"Palma's meticulous and erudite-but highly readable-work is a first-rate study of three 'first wave,' or 'classical,' Pentecostal denominations in Brazil: The Assemblies of God, introduced to South America by Swedish missionaries, and the Italian Christian Congregation and Christian Assembly." -Virginia Garrard, Professor of History, The University of Texas at Austin, USA "Paul Palma's incisive comparative analysis and history of the Assemblies of God and Christian Congregation, two of the largest Pentecostal denominations in Brazil, illuminates the dynamics of the Pentecostal boom in the South American giant, which is home to the largest population of Protestant Charismatics on the planet. This book belongs on the top shelf of all those interested in global Christianity and the proliferation of Pentecostalism in the Global South." -R. Andrew Chesnut, Professor of Religious Studies, Virginia Commonwealth University, USA This book offers an historical and comparative profile of classical pentecostal movements in Brazil and the United States in view of their migratory beginnings and transnational expansion. Pentecostalism's inception in the early twentieth century, particularly in its global South permutations, was defined by its grassroots character. In contrast to the top-down, hierarchical structure typical of Western forms of Christianity, the emergence of Latin American Pentecostalism embodied stability from the bottom up-among the common people. While the rise to prominence of the Assemblies of God in Brazil, the Western hemisphere's largest (non-Catholic) denomination, demanded structure akin to mainline contexts, classical pentecostals such as the Christian Congregation movement cling to their grassroots identity. Comparing the migratory and missional flow of movements with similar European and US roots, this book considers the prospects for classical Brazilian pentecostals with an eye on the problems of church growth and polity, gender, politics, and ethnic identity. Paul J. Palma is a professor at Regent University and SUM Bible College and Theological Seminary. He is the author of Italian American Pentecostalism and the Struggle for Religious Identity (2020) and Embracing Our Roots (2021).

This book offers an historical and comparative profile of classical pentecostal movements in Brazil and the United States in view of their migratory beginnings and transnational expansion. Pentecostalism’s inception in the early twentieth century, particularly in its global South permutations, was defined by its grassroots character. In contrast to the top-down, hierarchical structure typical of Western forms of Christianity, the emergence of Latin American Pentecostalism embodied stability from the bottom up—among the common people. While the rise to prominence of the Assemblies of God in Brazil, the Western hemisphere’s largest (non-Catholic) denomination, demanded structure akin to mainline contexts, classical pentecostals such as the Christian Congregation movement cling to their grassroots identity. Comparing the migratory and missional flow of movements with similar European and US roots, this book considers the prospects for classical Brazilian pentecostals with an eye on the problems of church growth and polity, gender, politics, and ethnic identity.

An entertaining history of the soundtrack of American evangelical Christianity Few things frightened conservative white Protestant parents of the 1950s and the 1960s more than thought of their children falling prey to the "menace to Christendom" known as rock and roll. The raucous sounds of Elvis Presley and Little Richard seemed tailor-made to destroy the faith of their young and, in the process, undermine the moral foundations of the United States. Parents and pastors launched a crusade against rock music, but they were fighting an uphill battle. Salvation came in a most unlikely form. Well, maybe not that unlikely--the long hair, the beards, the sandals--but still a far cry from the buttoned-up, conservative Protestantism they were striving to preserve. Yet when a revival swept through counterculture hippie communities of the West Coast in the 1960s and 1970s a new alternative emerged. Known as the Jesus Movement--and its members, more colloquially, as "Jesus freaks"--the revival was short-lived. But by combining the rock and folk music of the counterculture with religious ideas and aims of conservative white evangelicals, Jesus freaks and evangelical media moguls gave birth to an entire genre known as Contemporary Christian Music (CCM). By the 1980s and 1990s, CCM had grown into a massive, multimillion-dollar industry. Contemporary Christian artists were appearing on Top 40 radio, and some, most famously Amy Grant, crossed over into the mainstream. And yet, today, the industry is a shadow of what it once was. In this book, Leah Payne traces the history and trajectory of CCM in America and, in the process, demonstrates how the industry, its artists, and its fans shaped--and continue to shape--conservative, (mostly) white, evangelical Protestantism. For many outside observers, evangelical pop stars, interpretive dancers, puppeteers, mimes, and bodybuilders are silly expressions of kitsch. Yet Payne argues that these cultural products were sources of power, meaning, and political activism. Throughout, she draws on in-depth interviews with CCM journalists, publishers, producers, and artists, as well as archives, sales and marketing data, fan magazines, merchandise--everything that went into making CCM a thriving subculture. Ultimately, Payne argues, CCM spurred evangelical activism in more potent and lasting ways than any particular doctrine, denomination, culture war, or legislative agenda had before.

