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Latin Amenca Three Responses to a New Historìcal Situation

RICHARD SHAULL

Professor of Ecumenics Emerìtus Princeton Theological Seminary

As poor people in Latin America rapidly emerge as a new social class, they are creating a new situation that calls for the church to become a "church of the poor."

L ATIN AMERICAN PEOPLE and nations are living through very troubled times, as one attempt after another to achieve Western style economic development and establish democratic institutions has failed. In societies with tremendous concentrations of wealth and power in the hands of a very small elite, the poor majority become more impoverished every year, while those in power tend to rely on repression to maintain the status quo.

Still, in the midst of all this, an increasing number of poor women and men are becoming acutely aware of what is happening to them as well as what is causing their suffering. They are coming to a new sense of their worth as human beings, developing a new personal identity, and realizing that only they can change their situation. As they come together in a variety of popular movements and learn to work together to transform their world, they are emerging as "the new historical subject." Those who once were passive objects, acted upon by history, are now becoming active agents. Constituting a new social class, they are beginning to articulate a vision of a new society that goes beyond both the Western capitalist and the Marxist models, and are laying the foundation for it by the initiatives they are taking in economic and political reconstruction at the local level.

These factors combine to create a new historical situation, in which the church is called to become a "church of the poor," proclaiming good news

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capable of sustaining and transforming the lives of the poor, and standing in solidarity with them in their struggle. Here I want to examine briefly three responses, on the part of both Roman Catholic and Protestant Churches, to this challenge.

T H E FAILURE O F MAINLINE PROTESTANT CHURCHES

O F UNITED STATES ORIGIN

During the latter half of the nineteenth century, missionaries sent to Latin America by mainline Protestant churches in the United States found a great deal of interest in their preaching and teaching as well as in their educational and social work. A new social class was emerging, made up of those who were eager to liberate themselves from the limitations of a static and closed society sustained by the Roman Catholic Church, to create democratic institutions, and to explore new possibilities for economic development. Many within this social class were searching for a spiritual foundation for their lives and struggle that they had not found either in Catholicism or in the new liberal political ideologies.

For a significant number of these men and women, Protestant preach- ing, together with the study of the Bible, had strong appeal. This reinterpre- tation of Christianity provided them with a new perspective on what was happening around them and seemed to support, rather than condemn, their new aspirations. It offered them a more intimate experience of God in a dynamic community of faith, which made it possible for them to reorganize their lives around a new center and experience a profound moral transfor- mation. And, as Jean-Pierre Bastian has pointed out, Protestant preaching offered a new road to salvation for those who could no longer conform to the status quo.1 It gave a voice to those who had no voice and provided a new conception of the relation between individual and society. Those who participated in a new community of faith were transformed into "individu- als," members of a society of equals. The social rupture produced by conversion carried with it a vision of a new society and motivated participa- tion in struggles for social transformation by agents of a new democratic legitimacy.

As they succeeded in responding to the needs of those seeking a new spiritual and moral foundation for their lives, Presbyterian, Methodist, and Baptist churches grew rapidly during the first half of this century and seemed well on the way to becoming a dynamic force in Latin American societies. During the late forties and early fifties, what stood out was the vitality of these

1 See his Breve historia del protestantismo en América Latina (México Casa Unida de Publicaciones, 1986) and Los Disidentes sociedades protestantes y revolución en México, 1872-1911 (México Fondo de Cultura Económica, 1989)

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Protestant congregations and the enthusiasm of their members for evange- lism and for the vocational interests and social concerns of a new generation.

