Anglican Episcopal Church of Brazil
| Anglican Episcopal Church of Brazil | |
|---|---|
| Primate | Bishop Maurício José Araújo de Andrade |
| Headquarters | Porto Alegre, Brazil |
| Territory | Brazil |
| Members | 120,000[1] |
| Website | http://www.ieab.org.br |
The Anglican Episcopal Church of Brazil (Portuguese: Igreja Episcopal Anglicana do Brasil) is an Episcopal Church in the Anglican Communion that covers Brazil.
Bishop Primate
Originally under the metropolitcal supervision of the Episcopal Church, the Anglican Episcopal Church of Brazil became an independent province in 1965 and consists of a single metropolitical province, so that one bishop serves as both Metropolitan and Primate. In this role he uses the style of "The Most Reverend", but does not have the usual title of "Archbishop", being known by the alternative title of "Bishop Primate" (Bispo Primaz). The Bishops Primate have been:[2]
- The Most Revd Egmont Machado Krischke, 1965–1971
- The Most Revd Arthur Rodolpho Kratz, 1972–1984
- The Most Revd Olavo Ventura Luiz, 1986–1992
- The Most Revd Glauco Soares de Lima, 1993–2003
- The Most Revd Orlando Santos de Oliveira, 2003–2006
- The Most Revd Maurício José Araújo de Andrade, 2006–present
Governance
A substantial proportion of the priests of the province are women, but all the bishops are men. The president of the House of Clergy and Laity for the first time is a lay woman Mrs Selma Rosa, who was elected at the General Synod for a three year term. The General Secretary of the Church is the Reverend Arthur Cavalcante, also appointed at the General Synod for a three year term.
History
Anglican ministry in Brazil began as a number of chaplaincies catering for expatriate Anglicans in 1810. The first known parish was settled in Nova Lima, State of Minas Gerais in 1834, St. John the Baptist . In 1889, when Brazil formalised the separation of church and state in its constitution, the Anglican chaplaincies began missionary work.
The Church intentionally began to move towards Brazilians in 1890, when two American missionaries, the Rev. Lucien Lee Kinsolving, who became the first Bishop of the Anglican Church of Brazil, and the Rev. James Watson Morris, organized a mission in Porto Alegre. The first service was held in the afternoon of June 1, 1890, Trinity Sunday, in Porto Alegre, at 387 Voluntários da Pátria St., in an ample rented house, which became known as Mission House. At that time, the city had about sixty thousand inhabitants. The Rev. William Cabell Brown, The Rev. John Gaw Meem, and a teacher, Mary Packard were missionaries who arrived the year after the mission was started. These five people are considered to be the true founders of the Igreja Episcopal Anglicana do Brasil. Some time after, they established missions in Santa Rita do Rio dos Sinos (today Nova Santa Rita), Rio Grande and Pelotas. These three cities and the state capital soon became important strategic points and irradiating centers of the expansion and development of the newborn Episcopal Church of Brazil.
In 1965, the Brazilian Church became fully autonomous, becoming the 19th Province of the Anglican Communion, electing its first Primate: the Most Rev. Egmont Machado Krischke. The independence of the Igreja Episcopal Anglicana do Brasil, which was at that time still dependent upon the American Church, was completed with financial independence in 1982.
Dioceses and Mission Districts
The province consists of nine dioceses, each headed by a bishop, one of whom is elected as Bispo Primaz. The thirtieth General Synod of the church, held in July 2006, elected the current primate, elevated Amazonia as the ninth diocese of the province and agreed an experimental plan to group the dioceses and missionary districts of the province into three regions.
Diocese Anglicana de Brasília (DAB; Anglican Diocese of Brasilia)
- Diocesan bishop – Revmº. Bispo Dom Maurício José Araújo de Andrade (who is also Bispo Primaz – Primate Bishop).
- Area covered – the Brazilian Federal District and the states of Goiás, Tocantins and the west of Minas Gerais.
Diocese Anglicana de Curitiba (Anglican Diocese of Curitiba)
Diocese Anglicana de Pelotas
- Diocesan bishop – Revmº. Bispo Dom Renato Raatz.
- Area covered – the town of Pelotas and surrounding coastline in Rio Grande do Sul.
Diocese Anglicana de Recife (Anglican Diocese of Recife)
- Diocesan bishop – Revmº. Bispo Dom Dr Sebastião Armando Gameleira Soares.
- Area covered – the Northeast Region.
Diocese Anglicana de Rio de Janeiro (Anglican Diocese of Rio de Janeiro)
- Diocesan bishop – Revmº. Bispo Dom Filadelfo Oliveira Neto.
- Area covered – the states of Rio de Janeiro (state), Espírito Santo and most of Minas Gerais, where the oldest Anglican church was settled in Nova Lima.
Diocese Anglicana de São Paulo (Anglican Diocese of São Paulo)
- Diocesan bishop – Revmº. Bispo Dom Flávio Augusto Borges Irala.
- Area covered – the state of São Paulo.
Diocese Meridional (Diocese of Southern Brazil)
- Diocesan bishop – Revmº. Bispo Dom Orlando Santos de Oliveira (who was the Primate Bishop from 2003 to 2006).
- Area covered – the coastal areas of the states of Santa Catarina and Rio Grande do Sul, excluding that area in the Diocese of Pelotas.
Diocese Sul-Ocidental (Diocese of South-Western Brazil)
- Diocesan bishop – Revmº. Bispo Dom Jubal Pereira Neves.
- Area covered – the inland areas of the states of Santa Catarina and Rio Grande do Sul.
Diocese da Amazônia (Diocese of the Amazon)
- Created on 29 July 2006 from a previous missionary district.
- Diocesan bishop – Revmº. Bispo Dom Saulo Maurício de Barros.
- Area covered – the states of Pará, Amapá, Roraima, Amazonas and Acre.
Distrito Missionário do Oeste (Missionary District of the West)
- Area covered – the states of Rondônia, Mato Grosso and Mato Grosso do Sul.
References
External links
- Official site (Portuguese)
- Anglican Diocese of Recife (Portuguese)
