From the mission field: Teaching the faith in Italy

The Rev. Tyler McMiller, LCMS missionary to Eurasia, preaches during a Divine Service of the Confessional Lutheran Church of Italy in Rome in January 2024. (LCMS/Erik M. Lunsford)

In a recent article in his missionary newsletter, the Rev. Tyler McMiller, Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod missionary to the Eurasia region, shared about how the Gospel is going forth in Italy.

First, McMiller wrote about two new confirmands in the house church in Florence. Rosa Grene is from Finland and was a member of the Lutheran state church there before moving to Florence nine months ago. Filipe Bertolucci is Italian and learned about confessional Lutheranism from the internet. McMiller wrote that, while Grene’s catechesis was fairly straightforward, owing to her having been a member of a conservative congregation in the Finnish Lutheran state church, Bertolucci’s took over a year. “Today,” wrote McMiller, “he is thrilled to be a Lutheran and has put his knowledge of computer science to work on making a website for our Confessional Lutheran Church of Italy.”

McMiller also shared the story of a family of Brazilian Lutheran immigrants who live four hours by train outside of Rome. “After many months of [the family] faithfully attending our online Service of the Word broadcast, my family and I went … to see them in San Giovanni Rotondo (southern Italy). We spoke to them in Italian, and they answered us in Portuguese, and we were able to communicate just fine. Celebrating the Lord’s Supper with them on their dining room table was the highlight of the trip.”

Finally, McMiller wrote about an Egyptian Christian immigrant to Italy named Samwaeil, who has recently begun attending services at the Lutheran church plant in Rome:

“He walked into our church one weekend and, since then, he has been in faithful attendance. While catechizing him will be a real challenge (he only speaks Arabic), we meet every Monday to go through the liturgy in Italian, and we communicate through Google Translate. So far, I have learned the words “abibi” (my friend), “yajri” (run! [to catch a bus]), and “fi muhin” (to have a heavy brain [smart? tired? I’m not sure … ]).

“Just this past week, I was able to help him open a bank account. It’s a blessing to help someone else with their immigration process, after I had struggled so long with so many of these processes myself.”

Learn more about the work of the Rev. Tyler and Yanela McMiller.

Posted July 18, 2025