Now, thirty years later, the picture has changed dramatically. Mainline Protestant churches have become an increasingly important factor in the lives of people and in society all across Latin America, but they are no longer in the forefront. In fact, in a recent study of Protestant growth in Latin America, David Stoll, a North American anthropologist, hardly mentions them. His book Is Latin America Turning Protestant? focuses on those to whom he refers as evangelicals, primarily Pentecostals.2

What has happened in this short period? These Protestant churches, which responded so well to the aspirations of an emerging social class in one historical situation, became so identified with that class that they were incapable of responding to the new situation created by the rise of another class. There are, of course, many poor men and woman in these churches, and many missions in poor urban and rural neighborhoods. But mainline Protestantism has not been able to become a church of the poor, where the poor feel completely at home. When the poor enter a Presbyterian or Methodist church, they quickly realize that the way people dress and relate to one another, as well as the language and forms of worship that those in charge use, are quite foreign to them. Churches whose doctrines, system of values, and general religious outlook were largely transplanted from North America—with the consequence that they have been slow in sinking deep roots in Latin American culture—are not committed to making the radical changes demanded of them if the gospel is to become incarnate in the world of the poor. Some poor persons join these churches, but in doing so, they run the risk of alienating themselves from the culture and the religious world-view of their neighbors.

Pastor-centered churches tend to offer little room to laypersons, espe- cially those who are poor or have little formal education, for full participa- tion in worship, evangelism, teaching, and preaching. Many young men and women from the poorer classes feel themselves called to the ministry. Usually, however, they are required to leave their communities and spend several years in theological seminaries. Here they come to think of the ministry as a middle class profession, providing them with a certain status and economic position in society. Then, too, the growth of pastor-centered churches is limited by the need to erect a certain type of church building and to support the aspirations of their pastors. The result is that these churches, while they may place a great deal of emphasis on evangelism, nonetheless have difficulty growing rapidly among the poor. In addition, the life style encouraged by their religious and moral ethos leads pastors as well as lay-

2. Is Latin America Turning Protestant? (Berkeley/Los Angeles/Oxford: University of California Press, 1990).

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persons to be more interested in upward mobility and professional advance- ment than in making the sacrifices necessary to enter into the world of the poor and reinvent the church there.

Many pastors and laypersons in such mainline Protestant churches are not only aware of this crisis but are seeking to respond to it by moving closer to the poor, standing in solidarity with them in their struggles, and striving for theological and spiritual renewal. In some denominations, indigenous people are making important changes; and new ecumenical developments are creating closer ties between Protestants in these older churches and the new Evangelicals. But unless these developments bring about a radical transformation in these Protestant churches oriented toward the United States, their position will become ever more precarious and more marginal in the years ahead.

T H E REINVENTION O F T H E C H U R C H IN THE CHRISTIAN BASE COMMUNITIES

In the early seventies, a significant number of priests and nuns decided to move closer to the poor. By so doing, they successsfully set in motion a process that has led to the creation of a new model of church, the Christian Base Communities.

Those who took this early step established a new pattern of missionary service, in which teams of women and men went to live in poor neighbor- hoods. These teams found ways to support themselves as they associated with grassroots movements and worked toward the formation and development of these base communities. This example set by priests and nuns has often been followed by doctors, teachers, social workers, and other young professionals. Frequently, members of the CBCs have risen to positions of leadership and have continued the ministry originally carried out by clergy and laypersons from the outside. By virtue of all these efforts, conditions have been created for the establishment of dynamic, self-supporting, ecclesial communities and for their spontaneous growth among the poorest of people.

This new model of church that is emerging has several distinctive characteristics:3

( 1 ) In the CBCs, poor people come together to worship God and listen to God's word where they live their daily lives. There they experience the presence and power of God as they struggle with their most immediate problems and sufferings: how to get enough food to eat; how to deal with drunkenness or the abuse of women and children in the family; how to

3. Here, due to limitations of space, I can refer only briefly to each of these factors. For a more thorough analysis, see my ' T h e Christian Base Communities and the Ecclesia Reformata Semper Reformanda," The Princeton Seminary BulletinXll, 2 (New Series 1991) 2 0 1 - 13.

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improve the health of their children; how to deal with violence and repression.

