From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
The Christian Congregation of Brazil or Congregação Cristã do Brasil was founded by Italian-American missionary Luigi Francescon (1866-1964) in Recife in 1910. Francescon came to Brazil from Chicago, Illinois, and was quite successful among Italian immigrants. He had been expelled from the Presbyterian Church because of his beliefs on faith healing, miracles, and Holy Spirit baptism. This was part of the first wave of pentecostalism, and evidently the first organized Pentecostal denomination in Brazil. With the Assemblies of God (founded 1911 in Brazil), the Christian Congregation of Brazil forms the early foundation of the Brazilian Pentecostal movement.
Francescon also formed the first Italian-American Pentecostal church in Chicago, which became the basis for the Christian Church of North America.
- In the Power of the Spirit, Chapter 4 (Pentecostalism in Brazil)
- Latin American Socio-Religious Studies
