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The Protestant Predicament: from Base Ecclesial Community to Established Church-A Brazilian Case Study

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The Protestant Predicament: from Base Ecclesial Community to Established Church-A Brazilian Case Study The Protestant Predicament: From Base Ecclesial Community to Established Church-A Brazilian Case Study Guillermo Cook he debates in current Protestant mission circles tend to half that preceded the Reformation were often grassroots reactions T focus upon dichotomies: evangelism vs. social action, against the deadness of official Christianity.6 church planting vs. interchurch aid, qualitative vs. quantitative growth, missions vs. mission, institution vs. charisma-the list is Early Protestant Base Communities long. For the most part the debates are academic and miss a funda­ mental point, namely, that church leaders and institutions at both As Martin Luther testified, many of these movements flocked to ends of these debates are caught up in what church-growth re­ the banners of the Magisterial Reformation, then diverged into the searcher William Read has aptly termed "the Protestant predica­ Radical Reformation." The Radical, or Anabaptist, Reformation ment,"1 that is, the church's upward mobility, and consequent loss was a grassroots protest against Luther and Zwingli's turning back of vitality. from their earlier espousal of base community Christianity. The "institutionalization process" exerts an inexorable pull Though at first the Reformers had encouraged small collegia, they from"charismatic" community to fully structured institution. The later labeled them seditious, blasphemous, and heretical." In time fruits of institutionalism are usually self-sufficiency, authoritar­ the Anabaptist base communities coalesced into larger movements, ianism, narcissism, self-justification, and dogmatism. But institu­ most notably the Mennonites, or spun off into numerous Baptist tionalism, in time, will produce new "charismatic" reactions, and groups, most of which have become quite institutionalized. the process begins anew.2 These reactions usually take the form of By the time Anabaptism reached England, there was a long grassroots movements, in many cases involving marginalized and history of grassroots dissidence in England. And from another alienated sectors of society. quarter, Calvinism had instilled in small grassroots sects-the The thesis of this article is that most of today's mission insti­ forerunners of the Congregationalists-a strict code of ethics and, tutions-whether fundamentalist, evangelical, or "mainline" Prot­ later, a revolutionary fervor that would eventually overturn the estant-have become excessivily institutionalized. They have monarchy." Presbyterianism had a broad popular base during the forgotten their charismatic heritage and grassroots origins. The re­ Scottish wars of independence. But when the clergy and nobility sults can often be seen in a number of ways: unbalanced priorities, made their peace with the English crown, the grassroot Covenant­ community entropy, institutional defensiveness, and congenital ers worshiped in outlawed base communities or conventicles. To­ paternalism. This is true not only in the so-called sending day's militantly anti-Protestant United Irish began as a joint churches; lamentably, the maturing Latin American churches are Presbyterian-Catholic protest against Anglican supremacy, which following the same path. In the face of this, it is of the utmost ur­ was supported by a number of radical grassroots communities of gency that we look back to our ecclesial roots, seeking to under­ both faiths.?? stand the dynamics of the grassroots movements whence many of Jacob Spener's Lutheran collegia pietalis, and particularly the our churches came. And more immediately, the Catholic base ec­ variant that later proliferated in Swabia, were far more radical in clesial communities (BECs) in Latin America can both challenge their practice of Christian piety and understanding of the meaning and teach us some valuable lessons." of sanctification than the emasculated version of Pietism that is The key to the whole matter is our understanding of the word known today. Dutch Reformed ecclesiolae became a vital force in "base," a term that means much more than "basic" or "fundamen­ holistic evangelism and Christian nurture during one phase of the tal." It refers to the millions of people-approximately 80 percent American Great Awakening."