These weekly meetings usually begin with conversation about what has been happening in the people's lives, then move to Bible study and prayer, and end with decisions about actions to be taken in response to God's call. The study of the Bible occupies the central place as the poor discover that, through it, God addresses their concrete situation. In the words of a leader of a CBC in Sao Paulo, Brazil, "a base ecclesial community is a group of people who reflect on the Word of God as a family. They discover together the needs of their street, their neighborhood, and their people, and use the Word of God as a mirror in which to see their situation."

As the poor get a new sense of their worth before God and thus forge a new self-identity, they experience God's grace and transforming power as real and concrete. Their family life is transformed, and those who have practically nothing learn both to share the little they have and to work together to analyze and solve some of their most urgent problems. Living in such closeness to God, they look to the future with hope, find peace and even joy in the midst of their sufferings, often undertake impossible tasks, and face persecution and threats of death without fear.

(2) As the poor have been encouraged not only to read and study the Bible together but also to value and draw on their own religious language and beliefs, they are learning to articulate their own faith and speak their own word. In reading the Bible without someone else telling them what it says, the poor discover that the people figuring in the biblical story are people like themselves: poor and oppressed women, fisherpersons and peasants, people living in exile, lepers and other outcasts. The poor come to see that the biblical story is their story and that the struggle described there is their struggle. And before long, they realize that they can understand its message, articulate it in language that makes sense to them, and hence draw on it in their daily life as they never dreamed of doing before.

Moreover, as poor and marginal people demonstrate their capacity to understand and articulate the biblical message, those helping them are compelled to pay much more attention to the religious ideas, symbols, and festivals of the people. These helpers soon realize that this popular religion, while it may contain a great deal of superstition and elements taken from non-Christian sources, nevertheless expresses a vital faith and enables many people to organize their lives and find meaning in their suffering.

These helpers of the poor furthermore perceive that when they respect the faith and culture of the people and assist them in establishing a direct dialogue between their faith heritage and the Bible, the biblical story enriches and transforms their symbolic world. This, in turn, sets in motion a creative process by means of which the people are able to build on what they already have, rework it in the light of biblical faith, and gain increasing

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c o n f i d e n c e in t h e i r own ability to t h i n k theologically. T h e results of this can b e s e e n in n e w confessions of faith, songs a n d h y m n s , as well as n e w liturgies a n d masses, all of w h i c h e x p r e s s t h e faith t h a t n a m e s a n d g u i d e s t h e religious e x p e r i e n c e of p e a s a n t s , u r b a n p o o r , a n d i n d i g e n o u s p e o p l e .

(3) I n t h e CBCs, t h o s e w h o have b e e n c o m p l e t e l y m a r g i n a l i z e d a r e b e g i n n i n g to live a n e w quality of life in c o m m u n i t y . As t h e Holy Spirit moves in t h e i r midst, they find themselves called to s h a r e t h e i r m a t e r i a l possessions, as d i d t h e early Christians o n t h e day of P e n t e c o s t . A w o m a n with o n e kilo of rice may give half of it to a m o t h e r w h o s e c h i l d r e n have n o t h i n g to eat. S l u m dwellers living in a o n e - r o o m shack may w e l c o m e a h o m e l e s s family i n t o t h e i r h u m b l e a b o d e . Salvadoran refugees r e t u r n i n g to t h e i r c o u n t r y after years in exile first b u i l d h o m e s for widows with small c h i l d r e n , for t h e sick a n d t h e disabled, a n d s h a r e with all o n t h e basis of n e e d t h e food they p r o d u c e . As t h e t r a d i t i o n a l p a t t e r n s of t h e e x t e n d e d family a n d r u r a l c o m m u n i t y d i s i n t e g r a t e u n d e r t h e i m p a c t of m o d e r n i z a t i o n , t h o s e suffering m o s t from s u c h d i s i n t e g r a t i o n often find themselves i n c l u d e d in a n d s u p p o r t e d by a n e w family a n d c o m m u n i t y .

M o r e t h a n this, t h o s e l e d by t h e Spirit to s h a r e t h e little they have also discover t h a t they c a n live a n d w o r k t o g e t h e r in such a way as to raise u p a n d e m p o w e r e a c h o t h e r . F r o m t h e b e g i n n i n g of this m o v e m e n t , priests a n d lay- p e r s o n s d i d e v e r y t h i n g possible to h e l p t h e p o o r e s t p e o p l e discover t h e i r own p o t e n t i a l , b e c o m e e m p o w e r e d as " d o e r s , " a n d l e a r n h o w to e m p o w e r o n e o t h e r . As this h a s b e c o m e a reality in t h e CBCs, t h e i r m e m b e r s n o t only c r e a t e a n e w quality of i n t e r p e r s o n a l r e l a t i o n s h i p s b u t also envision a n d struggle for a society in w h i c h p o w e r flows from t h e b o t t o m u p i n s t e a d of from t h e t o p d o w n . I n this way, t h e m e m b e r s r e p r e s e n t a radical c h a l l e n g e to t h e rigidly h i e r a r c h i c a l s t r u c t u r e s of c h u r c h a n d society, i n c l u d i n g t h o s e of progressive political m o v e m e n t s .

(4) T h i s quality of c o m m u n i t y life in t h e CBCs m a k e s it possible to b r i n g i n t o e x i s t e n c e a c h u r c h in w h i c h p o o r a n d m a r g i n a l p e o p l e n o t only feel at h o m e b u t also have full responsibility for all aspects of t h e c h u r c h ' s life a n d p r o g r a m . S u c h a c h u r c h is o n e c a p a b l e of e x p a n d i n g s p o n t a n e o u s l y in t h e p o o r e s t n e i g h b o o r h o o d s .

As t h e p o o r have t r i e d to o r g a n i z e t h e i r c o m m u n i t y of faith, they have d i s c o v e r e d a n d a t t e m p t e d to p u t i n t o p r a c t i c e w h a t Paul has to say a b o u t t h e charismata, o r gifts of t h e Spirit, p r e s e n t in e a c h c o m m u n i t y for t h e b u i l d i n g u p of t h e Body of Christ. I n o r d e r for e a c h small c o m m u n i t y to f u n c t i o n effectively, it is necessary for its m e m b e r s to take responsibility for a variety of tasks. As I have said elsewhere:

People were needed who would take the initiative in working with others to prepare the liturgy, direct Bible study, engage in evangelism, care for the most urgent needs of the sick and those in trouble, organize people to work

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toward the solution of urgent community problems, and discover how to act politically. And one or more persons were needed to coordinate these various activities. It also became clear that members of each CBC had the charismata needed for these ministries, and that the community had the responsibility of recognizing those who had these various "gifts."

Out of this experience new patterns of ministry are developing. Ministries are arising from below, as the community decides what specific tasks need to be undertaken and chooses those who should carry them out for a limited period of time. A few natural leaders often emerge and are given opportunities for further training, but they are encouraged to serve the community and help train others rather than control and dominate it. One or more persons from outside—a priest, a nun, a pastoral agent—may play an important role in the organization and development of the community. But h i s / h e r role is that of helping its members take full responsibility for all aspects of its life.4

(5) T h e p o o r w h o have discovered t h e p r e s e n c e a n d p o w e r of G o d in t h e m i d s t of t h e i r daily life also find t h a t spiritual r e b i r t h leads t h e m to d y n a m i c a c t i o n a i m e d at t r a n s f o r m i n g society. I n fact, t h e m o r e vital a n d p r o f o u n d t h e i r faith, t h e s t r o n g e r is t h e i r c o m p u l s i o n to e x p r e s s it in society. F o r e x a m p l e , t h e p o o r a r e in a p o s i t i o n to o v e r c o m e a d i c h o t o m y often p r e s e n t in P r o t e s t a n t i s m , t h e s e p a r a t i o n of t h e spiritual a n d t h e m a t e r i a l , t h e individual a n d t h e social. T h e y realize t h a t G o d ' s salvific a c t i o n h a s to d o with t h e fullness of h u m a n life. T o t h e e x t e n t t h a t they e x p e r i e n c e such fullness, t h e i r faith b e c o m e s m o r e vital a n d c o n c r e t e . By t h e s a m e t o k e n , they find in t h e i r faith a m o r e solid, spiritual u n d e r g i r d i n g for social a n d political a c t i o n , o n e c a p a b l e of s u s t a i n i n g t h o s e w h o live by it in difficult times.

