Activities
Here you can learn about the life of our community.
Diaconal commitment
Diaconia – what we do (diaconal commitment)
The Diaconia of our community is part of the network of the Diaconia of the CELI and is in contact with the Diaconia groups of the other CELI communities.
The activities of the Diaconia of our community are divided into three areas in which we are committed to supporting others:
- Support for diaconal projects within the territory of our community (Tuscany/Emilia-Romagna)
- Promotion of international aid projects and support for projects of other CELI communities in Italy
- Direct community support:
- Supportive conversations, home visits, and maintaining personal contacts
- Wednesday breakfast at the church
- Help in emergency situations and accompaniment/support in medium- to long-term difficult situations
- Temporary financial assistance in emergency situations, e.g. grocery vouchers, payment of an electricity bill, etc.
- If necessary, contact and networking with local services or associations, as well as support in filling out forms and handling bureaucratic procedures.
Do you need help, or do you know someone who is in a difficult situation? Do not hesitate to contact us so that we can find solutions together and provide appropriate support.
Your requests will be treated with the utmost confidentiality.
Or would you like to help? There are many ways to do so, either by taking part in our outreach activities or through donations.
Contact:
diaconia.celfi@gmail.com
firenze@chiesaluterana.it
telephone: 370 365 3081
Ecumenical christianity and intrareligious dialogue
We live our Evangelical Lutheran faith in a spirit of brotherly fellowship with Christians from other churches. The Swiss Reformed Community of Florence celebrates its worship service twice a month in our church on the Lungarno Torrigiani.
The World Day of Prayer traditionally takes place on the first Friday of March in our church. The preparations are shared among Christians of all denominations. Another important ecumenical highlight each year is the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity.
The Evangelical Lutheran Community of Florence is part of the council of pastors, in which various Protestant churches collaborate. In addition, dialogue between religions and worldviews is very important to us. For this reason, we are very active in the interfaith dialogue in Florence among Christianity, Judaism, and Islam.
Counseling and pastoral care
Sometimes it helps to be able to talk to someone.
To look at one’s soul in the light of God together with another person. To give and receive comfort and renewed strength, guidance, and forgiveness. To pray together and seek a meaningful path forward together. We pastors are bound by confidentiality — therefore, whatever is entrusted to us remains private.
Come to us if you need someone to talk to in your current situation. You can speak to us when you see us, call us by phone, or send us an email if you prefer. You will find all contact details on this page, and we will be happy to arrange an appointment.
Open church
Enter. Leave confusion behind. Let the church space act upon you. Sense the silence. Become quiet. Take a breath. Let your soul be free. Perhaps a prayer. Our church does not have continuous opening hours, but when it is open, it invites you to pause for a moment. You can learn about its history. Take a hymnal and read something. There is someone available for conversation.
Or simply sit on a bench and rest for a few minutes. You are truly welcome!
Visitors
What experiences does a church with German roots have in Italy? How do Lutherans, as a small minority, experience ecumenism with other churches? And why do we Protestants not have images of saints in our church, but instead a female pastor at the pulpit? These and similar questions are frequently asked by visiting groups.
We are delighted to welcome groups of tourists and school classes, and we are very happy to talk about Martin Luther and our church.
Library
Are you looking for “Buddenbrooks” by Thomas Mann or a crime novel to read before going to sleep? Are you interested in something that offers advice on education? Or would you like to read fairy tales to your grandchildren?
Our library offers a wide range of books, mainly in German but also in Italian. You can borrow whatever interests you. The Library Group will advise you with expertise. In addition, there is also the “free exchange” shelf, where books can be taken or left without formalities.
Musical Committee
A Lutheran church that takes its identity seriously undoubtedly regards music as an integral part of worship, as well as an irreplaceable source of cultural and spiritual enrichment. The various aspects related to musical performances are overseen by the Music Committee, a body composed of the Pastor, the choir director, the principal organist, and possibly no more than one or two additional collaborators.
The planning of concerts is handled by the Music Committee, as are important decisions regarding the maintenance of musical instruments.
Divine Service/Worship
We come together to draw near to God; to hear God’s Word; pray; to commune with one another; and to celebrate through music and song. You’re invited to celebrate together with us. Services are conducted in German and Italian.
Normally we celebrate service every first and third Sunday of the month and on important ecclesiastical holidays at our Evangelical-Lutheran church in Florence (Lungarno Torrigiani, 11). We also gather once a month in Pisa and Bologna. Please check the calendar for meeting dates and times, as they do change.
Avete bisogno di aiuto o conoscete qualcuno che si trova in una situazione difficile?
Non esitate a contattarci per trovare insieme delle soluzioni e il sostegno adeguato.
