Massimiliano Tosetto

Massimiliano (Maximilian) Tosetto was born 14 May 1877, in Campiglia dei Berici, Provincia Vincenza, Italy, the son of Luigi Tosetto (b. 21 Aug 1834, Campiglia) and Maria Viola (b. 24 March 1846, Campiglia). The family lived at Contrada Carazza n. 179 when he was born, but moved to Agugliaro, returning to Campiglia dei Berici when Tosetto entered 'terza elementare'. His mother died when he was young. From an early age he was a religious young man ('buono e mistico'), committed to church, family, and education. Musically and artistically gifted (in his town he was called “el pitoreto”, Garon, 2019), Tosetto moved to Milano, where he was encouraged by one of his former teachers (Cantarella) to pursue studies in Decorative Art at the Art Institute in Milan, after which he earned a living as a painter in frescoes and oil. Among his earliest frescoes were in the Catholic Church in Campiglia. It was also through Cantarella that Tosetto met a protestant painter, and about 1889, Tosetto converted from Catholicism while attending an evangelical Baptist church in Milan (under pastor Nicola Papengouth). What theological education Tosetto gained was under this preaching, through his later experiences in Chicago, and through diligent personal study and research.

Tosetto migrated to the United States "in search of economic opportunity and the promise of social and religious liberty" (Palma). He arrived in New York on 28 June 1901, and worked there for some time before he transferred at the end of 1903 to Chicago to work as an interior decorator for Marshal Field and Company. In Chicago Tosetto, attended D. L. Moody's “Memorial Church" on Illinois Street, though it is clear that he was also (from 1904) attending the Chiesa dei Toscani established by Michele Nardi [qv]. Moody's successor R. A. Torrey, had written extensively about the ‘Baptism in the Spirit’, and it was here that Tosetto may well have learned of a post-conversion Spirit experience. In 1906, he wrote to the priest in his former parish of Campiglia, and declared he would (citing extensive biblical texts in support) return to the town and preach the gospel. In February 1907 (ie. before the pentecostalization of the Assemblea Cristiana in Chicago), Tosetto returned Italy to evangelize his hometown, Campiglia dei Berici. Visiting his old parish priest and friend, D. Giuseppe Cappellina, he was encouraged to return to the Catholic faith. Instead, wrote Cappellina, 'he tried to convert me through a long Pauline epistle... with the air of a prophet ... and with the piety of a suggestive mysticism'. (in Strippoli) Though faced with resistance from the Catholic clergy (his preaching 'provoked a true war of religion which disturbed the quiet rural life of the 'terra vicentina'), he made a progress. Tosetto began preaching in a tavern and then in the square, handing out evangelical tracts as people to come out of the local Catholic church. Tosetto also continued the following Sundays, drawing a growing crowd. As the news spread, the bishop of Vicenza, Antonio Feruglio, distributed a letter to the population and to the clergy. In order to counter "leprosy coming from afar" he directed leading Catholic apologists (don. Attilio Caldana, Fr Tiziano Veggian, Fr Andrea Scotton) to counter Tosetto's preaching. Tracts such as "Un lebbroso a Campiglia", were circulated against Tosetto, locals (organized by the local priest, Guglielmo Stringari, and media such as L'Operaio Cattolico [The Catholic Worker]) threatened violence, and Tosetto was called in by the Mayor (Chiericati) and the local maresciallo (di Albettone). A church, which it has been claimed was 'the first [pentecostal] meeting house in Italy', was opened on 15 August 1908 in the presence of five evangelical pastors and a hundred people. It was in fact built under the auspices of Wesleyan Methodist cause. Tosetto then turned the church over to Giordano Girardi, the Wesleyan minister at Padova, and returned to America.

In 1909, while worshiping at the Assemblea Cristiana (formed by schism from Nardi’s church over the issue of adult baptism, and then ‘pentecostalized’ after William H. Durham returned from Azusa Street to Chicago), Tosetto received the Baptism.

On 15 Oct 1910 in Chicago, he married Luisa nee Isola (1891-1913), with whom he had one son: Abner Endor Tosetto (1912-1994). After her death, on 13 July 1914 he married Maria Carmella nee Pontarelli (1891, Chicago-1986, Niagara), the fifth of six children of Abbruzzese migrants Vincenzo Pontarelli and Filomena Concetta nee Pitassi, with whom he had 6 children.

