Prof Donizete Rodrigues

Jesus in Sacred Gotham: Brazilian Immigrants and Pentecostalism in New York City: Anthropology of Religion: Pentecostalism Prof Donizete Rodrigues 1st edition

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.