ORIGENS HISTÓRICAS DA IGREJA PRESBITERIANA UNIDA DO BRASIL

Abstract

The objective of this study is to present the history of the United Presbyterian Church of Brazil (Igreja Presbiteriana Unida do Brasil – IPU), its roots in the ecumenical and progressive tendencies that are part of Brazilian Presbyterianism, influenced by the worldwide reform and ecumenical movement, and the birth of the denomination amidst a political scenario marked by the 1964 Military Dictatorship. During that period, IPUs founders arose against the internal authoritarianism that marked the administration of the Brazilian Presbyterian Church (IPB), as well as against its support of the Military Dictatorship. In a reaction against fundamentalism, persecutions, and political accusations, the ecumenical group that had been excluded from the IPB, in order to survive, forged a new religious proposal that eventually became the United Presbyterian Church, based on an ecumenical tradition characterized by a dialogue with a neo-orthodox theology, a contextual interpretation of the Sacred Scriptures, a recognition of women’s rights to access all ordained ministries, and an understanding that the church’s mission is accomplished as part of human history, as a result of God’s Kingdom, and for that reason, the church must reflect the challenges of Brazilian society and culture. The methodology adopted was documental research based on historical sources, papers about the period studied, and narratives by persecuted leaders, analyzed based on notions of Cultural History. In this study, some historical aspects of Presbyterianism in Europe, the Unites States and Brazil are described, as well as its conservative and ecumenical tendencies, the development of the IPU and its theological aspects.