In 1868 the Committee for the Evangelization of the Waldensian Church decided to relieve Paolo Geymonat from his pastoral duties, and gave him full time post at the Waldensian Faculty of Theology and Augusto Meille was sent to replace him in Florence. Neither the church Council nor Geymonat were happy with the decision and soon a group of members began meeting in a former convent in via dei Malcontenti, the convent of Saint Elizabeth.

Subsequently, the group moved to via Palazzuolo, for five years, and took the name of Chiesa dell’Oratorio (Oratory Church) as a homage to the École de l'Oratoire in Geneva where Geymont had studied as a young man. In the meantime, the Pastor had bought the premises in via Manzoni, where the new church was housed. The Hall was inaugurated in February 1882, and the congregation that had initially been independent, progressively become once again close to the Waldensian Church but it was not till 1957 that the two groups (via de’ Serragli and via Manzoni) merged to become again one. Currently, the Waldensian Community Centre, the pastoral house, the archive and the library are in via Manzoni.

To the side of the street door there is a plate placed in 2009, to recall the ministry of the Waldensian Pastor and Senator of the Republic Tullio Vinay (1909-1996). That was the house where in the 1940s the Pastor had a secret room built to hide Jews which is why the Government of Israel named him as one of the Righteous Among the Nations.

The premises are currently used by two interdenominational associations, the Centro sociale evangelico (Evangelical Social Centre) and the “Pietro Martire Vermigli” Cultural Centre.