! Responding to the spiritual needs of the population of Latin America-who are at the base of the so­ of a small group of seekers, and to the social needs around him-in cial pyramid.' They must be not only objects of our mission but the heat of a grassroots evangelistic movement-John Wesley ini­ subjects of their own history as well. tiated the first of a unique family of base communities.P The early Methodist classes were more than small Bible study, prayer, and Base Communities in Early Church History evangelism groups. They were action-cells, which demonstrated a vital and very practical concern for the poor in a revolutionary The New Testament church was, in many ways, a base communi­ time in history.13 ty.5 At the beginning, it was composed of a sizable group who, along with their leaders, would be derisively called "illiterate" by Historical Factors in Protestant Base their enemies. Over the centuries the simplicity of the early ekklesia Communities gave way to imperial pomp, elaborate ritual, and hermetic dogma. The myriad heresies that surfaced during the millennium and a There is a striking similarity between the socioeconomic condi­ tions existing in the time of the Protestant BECs mentioned above and the situation obtaining in present-day Latin America. These grassroots communities all appeared during times of profound Guillermo COOK, whoserves under the LatinAmerica Mission, is the General Director of social change and unrest. The common social factors were: (1) the autonomous Centro Evangelico Latinoamericano de Estudios Pastorales feudalism, the land problem; (2) the beginning of rudimentary forms (CELEP), with headquarters in San Jose, Costa Rica. COOK hasearned degrees from Bob of national and international capitalism; (3) urbanization and the Jones University, the Latin American Biblical Seminary, and Fuller Theological Semi­ appearance of slums and of unemployment; (4) a growing popular nary, where he wrote his Ph.D. dissertation on the Catholic comunidades de base in self-confidence; (5) civil unrest; and (6) more efficient means of Brazil. 98 International Bulletin of Missionary Research communication, beginning with the appearance of the Gutenberg International Bulletin press.P of Missionary Research The Demise of Base Ecclesial Community in Established in 1950 as Occasional Bulletin from the Missionary Brazil Research Library. Named Occasional Bulletin of Missionary Research 1977. Renamed International Bulletin of Missionary The irony of the Brazilian ecclesial experience is that the very Research 1981. churches that were born in Europe as radical base communities have today become comfortably established and prosperous insti­ Published quarterly in January, April, July and October by the tutions. Meanwhile the monolithic churches that sought to crush some of these movements, the Roman Catholic Church and the Overseas Ministries Study Center Lutheran Church, are experiencing, each in its own way, notewor­ 6315 Ocean Avenue, Ventnor, New Jersey 08406, U.S.A. thy base community revitalization. Telephone: (609) 823-6671 The North American experience played an important part in the process from radical base community to established church. Editor: Associate Editor: United States Protestant missionaries were sent to Brazil during a Gerald H. Anderson James M. Phillips period of profound social upheaval-the Civil War and its after­ math-when ideological and theological positions were extremely Contributing Editors: polarized and ecclesiastical structures had begun to congeal. These Catalino G. Arevalo, S.J. Lesslie Newbigin missionaries were marked by American civil religion, voluntarism, David B. Barrett C. Rene Padilla denominationalism, and the so-called "Methodist era." This su­ R. Pierce Beaver Thomas F. Stransky, C.S.P. percharged religiosity, for all its notable accomplishments, was Norman A. Horner Charles R. Taber theologically impoverished, reductionist, and lacking reflection Mary Motte, F.M.M. Desmond Tutu upon the crucial issues that had wrenched the nation for more Anastasios Yannoulatos than a generation.IS By the time Methodists, Presbyterians, and Baptists had Books for review and correspondence regarding editorial matters reached Brazilian shores, their churches were showing many of the should be addressed to the editors. Manuscripts unaccompanied signs of institutionalism. Despite the grassroots nature of. some of by a self-addressed, stamped envelope (or international postal their initial church-planting efforts, it was not long before they coupons) will not be returned. began to move upward and away from a true base community ex­ perience. The same would happen to Congregationalism, which ar­ Subscriptions: $14.00 for one year, $26 for two years, and $37 for rived from' British shores. three years, postpaid worldwide. Individual copies are $5.00; bulk The extraordinary growth of Protestantism in Brazil began not rates upon request. Correspondence regarding subscriptions and only with Methodist Scripture distribution (in 1828), but also with address changes should be sent to: International Bulletin of a Scottish Congregationalist doctor's dream (1855) of evangelizing Missonary Research, Circulation Department, P.O. Box 1308-E, Brazil through a revitalized Catholic Church. This pretension, in Fort Lee, New Jersey 07024-9958.
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