With its exalted emotionality, Pentecostalism is a widespread religious movement in Latin America and Africa. It is a blend of Methodism and African religious culture which arouses the passions of the poorest Brazilian masses. Pentecostal conversion is experienced as a sudden break which radically transforms the life of these sectors of the population. Pentecostalism is an Utopia of equality, love and emotion, which is staged during the worship service. However, it is also characterized by authoritarian features. Pentecostalism is slowly eroding the foundation of Western political categories.

From Neo-Pentecostalism emerged in Brazil hundreds (or probably thousands) of new evangelical churches (Chesnut 1997). Since the introduction of the Protestant Neo-Pentecostalism and the Catholic charismatic renewal in Brazil, from the last two decades of the twentieth century, the situation had a radical change; in fact, the situation now is inverted: with the expressive emigration of Brazilians, especially to the United States and Europe has been accompanied by a massive exportation of Brazilian Neo-Pentecostal churches. From the end of the 1980s, many Brazilian churches followed the large Brazilian immigration - mainly to the United States and Europe - began a rapid and expressive international expansion. And as a consequence, today it constitutes an important and global religious phenomenon (Mariz 2009). Following Brazilian migration flows, pastors of the Brazilian Pentecostal churches travelled and migrated to the United States (particularly the New York Metropolitan Area) both to accompany their already converted compatriots, and to evangelize Brazilian immigrants, as well as other immigrant groups. This book is an anthropological study on Brazilian immigrants in the United States and their relationship with Pentecostal movements. It involves the following theoretical issues: globalization, migration, religion/Pentecostalism, and identity. Besides the Anthropology of religion, these theoretical issues also need sociological approach, especially the Sociology of migration, ethnic minorities and religion. The principal purpose of the book is to study Brazilian immigrants and Pentecostal churches in NYMA, but where are they? Where they live and pray? After the exploratory fieldwork in 2008, in my ethnographic research (September 2009-December 2010), I found the very expressive number of two hundred thirty-two (232) different churches, with large concentration in Queens and Newark. To be more specific - and no more an 'invisible minority' (Margolis 2009) - the Brazilian immigrants and their evangelical churches are particularly established in the followings areas: New York City (with five boroughs – Bronx, Brooklyn, Manhattan, Staten Island, and Queens), and northern of New Jersey (Newark).This data confirm the large concentration of Brazilian evangelical immigrants in New York Metropolitan Area. Therefore, this reality represents a broad research field for sociologists and anthropologists.

Pentecostalism is one of the most rapidly expanding religious-cultural forms in the world. Its rise in popularity is often attributed to its successfully incorporating native cosmologies in new religious frameworks. This volume probes for more complex explanations to this phenomenon in the favelas of Brazil, once one of the most Catholic nations in the world. Based on a decade of ethnographic fieldwork in Rio de Janeiro and drawing from religious studies, anthropology of religion, and media theory, Transmitting the Spirit argues that the Pentecostal movement’s growth is due directly to its ability to connect politics, entertainment, and religion. Examining religious and secular media—music and magazines, political ads and telenovelas—Martijn Oosterbaan shows how Pentecostal leaders progressively appropriate and recategorize cultural forms according to the religion’s cosmologies. His analysis of the interrelationship among evangélicos distributing doctrine, devotees’ reception and interpretation of nonreligious messaging, perceptions of the self and others by favela dwellers, and the slums of urban Brazil as an entity reveals Pentecostalism’s remarkable capacity to engage with the media influences that shape daily life in economically vulnerable urban areas. An eye-opening look at Pentecostalism, media, society, and culture in the turbulent favelas of Brazil, this book sheds new light on both the evolving role of religion in Latin America and the proliferation of religious ideas and practices in the postmodern world.

Examines Pentecostal conversion as a force of change, revealing new insights into its dominant role in global Christianity today. There has been an extraordinary growth in Pentecostalism in Africa, with Brazilian Pentecostals establishing new transnational Christian connections, initiating widespread changes not only in religious practice but in society. This book describes its rise in Maputo, capital of Mozambique, and the sometimes dramatic impact of Pentecostalism on women. Here large numbers of urban women are taking advantage of the opportunities Pentecostalism offers to overcome restrictions at home, pioneer new life spaces and change their lives through the power of the Holy Spirit. Yet, conversion can also mean a violent rupturing with tradition, with family and with social networks. As the pastors encourage women to cut their ties with the past, including ancestral spirits, they come to see their kin and husbands as imbued with evil powers, and many leave their families. Conquering spheres that used to be forbidden to them, they often live alone as unmarried women, sometimes earning more than men of a similar age. They are also expected to donate huge sums to the churches, often money that they can ill afford, bringing new hardships. Linda van de Kamp is Assistant Professor in the Department of Sociology, University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands.