there? Where are the entrepreneurial coaches who, defined by the gospel, will come alongside the NEETs?

TO AND FROM EVERYWHERE

Migration impacts all of Italy. On the one hand some Italians, struggling to find work, especially from southern Italy, or simply wanting to have better career prospects relocate to other areas of the country or increasingly frequently (to other parts of Europe). 

Incoming foreign migrants come from many different countries in search of a better future. At least 5 million foreigners live in Italy. 47% come from eastern areas of Europe, 22% each from Asia and Africa. The largest numbers of migrants live in northern Italy. 

Church planting and churches must take on board the reality of migration. On the one hand, multi-ethnicity invariably redefines the feel and culture of a local church.  On the other hand, frequent mobility of Italians (study or work) within the country itself means that some churches will be invariably ‘lose’ members, while others will receive ‘new’ members from other regions and church backgrounds. This will mean having to rethink church styles, habits and culture.

Churches and church-planting is affected by all of this. In some cases the majority of the church will be foreigners. This can easily create a sense of this being a church of foreigners, and be thus seen as irrelevant by local Italians.  At the same time what a great opportunity for the gospel - the world has indeed come to the doorstep of Italy and churches can and are responding to the opportunity for outreach.

PEOPLE OF ALL KINDS AND THE GOSPEL

In a sense the challenges encountered in seeing healthy churches planted and then multiply  are not new. Churches must carefully interact with the older generation, with the NEETs, with the migrants. They must relevantly reach out and provide the love, care and concern which speaks volume in this disjointed, increasingly virtual society. 

Communities or light where the gospel is central and where culture, habits and perspectives are redefined by it. And communities are needed where effective integration occurs. Where the richness of cultural differences becomes an opportunity to live out the gospel and practice a warm welcome and appreciation. Where age difference does not lead to a generational segregation, but where the NEETs and the older and the foreign live together in a unique unity. All kinds of people together embracing the gospel. An increasingly fragmented surrounding context waits and needs to see rich community lived out. Where people of all kinds, together, commend the gospel practicing it and proclaiming it.

FINAL THOUGHTS…

Is God impressing you to consider joining us as we move forward to bring the gospel to Italy? To make disciples of all kinds of people. To see local churches, communities of light, dotting the country, in cities and rural areas, including the older and the younger, the Italians and the foreigners! Churches which exist to make Jesus famous and to bring, to all kinds of people, the gospel of grace, hope and life.