going to church in Belem

Below is a post from my own personal blog: http://megontheroad.blogspot.com I am sharing it here b/c I thought others might be interested in hearing about our first experience at a church in Brazil. Brandie and I went to church with a new friend we met in Belem named Lorena. She is a friend of one of our guides here in Belem whom we met earlier today.

Tonight we had a lovely evening with Lorena and her boyfriend, whose name I believe was something close to Alan. They took us to their church, the New Wine Church. She described it as a community church, not affiliated with any particular denomination. When we got there, she introduced us to a few different people who also spoke English, including the pastor and some members of his family. His one daughter, Sara, also introduced us to her husband and three children. Everyone was very nice and welcoming. Brandie and I sat sandwiched between Lorena and Sara, so between the two, we had a pretty good idea of what was going on.

When I first walked in the church, I thought that there was no way that we were getting out in under three hours. The service started with 30 minutes or more of praise music. Now, those of you who know me know that I am not a fan of praise music, but it wasn't too bad. Sara and Lorena translated the songs, so I at least got the general idea. The leaders of the praise band stand with their backs to the congregation. Sara said this was b/c they were there to worship G-d, not to perform. I really liked that. The room was also very bare. It was maybe the size of a small gymnasium, with stadium seating, but the from wall was bare white. There was a small glass stand for the pastor to use and a big table in the center that looked like the stump of a huge tree. Sara said that the church started out being about the people, but then they became too interested in the beauty of the church. Now they are trying to get back to being about the people.

After the music, the pastor started praying and talking to the people. He talked to the church and how many people didn't bring a friend today, so he was worried about the growth of the church. He talked to those people that came back to church after a long time and was thankful that they were back. He apologized if the reason why they didn't come for so long was b/c the church did not reach out to them when they needed help, etc. He also welcomed people there for the first time and apologized if the reason they hadn't come b/f is b/c of the way many preachers act, wanting only money. This church only had one offering, and it goes to support the church and the orphan children they take care of. Lorena said that they have 10 or so orphaned children that live in the pastor's compound that the church supports.

People were given a chance to stand up and say something, to testify might be how we would put it. Then the pastor preached about how to be a Christian you have to believe. His preaching was interspersed with Biblical verses (all NT) and stories about his life. Then we sang another song and asked everyone to hug each other on the way out. I hugged Sara and thanked her profusely for her help, and I hugged Lorena. Outside, an elderly woman shook our hands and kissed Brandie and I each on both cheeks. Lorena said that she was blessing us.

All in all, I found it to be a very worthwhile experience. The people were extremely helpful and gracious. While the style of the church service is not what I am used to, nor what I prefer, the service was very joyful. I also appreciated the ways the church is trying to be more of the people and less about the show of a service. The fact that they didn't constantly ask for money, which I thought they might, was also an added bonus. I know that we will have more experiences of going to church in Brasil in the coming weeks, but this seemed to be a good first step.

In Brazil!

Brandie and I are in Brazil, in Belem! We will meet the rest of the group in Rio next week! Woot!

Our Tentative Schedule

I realized we hadn't posted here the schedule that we hope to follow. Here it is:

SCHEDULE

June 29 – Depart from Louisville, Kentucky

June 30 – Arrive in Rio de Janeiro

July 1-6 – Rio de Janeiro, visit:
Roman Catholic Cathedral
First Presbyterian Church
Church of the Kingdom of God
Leonardo Boff Bennet School of Theology
Nancy Pereira Cardoso Social Organizations
Sightseeing

July 7-12 – Salvador Bahia, visit:
Iteba – Institute of Theology of Bahia
Pelourinho
Church of the Black – Roman Catholic
Afro Brazilian religious comminities
Historical places
Sightseeing

July 12-14 – Rio de Janeiro
Sightseeing

ITEBA

While in Salvador this summer, we will be visiting The Institute for Theological Education of Bahia. Below is an excerpt about the seminary from their website, as well as a link to that website so that you can feel free to browse around!

