Grassroots Pentecostalism in Brazil and the United States

“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 anhistorical 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).