T h i s vitality of faith, t h e quality of life in c o m m u n i t y , a n d t h e n e w m o d e l of c h u r c h b e i n g d e v e l o p e d in t h e CBCs p r o v i d e a f o u n d a t i o n for a d y n a m i c " c h u r c h of t h e p o o r . " At t h e p r e s e n t m o m e n t , however, its f u t u r e is s o m e w h a t u n c e r t a i n . T h e c o n c e r t e d effort b e i n g m a d e by t h e Vatican a n d by t h e h i e r a r c h y in m a n y places to c o n t r o l t h e s e c o m m u n i t i e s m e a n s t h a t they a r e n o t only d e p r i v e d of t h e s u p p o r t they n e e d to d e v e l o p b u t also find t h a t t h e i r efforts to r e a c h a wider circle of p e o p l e in t h e C a t h o l i c c o m m u n i t y a r e often effectively b l o c k e d . Clearly, t h e c o n t i n u i n g vitality of t h e CBCs will d e p e n d u p o n t h e re -c re a t i o n , i n e a c h n e w g e n e r a t i o n , of t h e spirit a n d e x p e r i e n c e of t h e f o u n d e r s . But this t r e m e n d o u s task is m a d e even m o r e difficult by t h e climate of o p p o s i t i o n in t h e c h u r c h , of violence in society, a n d of r e p r e s s i o n of p o p u l a r m o v e m e n t s in m a n y places.

U n f o r t u n a t e l y , it is likewise t r u e t h a t as t h e s e n e w Christians discover t h a t t h e i r faith leads t h e m to b e c o m e involved in social a n d political

4. Ibid., p. 210.

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struggles, they frequently get so caught u p in these struggles that they have little time for or interest in deepening their faith or evangelizing others. Yet, as the sufferings of the poorest people increase and their situation becomes more desperate, they sense a greater need for a rich and rewarding religious experience that will offer them comfort and peace and have the power to reorient and reorganize their lives at the very time that all around them is disintegrating. If they do not find this spiritual satisfaction in the CBCs, they will search for it elsewhere.

T H E APPEAL AND POTENTIAL OF THE PENTECOSTAL CHURCHES

The Pentecostal and other neoevangelical churches in Latin America are experiencing phenomenal growth. The reason is that they have suc- ceeded in connecting with and directing a powerful spirituality streaming through the poorest people that neither the Roman Catholic nor the older Protestant churches have been able to channel. Touching the deepest religious longings of the poor, Pentecostal and evangelical churches offer them a satisfying experience of God. As a result, the daily struggle of the poor for health and survival is set in the context of their faith in the supernatural. In the Pentecostal experience, many elements of Catholic popular religiosity reappear, but are filled with new meaning. In contrast to the formal and emotionally sterile worship in many traditional Protestant churches, which uses a language quite foreign to the world-view of the poor, Pentecostalism offers a type of worship in which the most humble can participate fully with exuberance and spontaneity (e.g., in individual and group prayer, joyous songs, and holy groaning and shouting).

In situations of the greatest suffering and poverty, the emotional and spiritual appeal of Pentecostals may touch much more intimately the anguish and despair of the people than theological discussion or Bible study focusing on social, economic, and political issues. If this spirituality often serves to turn the attention of Pentecostals away from the struggle to transform the structures of oppression under which they live, this same religious experience provides others with what they most need to sustain a long and hard struggle against the forces of exploitation and repression.

The spiritual revitalization produced by Pentecostalism, which radically transforms the moral life of the individual, can also contribute to the transformation of family life and the establishment of new relations in the local community. Especially for those who migrate to the large cities from rural communities, these small churches often constitute a new "family," or community, for those who would otherwise be completely abandoned.

