Proclaiming the Gospel to the South America’s Largest Nation
By Robin G. Jordan
The Reformed Anglican Church in Brazil began as an independent church launched in 2004. Bishop Francisco Buzzo Rodrigues was its founding pastor. Bishop Rodrigues and his church joined the Brazilian Reformed Episcopal Church in 2005, which was under the leadership of Bishop Sebastião Mendes de Freitas. After he and his church united with the Brazilian Reformed Episcopal Church, Bishop Rodriguez became concerned about ethical and moral aspects of Bishop de Freitas’s leadership. When Bishop Rodriguez brought his concerns to Bishop de Freitas’ attention in 2006, he was asked to leave the Brazilian Reformed Episcopal Church.
In 2008 God brought together Bishop Rodriguez and Bishop Josep Rossello at Bishop Rossello’s wedding at Christ Church in Rio de Janeiro. Christ Church is the oldest Anglican parish church in Brazil. It is a patronage church of the Commonwealth Society and not affiliated with the Anglican Episcopal Church of Brazil.
At this meeting the Holy Spirit prompted the two men to discuss the future of the Reformed Anglican Church in Brazil. Both men came away from this meeting inspired with a vision for the Reformed Anglican Church in Brazil that transcended regional boundaries and encompassed the entire nation. Bishop Rodriguez put this vision into action in April 2009 and received into the Anglican Church in Brazil a mission in the Amazon region that had originally been a part of the Anglican Episcopal Church of Brazil.
Two months later, in June 2009 Bishop Rossello accepted the call of the Reformed Anglican Church in Brazil to become Coadjutor Bishop. Several months earlier Bishop Rossello had stepped down as Presiding Bishop of the Evangelical Episcopal Church, a part of the Christian Communion International. He had taken a three-month sabbatical to reflect upon what was God’s plan for his life. He sensed that God was leading him back to his original calling in the global community of Anglican churches.
In July 2009 the Reformed Anglican Church in Brazil’s first deacon was ordained in Bragança Paulista. A second deacon was ordained in the Amazon region in October 2009. A third deacon was received from the Roman Catholic Church in the south of Brazil.
In October 2009 Bishop Rodriguez convened the first Synod of the Reformed Anglican Church in Brazil. At this Synod an Executive Council was elected, and canons adopted. A trial Book of Common Prayer, based upon the 1662 Book of Common Prayer and incorporating material from the Church Society’s An English Prayer Book (1994) and the Anglican Diocese of Sydney’s Supplemental Sunday Services(2001), was also approved.
At the Synod Vision 20/20 setting short-term objectives and long-term goals for the Reformed Anglican Church in Brazil were adopted. A petition for affiliation was approved for submission to the Anglican Mission in the Americas. The young denomination’s first Leadership Retreat was held at the same time as the Synod. The Synod was an important milestone in the life of the Reformed Anglican Church in Brazil.
In January 2010 a fourth deacon was ordained in Ribeirao Preto.
For the Reformed Anglican Church in Brazil, 2010 was a year of tremendous growth and challenge. A number of church plants had to be closed in order to concentrate resources upon those that were showing the most promise. The result was more growth in these churches and the establishment of a solid base for the young denomination.
In April 2010 a Regional Leadership Gathering was held at which the Multiplication Network provided training in church planting. The Reformed Anglican Church in Brazil and the Multiplication Network would subsequently enter a partnership agreement to train and equip church-planters in Brazil. The Regional Leadership Gathering and the church planting training prepared the Reformed Anglican Church in Brazil for the growth that the young denomination experienced in the closing months of 2010.
In October 2010 the Reformed Anglican Church in Brazil had its second Leadership Retreat. The focus of the retreat was church planting training, the Alpha Course, and Anglicanism. At the retreat a presbyter was received from the Roman Catholic Church.
In March 2011 the Reformed Anglican Church in Brazil’s first presbyter was ordained.
Since the very beginning the bishops of the Reformed Anglican Church in Brazil have met by skype every couple of days and in person every month. The Executive Council meets every two months.
A special Synod has been called to adopt new canons and to approve the final version of the Reformed Anglican Church in Brazil’s Prayer Book.
The Reformed Anglican Church in Brazil’s bishops play a leading role in launching new congregations, acting in consultation with the Executive Council. They will identify an individual or group that is interested in starting a new church and will encourage the formation of a new congregation. The Reformed Anglican Church in Brazil provides evangelistic leaflets and Bible study resources. It helps the church starter to design a web site and to plan the order of worship for the new congregation, which will be the most effective in its context.
One of the bishops mentors the church starter on a one to one basis. The bishop overseeing the new work will visit the new congregation at regular intervals and provides encouragement and guidance. Multiplication Network resources are also used in the training of church starters and potential church starters.
The Reformed Anglican Church in Brazil has congregations that meet under a tree, in a home, a coffee house, or their own building. The young denomination’s congregations reflect the diversity that is found in South America’s largest nation. Its mother church, its first church, has Bible study and prayer meetings throughout the week, a women’s meeting, and a weekly service of Holy Communion.
The Reformed Anglican Church in Brazil is Christ-centered and Scripture-based, placing a strong emphasis upon discipleship and mission. While strongly Reformed in theology, the young denomination is also open to the work of the Holy Spirit. The Reformed Anglican Church in Brazil embraces the historical Anglican formularies as authoritative standards for its faith and worship. They have a central place in its life and teaching.
As Brazil is a very poor country, all the congregations of the Reformed Anglican Church in Brazil are active in social ministry. The Anglican Church in Brazil believes that the Church, not the government, is God’s agent of transformation and redemption in the world.
The greatest challenge that the Reformed Anglican Church in Brazil faces is that it is a young denomination that feels friendless and isolated in its undertaking of the very large task of reaching a 160 million Brazilians who do not know Jesus as their Lord and Saviour. Other challenges that the Reformed Anglican Church in Brazil faces is the liberalism of the Anglican Episcopal Church of Brazil and the growth of the prosperity gospel among Neo-Pentecostal churches in Brazil.
The Reformed Anglican Church in Brazil has few resources, which can very overwhelming for a young denomination. This has helped the Reformed Anglican Church in Brazil to depend upon God alone for everything.
The leaders of the Reformed Anglican Church in Brazil believe that closer ties with other Anglican churches and an accountability relationship with a fellowship of Anglican churches would greatly benefit the young denomination in the long term.
Vision 20/20 delineates the short-term objectives and long-range goals of the Reformed Anglican Church in Brazil through 2020. It is found on the Internet at: http://anglicansinbrazil.co.cc/what-we-do/vision-2020/. The Reformed Anglican Church in Brazil’s ultimate goal is to reach every Brazilian who does not know Jesus Christ with the gospel of grace.
A booklet with further information may also be found on the Internet at: http://anglicansinbrazil.co.cc/brazil.pdf.
No comments:
Post a Comment