Le vostre richieste saranno trattate con la massima riservatezza.
Oppure volete dare una mano? Ci sono molte possibilità per farlo, sia collaborando agli interventi di prossimità, sia sotto forma di donazioni.
Contatti:
telefono: 370 365 3081
Children
“Every newborn child brings the message from God to us that God has not lost his faith in humanity”
Rabindranath Tagore
Children are most welcome in our community. We regularly have activities for families, as well as day-long family events. In our parish hall we have a children’s room with some toys and many children books.
Youth
Faith, love and hope – in your own way. Young people need free spaces to explore their faith. Our church provides that space where youth can meet. Throughout the two year long course preparing for confirmation young adults confront questions about God and the world. In our library we have fascinating literature in Italian and German for young adults.
Women’s group
“Heart and hand” of our community for more than thirty years. Our women meet every Wednesday afternoon. Any subject can become a topic for further discussion: family, politics, music, literature, art, history, theology – in short everything that life has to offer.
Quite rightly Barbara Streisand once said sassily:“ You can persuade men, but you have to convince women.”
Our women stand together to serve. Whoever needs help whether it is just someone to talk to, a helping hand, or global outreach, you’ll find someone among them to help. As has been said above: they embody the idea of God’s Work, our hands.
Encounters in homes
We're coming to you.
“Lord, allow that all those who seek you, find you, and all those who have found you, seek you again, until all our seeking and finding is filled with your presence.”
These words by Hermann von Bezzel (1861 – 1917), express the meaningful purpose of the encounters in our homes very well. About four times a year our group in the Emilia-Romagna meets in one of the members’ homes. After coffee and cake starts the discussion of a topic.
Everyone is invited to participate. We can only find truth together. Every meeting, even after the most heated debates, ends with a comunal dinner.
Recreational excursions
Family free time
Time-off from the daily grind. Repose for body and soul. Twice a year on a weekend our community offers recreational excursions to a beautiful spot: members from every corner of our community participate. We offer fun and diverse activities for all ages built around an interesting topics.
The choir
Power of music
“Music is a pure gift and God’s donation; it ousts the devil, it lets people rejoice and bans all thoughts of vice” has been said by Martin Luther. Singing is joy, especially in our choir “The church choir of joy”
Everyone can join: women, men, old, young, Italians, Germans, Catholics, Protestants, settled and temporary Florentines.
We sing during church services, at events in our church, and even under the sky – but always with joy! We also enjoy being merry.
Choir leader Maria von Scheven
She leads the choir and brings it to shine not only in the realms of music.
Avete bisogno di aiuto o conoscete qualcuno che si trova in una situazione difficile?
Non esitate a contattarci per trovare insieme delle soluzioni e il sostegno adeguato.
Le vostre richieste saranno trattate con la massima riservatezza.
Oppure volete dare una mano? Ci sono molte possibilità per farlo, sia collaborando agli interventi di prossimità, sia sotto forma di donazioni.
Contatti:
telefono: 370 365 3081
Concerts
The works of Johann Sebastian Bach will resound nowhere else as lovely as in our Evangelical-Lutheran church with its Bach-Organ; but our church also offers a wonderful acoustic for other composers and musicians.
We also have a Bechstein concert grand in our parish hall for intimate concerts in the style of the romantic salon. We offer sophisticated and varied concerts under the artistic direction of our cantor Francesco Giannoni. All are welcome! Entry is free of charge.
Cantor and organist Francesco Giannoni
He is the musical director in our community. Besides the musical accompaniment of church services he is also responsible together with the committee for music for the organization of musical events.
More Events
Talks etc
When Philipp Melanchthon, the great humanist and collaborator of Martin Luther, was asked about the essence of Christianity, he said: “Freedom – that is Christianity”.
He was referring to the wonderful freedom to trust in God, the freedom to be free from the forces of oneself and the helpful and useful freedom to shape this world in Christian love.
The reformers through their studies of the bible had regained a profound awareness of this freedom to be children of God and they understood this freedom, as a duty to educate, foster curiosity, and encourage reading. In the same vein we offer thematic days dedicated to a topic, seminars and talks to current questions of theology and ethics
Culture committee
Whether you want to wander at night through Florence tracing the footsteps of German poets, enjoy live jazz while sipping on strawberry wine coolers, eat veal sausages on a Bavarian themed evening, listen to stories, learn all the tricks and themes of Argentinian Tango, talk about Friedrich Nietzsche, or to wonder together with Navid Kermani about Christianity from a Muslim perspective: you can do all this and more at the events organized by the culture committee. We always provide snacks and drinks hoping for enthusiastic and interesting encounters among all.
Let’s reflect on this together.
Contact us to help shape your most important moments