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A Thesis Submitted for the Degree of PhD at the University of Warwick Permanent WRAP URL: http://wrap.warwick.ac.uk/108825 Copyright and reuse: This thesis is made available online and is protected by original copyright. Please scroll down to view the document itself. Please refer to the repository record for this item for information to help you to cite it. Our policy information is available from the repository home page. For more information, please contact the WRAP Team at: [email protected] warwick.ac.uk/lib-publications THE HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT OF PENTECOSTALISM IN NORTHEASTERN BRAZIL, WITH SPECIFIC REFERENCE TO WORKING CLASS WOMEN IN RECIFE. Joanne L. Pepper Submitted in part fulfilment for the degree of Ph.D. in History at the University of Warwick December 1991 This thesis may be photocopied. 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THIS THESIS HAS BEEN MICROFILMED EXACTLY AS RECEIVED THE BRITISH LIBRARY DOCUMENT SUPPLY CENTRE Boston Spa, Wetherby West Yorkshire, LS23 7B Q United Kingdom TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF TABLES ........................................................... vi LIST OF PLATES.................................................... vii LIST OF FIGURES .................................................. vii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS................................................. viii SUMMARY............................................................ix IS INTRODUCTION A. THE RESEARCH QUESTION: WOMEN AND RELIGION ........................ 1 1. Church Historians and Latin America .......................... 2 2. Pentecostal ism as a Brazilian T r e n d .......................... 3 3. Women as a Subject o£ Study in Church History .............. 5 B. THE SETTING: THE NORTHEAST,WITH SPECIFIC REFERENCE T O R E C I F E ..................................... 9 1. Political, Socio-economic and Demographic Change in Recife...................... 10 2. Landholding and Cityward Migration to Recife..................17 3. Recife: The Current S c e n e ................. 20 4. The Religious Setting........................................ 22 C. THE RESEARCH hfiSTHODOLOGY........................................ 23 1. Participant-Observation Studies ............................. 24 2. Interviews....................................................27 3. Correspondence, Reports, and Business Meetings................29 4. Local Church Membership Records ............................. 30 5. Regional and National Denominational Records..................33 II: PROTESTANT FORERUNNERS TO THE PENTECOSTAL MOVEMENT IN THE NORTHEAST A. HUGUENOTS ON VILLEGAGNON ISLAND............ 7'...................37 B. THE MISSÍO HOLANDESA: DUTCH CALVINISTS IN PERNWBUOO ........... 39 1. 'Predikants* and Predators: Religious Fervbur^-V,,',1 j . and Economic Exploitation .............. » . * • ..........41 2. The Legacy of Early Protestant Endeavours ........ 44 C. FREEDOM OF RELIGION GUARANTEED BY LAW ............ .............. 45 D. BIBLES IN THE VERNACULAR: OPPOSITION IN BAHIA AND PERNAMBUCO..................................................48 E. EDUCATION AND EVANGELISM: GAINING THE GOODWILL OF THE ELITE. 51 1. Efforts to Promote Literacy..................................52 2. Recife: Increasing Respectability of American-run schools . 54 3. The League Against Protestantism ............................. 56 ii III: BEGINNINGS: THE BIRTH OF A NEW RELIGIOUS MOVEMENT IN BRAZIL A. PENTECOSTAL ISM FOUNDED IN THE NORTH AND NORTHEAST.............. 62 1. Vingren and Berg, Pentecostal Pioneers: The Journey to Belem: 1909-10 .................................. 62 2. Prayer Meetings, Personal Evangelism, and Public Ministry: 1911-14 ................................... 64 B. AN INDIGENOUS CHURCH: BUILDING A SENSE OF ‘FAMILY', NOT FOREIGNERS.................................................. 67 1. Conflict and Conversions: Confrontations with Denominational Churches......................................68 a. Vingren and Berg: Precedent Encounters in America ........ 68 b. Controversies in B e l e m ................................... 69 2. Fashioning an Indigenous Identity............................70 C. PATTERNS OF PENTECOSTAL GROW T H ................................. 75 1. Growth through National Leadership............................75 2. Growth through Multiplying Congregations..................... 78 a. An assimilated and indigenous leadership ................. 