Mike Brown is pastor of Chiesa Riformata Filadelfia, Milan, Italy. Prior to serving in Italy he was pastor of Christ Reformed Church, Santee, CA. He is a graduate of Westminster Seminary California, a veteran of the United States Army, and author of Christ and the Condition: The Covenant Theology of Samuel Petto (1624–1711) (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Reformation Heritage Books, 2012) and co-author (with Zach Keele) of Sacred Bond : Covenant Theology Explored (Grandville, MI: Reformation Fellowship, 2017).
We are deeply thankful for your prayers, encouragement, and faithful support of Mission Milan. Because of your partnership in the gospel, the Word of Christ continues to be proclaimed clearly and joyfully here in Italy. It is a privilege to labor in this land and to witness the quiet, steady work of the Lord as he builds his church through ordinary means—Word, sacrament, prayer, and fellowship. Continue reading →
On January 6, 2026 our church had the joy of hosting a gathering of twenty-three ministers and elders representing ten confessional Reformed and Presbyterian churches from across Italy. These churches came from Milan, Monza, Lecce, Pistoia, Brescia, Asti, Legnano, Novara, San Remo, . . . Continue reading →
The ancient city of Smyrna holds a significant place in the annals of church history. It was one of the seven churches addressed by Christ in the book of Revelation, and it was the home of the early church father Polycarp (AD . . . Continue reading →
Yet we have already seen that serious injustice is done to God’s covenant if we do not assent to it, as if it were weak of itself, since its effect depends neither upon baptism nor upon any additions. Afterward, a sort of . . . Continue reading →
In his Sacred Supper he bids me take, eat, and drink his body and blood under the symbols of bread and wine. I do not doubt that he himself truly presents them, and that I receive them. John Calvin | Institutes of . . . Continue reading →
First, all that belong to the covenant and church of God are to be baptized. But the children of christians, as well as adults, belong to the covenant and church of God. Therefore they are to be baptized as well as adults. . . . Continue reading →
We hold, also, that although we are baptized only once, yet the gain that it symbolizes to us reaches over our whole lives and to our death, so that we have a lasting witness that Jesus Christ will always be our justification . . . Continue reading →
The children of believing parents, at least their next and immediate seed, even of us Gentiles now under the Gospel, are included by God within the covenant of Grace, as well as Abraham’s or David’s seed within that covenant of theirs. Thomas . . . Continue reading →
Both can be explained in one word. The covenant made with all the patriarchs is so much like ours in substance and reality that the two are actually one and the same. Yet they differ in the mode of dispensation. But because . . . Continue reading →
Yet Scripture opens to us a still surer knowledge of the truth. Indeed, it is most evident that the covenant which the Lord once made with Abraham [cf. Gen. 17:14] is no less in force today for Christians than it was of . . . Continue reading →
We believe, with the whole ancient Church, that not only adults who have declared that they repent of their sins and believe in Christ, but also their little children, must be admitted to the sacrament of baptism, since the covenant also concerns . . . Continue reading →
We do not exclude the children of believers from the church, but accept them as members, with the hope that they are partakers of divine election and have the grace and Spirit of Christ, even as they are the seed of saints. . . . Continue reading →
Because to infants belongs the kingdom of heaven according to the declaration of Christ: “Little children were brought unto Christ, that he should put his hands on them and pray” (Mt. 19:13*). Since the disciples would repel them, Christ said, “Suffer little . . . Continue reading →
Not regeneration, faith, or repentance, much less our assumptions pertaining to them, but only the covenant of grace gave people, both adults and children, the right to baptism. Continue reading →
To deny that the children of believing, professing parents…have the same right and interest with their parents in the covenant, is plainly to deny the fidelity of Christ in the discharge of his office. John Owen | The Works of John Owen, . . . Continue reading →
But now, having run through these various arguments, to what conclusion do we come? Are they sufficient to set aside our reasoned conviction, derived from some such argument as Dr. Hodge’s, that infants are to be baptized? A thousand times no. So . . . Continue reading →
As 2025 marches on, Milan is showing the first signs of spring. The cold winter air is beginning to lose its bite. Locals are lingering longer in the piazzas, basking in the growing sunlight. Cherry blossoms and magnolias are starting to unfurl . . . Continue reading →
“Perché la vostra chiesa battezza i bambini?” Questa è una domanda che viene posta spesso dai visitatori di chiese riformate e presbiteriane. Poiché la prassi storica di battezzare i figli dei credenti è in gran parte un concetto estraneo alla maggioranza degli . . . Continue reading →
Pastor Chris Gordon catches up with good friend and fellow Westminster grad Rev. Michael Brown, visiting all the way from Italy. Michael talks about his exciting ministry in Milan and the highs and lows of preaching the Gospel in a Roman Catholic-saturated . . . Continue reading →
Che cos’è la teologia del patto e perché dovrebbe interessarmi? La teologia del patto non è un sistema astratto, imposto alla Bibbia dall’esterno, bensì la sua stessa struttura portante e il suo sfondo di riferimento. Chiunque abbia letto la Bibbia sa che . . . Continue reading →