"Located in northeastern Brazil in the city of Salvador, ITEBA is an accredited, four-year theological seminary dedicated to preparing young women and men to be pastors of local churches, religion teachers in secondary schools and a range of community activities. Nearly everyone who graduates from ITEBA will have some kind of extra job from which they will earn their livelihood while putting their theological education to work in part-time jobs or as volunteers. These activities include being pastors of congregations, teachers, labor organizers, advocates for the sem terra (peasants without land), Agentes Paastorais Negras (Black Pastoral Agents) or coordinators for the Catholic Christian Base Communities. ITEBA gives them the full range of theological studies from the basic courses in Hebrew and Greek through the Old and New Testaments, church history and systematic theology." http://iteba.hanover.edu/home.htm

A Taste of Brazilian Music

Chris sent our class some examples of some of his favorite Brazilian musical styles. We hope you enjoy this small taste of some Brazilian music!

1. João Gilberto: “Eu Vim da Bahía” (Gilberto Gil), http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0WA_eG5Lliw. To begin, I would recommend a couple of songs that go back to the period when the style of music known as bossa nova was invented. Bossa nova, in the late 1950s-early 1960s, took the traditional form of music and dance known as samba and wedded it to jazz harmonies presented in a soft, cool, personal form. This, my first choice, is a performance by one of the inventors of Bossa Nova, João Gilberto. The title of the song means “I came from Bahia” (in other words, from Salvador and the region roundabout). It is a celebration of the beauty of Bahia. It also takes note of the fact that, although the people have nothing to eat, “they don’t die of hunger, because in Bahia they have Mãe Yemanja and, on the other side, Our Lord of the Good End, who help the Bahian to live, to sing, to samba, for real—to die of joy,” and so on. We will be discussing the orixá Mãe Yemanja (an object of Candomblé devotion) as well as Nosso Senhor do Bonfim (Our Lord of the Good End). Both are important to the religious orientation of many Brazilians, and certainly of many Bahians. The song is written by Gilberto Gil, in his own right a crucial figure in Brazilian music of the last fifty years. (The accompanying YouTube video is a bit incongruous: old black and white footage of Rio—rather than Bahia.)

2. Miúcha (and Tom Jobim): “Samba do Avião” (Antonio Carlos Jobim), http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W8a0-yEY9gs. “Samba of the Airplane” is another song from the Bossa Nova period. This one is by the most famous of modern Brazilian songwriters, Antonio Carlos (or Tom) Jobim. If my first recommendation celebrates Bahia, this is an equally enthusiastic encomium to the beauty of the city into which we will first be flying (“My soul sings, I can see Rio de Janeiro …”). In fact, we will arrive in an airport named after the composer of this song. The singer is Miúcha, wife of João Gilberto (not to mention sister of the great Chico Buarque and mother of Bebel Gilberto).

3. Chico Buarque: “Samba de Orly” (Chico Buarque de Hollanda, Toquinho, Vinícius de Moraes) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rfpjEeK1Jeg; and “Apesar de Voce” (Chico Buarque de Hollanda) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R7xRtSUunEY. Two from Chico Buarque. What can one say about him? Strongly influenced by Bossa Nova, Chico Buarque was one of the mainstays of the group of singer-songwriters who shaped what is known as Musica Popular Brasileira (MPB) in the 1960s. A musician, poet, dramatist, novelist. My two selections are from the political Chico. That is to say, the lyrics are not explicitly political, but they reflect the always cleverly subtle protest necessitated by the brutality of the military regime that ruled Brazil for about twenty years following the coup of 1964. “Samba of Orly” from 1970 (Orly was then the main Paris airport) speaks in the voice of one tearfully enduring exile, asking his friend, returning to Brazil, to “kiss my Rio de Janeiro.” “Apesar de Voce” (“In Spite of You,” 1978) is an equally clever statement of defiance of someone who is trying to suppress “our euphoria,” an effort the singer insists will finally be unsuccessful (“In spite of you, tomorrow will be another day.”) The YouTube video that accompanies this song undermines whatever subtlety there is in the lyrics. Both of these selections from Chico Buarque reflect the kind of samba (including instrumentation) one would hear in the streets during Carnaval.

