... I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God made it grow; I Co 3:6
A QUICK HISTORIC GLANCE
Very early in Brazilian history, before the place was actually called Brazil – through the concerns and efforts of John Calvin himself and his Geneva congregation – the reformed faith was first sowed in these lands. Despite a beautiful beginning that involved not only such names as Calvin and Coligny, but also the reformed churches of France and Geneva, those early attempts to establish a Huguenot colony in the Bay of Guanabara (Rio de Janeiro) were frustrated with the death of the first Brazilian reformed martyrs, in 1557.
Almost three hundred years went by, and despite some small efforts by the Dutch Reformed to establish footholds in the northeast of Brazil during the XVII century, there was no permanent reformed work in Brazil until the second half of the XIX century. But God had His plans: The Presbyterian Church of Brazil (IPB) was the precious fruit of the missionary labors of our North-American brethren who, through A. G Simonton (1859), planted here the first lasting seeds of the reformed faith.
The first such church planted in Brazilian lands was the Igreja Presbiteriana do Rio de Janeiro (1862). From there, and concomitantly, Presbyterianism spread to the states of São Paulo and Bahia, and then, over the next 148 years, to every state of our federation.
The first missions agency created by Brazilian Presbyterians that had as its focus the planting of churches was the Board of National Missions (Junta de Missões Nacionais, JMN), created in 1940. The JMN gave priority to the planting of new churches in the remote areas, the hard to reach places and the towns that were distant from organized presbyteries and church councils.
A DEVELOPING EXPERTISE IN CHURCH PLANTING
In 1997, after careful evaluation of the Brazilian urban phenomena, the leadership of the IPB saw fit to establish a permanent committee that would represent a movement of the whole denomination and become a strategic enabling force for the systematic planting of new churches. The Cooperative Missionary Plan (Plano Missionário Cooperativo, or PMC) was created as a fund administered by a permanent committee of General Assembly and dedicated to the establishment of strategic partnerships between agencies, local churches and the denomination as a whole.
The initial goal was simply the planting of 300 new churches by the turn of the millennium, however, as those involved developed expertise in church planting, the fund was expanded and developed into a standing collaborative effort. Its church planting efforts were successful and well received. The expertise developed became an important consulting and training component for much of the church planting efforts done within the bounds of the IPB in all areas of Brazil. As it developed, the PMC sharpened its focus in two main directions: 1) projects for the establishment of new churches in cities and areas marked by accelerated growth, and 2) projects that were aimed at the revitalization of local churches and plants that had ceased to grow over the years.
COMPLETED PROJECTS
Since its inception, in accordance with its original goal and the broader aims that resulted from the developing expertise, the PMC enabled the IPB to establish over 400 new church plants. From these projects, 52 new completely self-supporting (in terms of finances, membership and leadership) local churches have already been organized thus far. The breakdown is as follows:
FROM 1998 TO 2002 (30 NEW CHURCHES)
06 Churches in the state of Espírito Santo
03 Churches in the state of Minas Gerais
01 Church in the state of Mato Grosso
01 Church in the state of Paraíba
01 Church in the state of Pernambuco
04 Churches in the state of Paraná
08 Churches in the state of Rio de Janeiro
05 Churches in the state of São Paulo
01 Church in the state of Tocantins
FROM 2002 TO 2006 (14 NEW CHURCHES)
01 Church in the state of Rio Grande do Sul
01 Church in the Federal District
05 Churches in the state of Espírito Santo
01 Church in the state of Paraná
01 Church in the state of Tocantins
01 Church in the state of Pernambuco
04 Churches in the state of Rio de Janeiro
2006... (10 NEW CHURCHES)
06 Churches in the state of São Paulo
01 Church in the state of Pernambuco
01 Church in the state of Bahia
01 Church in the state of Rio de Janeiro
01 Church in the state of Maranhão
CURRENT PROJECTS, 2007 TO 2011 (87 ONGOING)
01 – Acre
01 – Amazônia
01 – Goiás
01 – Pernambuco
02 – Rio Grande do Norte
03 – Bahia
03 – Paraíba
05 – Distrito Federal
07 – Paraná
09 – Rio de Janeiro
10 – Minas Gerais
10 – Espírito Santo
15 – São Paulo
19 – Rio Grande do Sul
PROJECTS APPROVED FOR EXECUTION STARTING JAN. 2006 (20 PROJECTS)
01 – Rio Grande do Norte
01 - Paraíba
01 – Rio de Janeiro
02 - Pernambuco
02 – Minas Gerais
03 – Bahia
03 – Santa Catarina (New Missionary Mobilization)
07 – São Paulo
A SAMPLE OF RELEVANT DEMOGRAPHICS
The state of Santa Catarina has 293 cities (towns), with the IPB present in only 37
The state of Espírito Santo – only 2 cities short of reaching every town in the state
The state of São Paulo – 40% of the smaller towns still lack a Presbyterian presence.