81 b. Spiritual Strength demonstrably superior to other Protestant Groups................................81 c. Allure of Spiritual Vitality, Supernatural Power, and Ehotional Freedom..............................84 3. Growth through Bible Distribution............................86 a. Early Pentecostal Colporteurs............................ 86 4. Growth through Opposition and Persecution ................... 90 a. The Catholic ‘Santas Missoes'..............................92 i. Bible Burnings......................................... 93 ii. Mo b v iole n c e ......................................... .. b. Vindications of Pentecostal ism against its Persecutors . .102 i. Help from concerned Catholics ....................... 102 ii. Persecutors cure themselves Punished ................. 104 iii. Strange Bedfellows: Politicians, the Military, and Pentecostal ism.............................. .106 iv. Continued Growth and Prosperity under Persecution . .109 IV: A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE RECIFENSE CHURCH AND THE DEVELOPMENT OF PENTECOSTAL ISM INTO A NATIONAL MOVEMENT A. THE INFANT CHURCH: 1916-1927 ................................... 114 B. THE MIDDLE YEARS: 1928-1967 ..................................... 116 C. A MATURING CHURCH: 1968-1979 .................................. 118 D. A CHURCH OF T HE Fl/IURE: 1980-1990 AND B E Y O N D .................. 121 1. A Conference Center ......................................... 121 2. An Urban working-class Church...............................124 3. Two-tiered leadership: Paid and unpaid ministers working side-by-side................................................. 125 4. A Missionary C h u r c h ......................................... 130 5. Recife's role in Pentecostal ism as a national and international movement....................................... 132 iii V: SPIRITUAL SCULPTRESSES: AN HISTORICAL EXAMINATION OF THE UNIQUE CONTRIBUTIONS OF WOMEN TO THE GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT OF PENTECOSTAL ISM IN NORTHEASTERN BRAZIL A. CELINA MARIA DE ALUBUQUERQUE: THE FIRST BRAZILIAN PENTECOSTAL ............................ 142 B. 'SISTERS' IN THE SERTAO: ITINERANT PREACHERS AND TEACHERS IN THE BACXLANDS..................................146 1. Maria de Nazare: Pentecostal Catalyst in Para and Ceara (1914) ................................................ 147 2. Rairrunda Aragâo: Opening the interior of Maranhao (1923) . 152 3. JoaQuina de Souza Carvalho: Evangelist to Bahia (1926) . 154 4. Maria José de Melo: 'Pregadora Voluntâria' in Maranhao (1933) ........................................ 154 5. 'Pregadoras Voluntarias' and *Beatas' : Comparisons and C o n t rasts.................................................... 156 C. FRIDA STRANDBERG VINGREN: THEOLOGY IN 4/4 TIME...................162 1. Frida's Story: A Prophecy Fulfilled..........................163 2. Poet and Theologian..........................................166 D. EXAMINING AND EVALUATING THE EFFECTIVENESS OF WOMEN AS CATALYSTS FOR CHURCH GROWTH....................................172 1. The House Church Movement: Linking the past and present. 172 2. The Quiet Revolution: Contact and Conversion through the F a m i l y .................................................. 177 3. Modifying the Inrage of *The Minister'........................183 a. Forging new role models for wo m e n ........................183 b. Rejecting Race as a criteria for determining Leadership Potential...................................... 187 c. Avoiding the 'Expert' Stigma..............................190 d. Women as Church Planters.................................. 191 VI: PENTECOSTAL PRACTICE: WOMEN AND THE CHURCH A. THE INCORPORATION AND DISCIPLING OF NEW CONVERTS................198 1. The Testimony Service........................................ 198 2. Second-generation Pentecostals and 'Backsliding': Contrasting relationships between the genders ................ 200 3. Reasons for Conversion to Pentecostal is m ....................206 a. Individual Spiritual Experience..........................206 b. Divine Healing............................................ 208 c. Supernatural signs........................................210 B. LIFE IN THE ASSEMBLY............................................ 213 1. The Ideal W o m a n .............................................. 213 2. The Pentecostal 'Club': The Dress and Deportment of Women. 215 3. Women and Discipline........................................ 218 4. Women and Submission.......................................