O RIO DE JANEIRO NA ROTA DA SOUTHERN BAPTIST CONVENTION: UM ENSAINO SOBRE A MISSÃO E AS RELAÇÕES DE ALTERIDADE

Abstract

There is intense debate among Brazilian Baptists about their initial milestone. The discussion of this historic event turned to the foundation of the Santa Barbara Baptist Church and the First Baptist Church of Salvador. While Betty Antunes de Oliveira defended the São Paulo church (organized by Confederate settlers) as the initial tip of the Baptists in Brazil, José dos Reis Pereira claimed the Bahian church in this condition (organized by missionaries from the Richmond Board). However, little is said about the place of Rio de Janeiro, the imperial capital, in the missionary project of the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC). Therefore, this article aims to situate the strategic position of this city in the SBC missionary project, signaling that, from the beginning, the capital was the only region thought of as the heart and basis of Baptist work in Brazil. Thus, we will present a brief overview of the evangelistic initiatives in Rio and remain attentive to the social, economic and cultural circumstances that marked the relations of otherness between the Baptists of the south of the USA and the Brazilians during the nineteenth century. I note that this article is the result of research carried out during the production of the dissertation: "A Cidade Vai ao Culto: uma história social dos Batistas in Rio de Janeiro (1900-1930)" defended this year in the Graduate Program in History of PUC-RIO.