AVERAGE TIME FOR PLANTING A CHURCH (inception to organization)
In the state of São Paulo – 03 years
In state Capitals – 03 years
In the state of Minas Gerais – 05 years
In the states of the Northeast of Brazil – 07 years
In the states of the South of Brazil, interior – 10 years
In the states of the South of Brazil, shoreline – 5 years
ANNUAL INVESTMENTS AND CHURCH MULTIPLICATION
The IPB currently invests R$ 85.000,00 per month with the 108 active projects. The annual investment amounts to R$ 1.080.000,00 (US$ 560.000,00), this represents around 7,5% of the denominations annual budget. The PMC only initiates and maintains these partnerships with local congregations that are faithful in their contributions towards the denominational funds (General Assembly). As a consequence, besides promoting church growth and planting, the PMC has contributed to the strengthening of the denomination’s finances, as it encourages churches to contribute faithfully to denominational funds.
Furthermore, every church planting project backed by the PMC involves instilling the new congregations with a church planting culture, a vision that historically should establish a multiplying effect. Indeed, it is clearly the stated goal of the denomination that every church established under the PMC should become itself a church planting congregation.
THE CENTER FOR MISSIONS TRAINING
The Board of Theological Education of the IPB (Junta de Educação Teológica, or JET), by determination of General Assembly and the Executive Committee of the IPB, has established a Center for Missions Training (Centro de Treinamento Missiológico, or CTM). This center provides a program of training and certification of church planters.
The program operates through intensive modules, taking place over a period of 20 days each December. All classes besides aiming at the strengthening of confessional and theological soundness also seek to develop and hone specific skills that will maximize the potential of the church planters. Since inception, the CTM has graduated 471 church planters. CTM is administered by PMC and by the director of the hosting institution, the Eduardo Lane Bible Institute (currently the director is Rev. Roberto Brasileiro, the president of IPB’s GA).
CURRENT INVESTMENT PRIORITIES:
· Projects involving mid-sized cities that are growing economically and in population
· Key international frontier cities: Foz do Iguaçu and Uruguaiana.
· In the state of Santa Catarina – the goal is 12 churches in the next 4 years.
· Churches that can reach the upper classes, especially in the cities of: Recife (03 projects); Salvador (Metropolitan area); São Paulo; Brasília; João Pessoa (1 project); Natal; Fortaleza, São Luis, Cuiabá and other capitals and larger cities (upper class being considered as the segment of society that represents greater economic, political, educational and social standing, a group in Brazil that has been historically isolated and distant from the rest of society, influenced mainly by spiritualist cults or the deceptions of the prosperity gospel).
· Church plants in those cities where the IPB has its Seminaries and Bible Institutes (e.g., São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Belo Horizonte, Campinas, Teresina, Recife, Goiânia, Brasília, Patrocínio, Garanhuns) – This would provide for the practical training of seminary students in church planting, by giving them the opportunity of up to 4 years of field experience.
· Church plants in Brazilian touristic hot spots (Porto de Galinhas, Ipojuca, Cabo Frio, Búzios, Rio de Janeiro and the shoreline of Santa Catarina)
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We are open and eager for involving in our partnerships other reformed bretheren and institutions with which we may collaborate in material and human resources, in prayer and in the exchange of experiences and expertise. We also welcome opportunities for receiving investments in strategic projects that involve higher costs than our regular projects.
Contacts may be established through:
Rev. Jedeías de Almeida Duarte, Th.M.
Email: executivo.pmc@gmail.com ; revjedeias@mackenzie.com.br
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