4. Several by Jorge Ben: “Fio Maravilha,” “Mas Que Nada”, “Zazueira”, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z_LbzxOWZqs; “ Xica da Silva,”http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0P-85wYV-e8. Jorge Ben is an eclectic musician-songwriter who began in the 1960s writing in a Bossa Nova-Samba-Jazz idiom and gradually moved more in the direction of funk. Ben (who later changed his name to Ben Jor) influenced many who sought to wed Brazilian styles to the soul and funk of North American Black music. These videos represent his core output from the 1960s as well as new directions in the 1970s.

5. Marisa Monte: “Carinhoso” (Pixinguinha / João de Barro), http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Vp2y_Doe4w. To move now in a slightly different direction (and further back historically): This is a beautiful love song by Pixinguinha (the title means “Affectionate”) from the 1940s, sung by the popular contemporary singer (and songwriter) Marisa Monte, with accompaniment by Paulinho da Viola. This song has the feel of the choro (literally, “cry”), a traditional Brazilian song form.

6. Orlando Silva: “A Jardineira” (Benedito Lacerda-Humberto Porto), http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ThS6JhclDg4&feature=related. Going back a little further, this is a Carnaval song from 1939, sung by one of the great singers of the 1930s, Orlando Silva. The song form is called a marchinha (not a samba)—a very distinctive and popular style for Carnaval street dancing. You can hear in it the distinctive marching-dancing beat (with an emphasis on the downbeat).

7. Aloysio Oliveira: “Aquarela do Brasil” (Ary Barroso) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_mQHr8bAojU,; Grupo Aquattro: “Aquarela do Brasil”http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MAPIw7l07mY. Finally, one very popular Brazilian song, one that had broad international exposure beginning in the 1940s with the Disney treatment you see in the first video. (It also includes a beginning instruction in samba, along with a choro treatment of the classic by Zequinho de Abreu, “Tico-Tico no Fubá.”) The video is from the 1942 Disney short film, Saludos Amigos. Somewhat of a stereotype: one wouldn’t want one’s only exposure to Brazilian music to be this particular song, but it’s worth experiencing it. Choro (or chorinho) is a very important traditional style of music, one particularly associated with Rio. You can see some of the usual chorinho instruments in the second selection here, a live performance of “Aquarela do Brasil” (or “Watercolor of Brazil”) by the fabulous Grupo Aquattro.

A bit about the trip...

For a first glimpse at what our travel seminar will include: our plan is to visit two major cities, Rio de Janeiro and Salvador in Bahia. In these two places, we will learn about local culture and the unique experience of, and challenges for, Christians and all God’s people.

The trip will be led by Louisville Seminary Professors Christopher Elwood and Cláudio Carvalhaes. They will be guiding us through our explorations of the diverse cultural, religious, and theological landscape of Brazil today. We will visit a number of different religious communities, meet with religious leaders, hold conversations with influential theologians and seminary students, and witness to God’s work among people who suffer from poverty and HIV/AIDS. We are excited about this opportunity not only to learn more about the work of Christ in the southern hemisphere, but also to enhance our ability to interpret and respond faithfully to a world of religious and cultural difference.

Beginnings...

We really can't say that this is the beginning of our journey which will eventually lead us to Brazil as this has been in the works for some time. But having a blog, writing letters, all these concrete things in my hands make the trip more concrete in my mind. As we continue to plan and prepare, please share your thoughts with others on the trip and whoever else reads this blog. For those of you who are not traveling with us but are interested in our journey, please feel free to also comment along the way. Here we go...