On March 10, 1557, the first Protestant worship service was held in Brazil. Followers of Protestantism are rising in number and if the evangelical Christian movement continues to spread at the pace it has in recent years, statistics suggest that by 2022 Catholics will be a minority in a country that was about 90 percent Catholic in 1980 http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A51511-2005Apr13.html. Until 1970, the majority of Brazilian Protestants belonged to one of the traditional churches - Lutherans, Presbyterians and Baptists mainly - but the Pentecostals have increased largely in numbers since then. According to a [Roman] Catholic Church study, 600,000 of their faithful convert annually to a Protestant denomination.

There is also Seventh-day Adventist educational system with over 475 elementary schools, 67 secondary schools, two colleges and a university.^[1][2]

According to IBGE 2000 Census, these are the biggest Protestant denominations in Brazil (only listed those with more than a half million members):

• Assemblies of God (Assembléias de Deus): 8,418,140 (5.0%)

General Convention of the Assemblies of God (Affiliated with the US Assemblies of God, Springfield, MO): 3.6 million.

National Convention of the Assemblies of God (A.k.a. Madureira Ministry of the Assemblies of God): 2.5 million.

Other independent Assemblies of God, such as Bethesda Assemblies of God: 1.9 million

• Baptists: 3,162,691 (1.9%)

Brazilian Baptist Convention (Affiliated to US Southern Baptists and BWA body member): 1.4 million adherents

National Baptist Convention (Charismatics Baptists and BWA body member): 1 million.

Independent Baptist Convention (Scandinavian Baptists): 400,000.

Other Baptists: 300,000

• Christian Congregation of Brazil (Italian-Brazilian Pentecostals): 2.6 million (1.5%)
• Universal Church of the Kingdom of God (Igreja Universal do Reino de Deus): 2 million Neo-Pentecostal Movement (1.2%)
• Adventists: 1.8 million (1.0%)

Seventh-day Adventist Church: 1.6 million ^[3][4]

Promise Adventist Church (Brazilian Pentecostal Adventists): 150,000

Seventh Day Adventist Reform Movement: 50,000

Other Adventists: 100,000

• Foursquare Gospel Church (Classic Pentocostals in US, but second-wave pentecostals in Brazil): 1,318,805 (0.8%)
• Lutherans: 1 million (0.6%)

Evangelical Church of Lutheran Confission

Evangelical Lutheran Church of Brazil

Other Lutherans

• Reformed churches: 1 million (0.6%)

Presbyterian Church of Brazil: 450,000

Independent Presbyterian Church: 300,000

Congregationalists: 100,000

Other Calvinists:150,000

• International Church of the Grace of God (Igreja Internacional da Graça de Deus): 500,000 Neo-Pentecostal Movement
• Methodists: 340,963 (0.201%)

Methodist Church of Brazil (Affiliated to US United Methodist Church): 200,000

Wesleyan Methodist Church (Brazilian Pentecostal Methodists): 100,000

Other Methodists: 40,000

External links

• Brazilian Evangelical Rally Draws 3 Million - beliefnet.com
• Pope Visits Brazil, Church Loses Ground - ABC News
• Catholic Church Losing Followers in Droves - Inter Press Service
• Rising Protestant tide sweeps Catholic Brazil - Reuters
• Protestants making inroads in Brazil, world's most populous Catholic country - WWRN
• Census reveals more Protestants in Brazil - latinamericanstudies.org
• Adventist Television Dramatically Expands Under New License - Adventist News Network
• Brazilians embrace Protestant faiths - BBC News
• Pope heads to Brazil where church losing ground - USA Today
• Pragmatic Protestants Winning Converts in Brazil - The New York Times

References

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