Guide to the United Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A. Commission on Ecumenical Mission and Relations Secretaries' Files: Central Brazil Mission

Descriptive Summary

Title

United Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A. Commission on Ecumenical Mission and Relations Secretaries' Files: Central Brazil Mission

Inclusive Dates

1890-1965

Call Number

RG 86

Creator(s)

United Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A. Commission on Ecumenical Mission and Relations

Quantity

12.00 cubic feet

Language

Some materials in Portuguese

Restrictions on Access

Open for research. Medical, educational, and psychological records of living people are closed.

Repository

Presbyterian Historical Society, 425 Lombard Street, Philadelphia, PA 19147-1516 USA

Biographical Note / Administrative History

Administrative History

The Brazil Mission of the Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A. (PCUSA) was established by the Board of Foreign Missions in 1859. It was the second mission field opened by the PCUSA in Latin America. The structure of Presbyterian mission work in Brazil differed from that of other mission fields developed by the church throughout Africa, Asia and Latin America. While the latter evolved around permanent centralized mission stations, comparatively few such stations were established in Brazil. Because of the vast distances that had to be traveled by itinerant missionaries, the mission was subdivided in 1871 into two missions: the South Brazil Mission and the Central Brazil Mission. The latter encompassed the stations at Bahia, Cidade de Bomfim, Ponte Nova, Caetité and North Minas. The former included the stations in São Paulo, Paraná, Mato Grosso, Goiás and Santa Catarina. In 1938, the two missions were reunited as the Central Brazil Mission. The name was continued by the United Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A. (UPCUSA) after 1958.

The nature of the church's ministry in Brazil was evangelistic, educational and medical. Though permanent institutions were constructed in the cities, evangelistic work in the vast interior was directed by itinerant missionaries who trained evangelistic workers to continue the work they had initiated. In the South Brazil Mission, educational work centered in São Paulo where primary, intermediate, and secondary education courses were taught in the Escola Americana and higher education was provided at Mackenzie College. In the Central Brazil Mission, the Farm School of Ponte Nova offered coeducational training. The primary medical work of the Central Brazil Mission was conducted at the Ponte Nova Hospital.

In 1888, the 52 mission churches of the PCUSA and the Presbyterian Church in the U.S. (PCUS) were united to form the Presbyterian Church of Brazil (Igreja Presbiteriana do Brasil or IPB). A growing divergence of opinion on matters of doctrine, policy and methods resulted in a schism in 1903, and a number of ministers, elders and communicants withdrew to establish the Independent Presbyterian Church.

The Board of Foreign Missions encouraged the transfer of mission work to the IPB. By the late 1960s, the missionary force of the Central Brazil Mission was greatly reduced from its former numbers. In 1971, the Commission on Ecumenical Mission and Relations (COEMAR) formally dissolved the Central Brazil Mission, an action that prompted the Presbyterian Church of Brazil to end its relationship with the mission. UPCUSA missionaries continued to work in Brazil under the auspices of the Independent Presbyterian Church.

Collection Overview

Record Group 86 documents the educational, evangelistic, and medical missionary work of the South Brazil Mission and the Central Brazil Mission from 1890 to 1937 and the united Central Brazil Mission from 1938 to 1965. Most of the materials in this record group were created before the 1958 union of the Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A. and the United Presbyterian Church in North America. The bulk of the Secretaries' files from after 1958 are found in the United Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A. Commission on Ecumenical Mission and Relations Secretaries' Files: Central Brazil Mission, 1956-1972 (RG 137).

This collection is arranged in three series. Series 1: South Brazil/Central Brazil Mission, 1893-1965, arranged chronologically, contains correspondence between the Board of Foreign Missions (and its successor, the Commission on Ecumenical Mission and Relations) and missionaries in the field. It also includes mission minutes, institutional and personal reports, and other material sent from the field to the Board. Series 2: Mackenzie College, 1890-1961, comprises correspondence, minutes, and reports documenting the activities of Mackenzie College in Campinas. Series 3: Subject Files, 1894-1955, includes correspondence, minutes, reports, and related items grouped by institution name or topic. Researchers should note that topics found in Series 3 are also likely documented in the chronological files in Series 1.

Organization and Arrangement

Series 1: SOUTH/CENTRAL BRAZIL MISSION, 1893-1965
Series 2: MACKENZIE COLLEGE, 1890-1961
Series 3: SUBJECT FILES, 1894-1955

Related Material

Administrative Information

Processing Information

Knowledge of the numbering system used by the Board may be helpful to the researcher: #7 was used to designate the Central Brazil Mission while #8 was used to designate the South Brazil Mission.

A number following the mission number was used to designate the type of material. For example:

1 Minutes
2 Station reports, educational reports
3 Correspondence with nationals and others who were not regular missionaries.
4 Cables
5 Board letters to the mission. These might be described as official newsletters and most of the time they were numbered.
6 Mission publications
7 Executive Committee correspondence
8 Personal missionary reports
9 Statistical summaries
10 Property correspondence
11 Missionary correspondence

Because of the chronological arrangement initially imposed on this collection, materials from the South and Central Brazil Missions prior to 1938 have not been segregated into separate series as would otherwise have been desirable. In any given folder the researcher can expect to find minutes, correspondence, reports, and cables; items within each folder have not been arranged by date or format.

Preferred Citation

United Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A. Commission on Ecumenical Mission and Relations Secretaries' Files: Central Brazil Mission, RG 86, Presbyterian Historical Society, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Catalog Headings

The following headings have been used to index the description of this collection in the society’s electronic catalog.

Corporate Subject

Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A. Brazil Mission.

Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A. Central Brazil Mission.

Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A. South Brazil Mission.

Instituto Mackenzie.

United Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A. Central Brazil Mission.

Topical Subject

Missions--Brazil--20th century.

Missionaries--Brazil--20th century.

Education--Brazil--20th century.

Schools--Brazil--20th century.

Hospitals--Brazil--20th century.

Presbyterian Church--Brazil.

Geographic Subject

Brazil--Missions--20th century.

Brazil--Church history--20th century.

Genre-form

Correspondence. aat

Reports. aat

Minutes. aat

Corporate Added Name