These congregations are becoming a type of "popular church," open to people regardless of race or social class. Their ecclesiastical structure permits rapid growth and easy adaptation to new conditions. With their strong

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emphasis on the "gifts of the Spirit" and the vocation of each believer, the Pentecostal churches not only call on all their members to exercise a ministry but also offer them ample opportunities to participate in the life and mission of the church. When one member is preaching, others can participate, giving "glory to God" or speaking in tongues. New members, who have never had an opportunity to express themselves in public, are urged to take responsibility for a prayer meeting in the middle of the week, to give out tracts, or to engage in street preaching. Soon those who have been most marginal in society, convinced that they were of little worth and were incapable of doing anything of value, discover that they have "gifts" for preaching, serving others, and organizing new congregations. In the view of Pentecostals, the most important thing in becoming a pastor is not to have the right academic training but the "gift" to communicate the faith and organize new congregations. "Anyone who has the gift can be a pastor."

These elements in the life of Pentecostal churches have the potential to provide their members with spiritual resources for dynamic participation in the struggles of the poor in the coming years. At the same time, these elements are offset by other factors. The theological orientation of Pentecos- tal preaching and teaching has been essentially dualistic; the salvation offered by Christ centers on the spiritual transformation of the individual, and hope for the future is focused on the promise of eternal life and the Second Coming of Christ, not on the transformation of historical existence in the direction of the reign of God. In addition, many Pentecostal churches have a patriarchal structure, in which the pastor occupies a position of authority and control over the members similar to that of the landlord in the traditional rural society. Also preachers with limited theological training may inadvertendy use biblical language to sacralize traditional values and structures, rather than to draw on that heritage to challenge and transform them.

Nevertheless, what is becoming increasingly evident is that a growing number of Pentecostals, both pastors and laypersons, are finding that their religious faith and their experience of Christ is sensitizing them to the suffering and death caused by poverty and injustice. Such sensitivity opens their eyes to what the Bible says about God's concern for the poor and leads them to seek help in broadening and deepening their understanding of the gospel.

In a movement among poor people, such as Pentecostalism, which has much spiritual dynamism and ascribes great importance to the Bible and its authority in the life of the believer, these concerns about suffering and death and about poverty and injustice are very likely to grow. This will all the more be the case if Pentecostals live in daily touch with other Christians who have discovered and are living the gospel message of liberation. Many Pentecostal pastors may be bound by a rigid, otherworldly theology, but as it is not this

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theology but the experience of the Spirit that holds the central place in Pentecostalism, changes in theological orientation may come about more easily than in churches placing greater emphasis on correct doctrine.

In the Pentecostal churches, marginal people become active members of a community that has a degree of autonomy over against state and society. In them, alongside of the tendency to affirm and even sacralize some of the values of the dominant society, is often found an element of protest against an oppressive social system. As the economic situation of the poor majority gets increasingly worse, evangelical movements identified with this majority may be inclined to take much more seriously what the Word of God has to say about the nature of God's action in history, the concern of the Hebrew prophets for social justice, and the message of Jesus about the reign of God.

Across the centuries, many revivalist and renewal movements, which began with a limited spiritualistic and individualistic orientation, evolved, after the first generation, in the direction of concern for social transforma- tion. The same thing may well happen among the vigorous neoevangelical movements in Latin America. Moreover, the future of the older Protestant churches may depend upon their ability to relate creatively to these developments.

Can we in the United States learn anything from the crisis in the older Protestant churches in Latin America, the reinvention of the church in the CBCs, and the present growth of Pentecostalism? Only if we are willing to move closer to the "new historical subject" at home and abroad and to those who are struggling to give shape to a new church in their midst. In dialogue with them, we must strive to recover our own heritage as an "ecclesia reformata semper reforman da." This is something that we can hardly expect any of our mainline denominations to undertake, but we can give priority to the formation of small communities of women and men already being led by the Spirit in this direction.

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