Tosetto was known for preaching with conviction and attention to biblical orthodoxy. In 1916, after being miraculously healed of an ear infection, he resolved to forego his secular labor as an artisan and pursue full-time ministry. He pioneered the Pentecostal work throughout upper New York state, responsible for churches in Lockport, Tonawanda, Buffalo, Jamestown, and Niagara Falls. In 1914 along with Michele Palma and Luigi 'Louis' Terragnoli, he published the first hymnal of the Italian-American Pentecostal church, Inni e Salmi Spirituali. He was also the editor of the hymnal produced in 1928 used by the Pentecostal church in Italy until the mid 1980s. It included several hymns translated from English into Italian and many songs written and composed by Italians. He is widely considered as one of the leading hymnists of the global Italo-American Pentecostal movement. The authors deliberately did not include their names with the hymns, signing only Assemblea Cristiana Chicago, Illinois. At the bottom of the page was printed the words "NOT copyrighted. LET NO ONE DO SO. MAY THIS SONG EVER BE FREE TO BE PUBLISHED FOR THE GLORY OF GOD." Many of the 'Harp Christian' hymns in South America (in the Congregação Cristã in Brazil) have their origin in this hymnal.

In 1916, Tosetto became founding pastor of Walnut Avenue Christian Church, Niagara. Behind the pulpit of the church was painted the biblical verse, "Do all things decently and in order" (1 Cor. 14:40), a symbol of Tosetto’s emphasis on collaboration and the centrality of the gospel. Tosetto also helped organize the Pentecostal movement in Canada among churches in Ontario and Quebec, building on the work of the Jewish missionary, "Brother Cohen," from Durham's mission in Chicago. "Tosetto and Lencione encouraged congregations in Hamilton and Toronto who had experienced the baptism in the Spirit to appoint deacons and elders. The work carried throughout Ontario and by 1921 reached the Italian Protestant community of Montreal, Quebec". (Palma) When in 1923, the Blood Controversy divided the Assemblea Cristiana in Chicago, Tosetto defended the 'no blood products' position, and that the commands of the Council of Jerusalem were enduring. (Palma)

Tosetto was (along with Luigi Francescon and Giuseppe Petrelli) one of the founders, and the effective organizational leader, of the largest Italian Pentecostal denomination in the United States, the Christian Church of North America (CCNA), under its original title the 'Unorganized Italian Christian Churches of the United States' (a recognition of Petrelli's influence). The first General Convention of the CCNA in 1927 was held at the church he pastored for 29 years, Walnut Avenue Christian Church, Niagara Falls. Tosetto served on the CCNA Council, was one of the five 'overseers' selected to help churches solve problems, and selected Katherina Palma (Michele's wife) to serve as the first Secretary-Treasurer of the CCNA. (The other elders were Francescon, Michele Palma, Olympus Angelelli, and Francesco Emma).

Tosetto died in Montreal on 10 September 1949, while preaching a mission there. Palma notes, that 'His last message, themed "Precious in the Sight of the Lord is the Death of His Saints," concluded with an exhortation to live in peace and love and with the words, "I feel as though I have wings, ready to fly."

With his first wife, Luisa "Louise" Isola (1891–1913), Tosetto had one son Abner Endor (b. 6 Feb 1912, Chicago; d. 5 Apr 1994, Lewiston, Niagara County, New York; m. 1940, Carmela Evelyn Colucci 1917-2000; worked in hardware). With his second wife, Maria Carmella Pontarelli (1891, Chicago–1986, Niagara Falls), he had five children: Lois Chesia 1915–2010 (m. Gardell); Lydia Leah 1916–1997 (m. Earl Franklin Telschow; 1 s. Roger); Ulda Alba 1918–2015 (m. 1. 1939, Michael Anthony Vodola, 1904–1970; 2. James Frank Giordano, 1922–2008); Esther Naomi 1923–2018 (m. Alfred Palma), and Endor Abner (1926 -2 Feb 2012, m. Dorothy Irene Ard).

Tosetto was buried in Niagara Falls Memorial Park, New York.

Sources:

Ancestry.com

Garon, Emilio, 'L’evangelico Tosetto e gli strali del vescovo', Il Giornale di Vicenza, https://www.ilgiornaledivicenza.it/home/cultura/libri/l-evangelico-tosetto-e-gli-strali-del-vescovo-1.6849277 , accessed 7 August 2019.

Kurian, G. T., and Mark A. Lamport (eds), Encyclopedia of Christianity in the United States, Volume 5, Rowman & Littlefield, 2016,

Tosetto, Maximillian, "Primo, secundo, e terzo trattato: non mangiate alcun sangue," in Papers of Anthony DeGregorio, 9.35, Archives and Special Collections, David Allan Hubbard Library, Fuller Theological Seminary, 1926.

Palma, Paul (2017), 'From a Band of Immigrants to a global movement: a century of Italian American pentecostalism, 1906-2006.', unpubl. dissertation, Regent University.

Palma, Paul (2019), Italian American Pentecostalism and the Struggle for Religious Identity, London: Routledge 2019.

Quaglio, Lorenzo, 'La Chiesa Cristiana Evangelica di Campiglia dei Berici'.

Strippoli, Giuseppe, Slide Deck, 7 Nov 2015, http://www.adivenezia.it/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/Massimiliano-Tosetto.pdf, accessed 7.8.2019.

Copia integrale di atto di nascita, Municipio di Campiglia dei Berici (anagrafe@comunecampiglia.vi.it)