1924-5 Conventions.
Italian Watch Tower believers between America and
Italy
An international convention was held
at Columbus, Ohio, July, 20 to 27, 1924. It was international in two senses:
First, in that it was a convention of Watch Tower believers who spoke various
languages; and secondly, people were expected to attend from various countries
throughout the earth [1]. The Watch Tower expected that it should be the
largest convention of Bible Students ever held on earth [2].
About the foreign-speaking people we read:
In
the United States and Canada there is a number of foreign-speaking brethren,
Germans, Greeks, Lithuanians, Poles. Ukrainians, Slovaks, Hungarians, Italians,
etc. It will be expected that the brethren of these foreign languages will
attend, and that all the Pilgrim brethren who serve the foreign-speaking
brethren will also attend. Meetings of the brethren speaking each of the
languages will be conducted regularly. There will be no distinction in race,
color or language, but all will be one in Christ. [3]
In June, Richard A. Johnson and
Rutherford toured Great Britain and parts of continental Europe to advertise
the International Convention at Columbus. They hoped that the Bible Students would
come from the four corners of the earth. [4]
Columbus was chosen because of its
location, being the most accessible to the largest number of people; because of
the transportation facilities and street-car accommodations; because of the
number and size of the available auditoriums. They rented the largest stadium
for the public witness.
The Ohio State Journal
carried a four-page report daily of the Convention. [5].
A detailed report of that convention
appeared in The Watch Tower of September 1, 1924, pp. 259-264.
Three months later the same article appeared in the Italian edition of the
magazine, [6] but with a little difference: at page 165 we find a picture of
Rutherford together with De Cecca and a group of Italian-American Bible
Students. [7]
The first Convention held in Italy
was at Pinerolo, Piedmont, April 23 to 26, 1925. About sixty people attended
the convention, five men and eight women were baptized; the speakers were
Remigio Cuminetti, G. Maurelli, M. Martinelli and A. H. Macmillan.
A
later report reads:
The work continued
to expand in spite of many difficulties, and the first assembly was held at
Pinerolo April 23 to 26, 1925. Since Brother A. H. Macmillan from the Society’s
headquarters was making a series of visits abroad, he was able to be present. The
assembly was held in a large room at the Corona Grossa hotel.
It would have been
ridiculous to expect the Fascist authorities to give their permission for this
assembly. So the brothers disguised the gathering as a wedding celebration.
During the assembly Brother Remigio Cuminetti married Sister Albina Protti, one
of the Swiss colporteurs. At that historic assembly there were 70 in attendance
and 10 of these were baptized.
“Our days were full
of blessings, rejoicing and happiness,” wrote Sister Brun, who was present at
the assembly. She adds: “The hotel owner brought his other guests and clients
into the hall saying: ‘Come and see everybody, we have the primitive church
under our roof!’ . . . Everything was well organized and we usually
managed to clear the floor and set the chairs out in a flash. Afterward we
would put them away again and leave everything in order. We were all happy and
willing to lend a hand. It was a great witness.”
Nevertheless,
during that first assembly there was a curious inconvenience. “Although we were
very different in many ways, we managed to get on well together. However, we
did not manage to agree on the singing of the songs. The brothers from the
north sang with a lively rhythm, while those from the south sang slowly and
with such feeling that it was a pity to make them change. So the presiding
brother decided to have those from the south of Italy sing first, followed by
those from the north.” [8]
The
presence of Macmillan is confirmed in the original Italian Watch Tower,
even though, in the picture taken after the convention we can’t see him;
probably he had only just left. [9]
[1] WT May 1 1924, p. 138, “International
Convention”, paragraph 2
[2] WT May 15 1924,
p. 147, “International Convention” at Columbus”
[3] WT June 1 1924,
p. 164, “Foreign Languages”
[4] WT June 1 1924,
p. 171, “The International Convention at Columbus”
[5] WT August 1
1924, p. 226, “Convention Report”
[6] La Torre di Guardia,
November 1924, p. 163, “La Convenzione internazionale”
[7] La Torre di Guardia,
November 1924, p.165
[8] Yearbook 1982, pp. 133-4
[9] La Torre di Guardia, August
1 1925, p. 121.
