ABSTRACT
This article analyzes four Pentecostal churches from Porto Alegre, Brazil, that are engaged in a “spiritual reconquering of Europe” based on a comprehension that the continent has become over materialistic and on the verge of abandoning Christianity. In order to understand this aim, that of “rechristianizing Europe,” these churches forge agreements with churches and religious agents in Europe as a “strategic resource” to the effect of launching an “inverted mission”. However, as in Europe most of the faithful and church missionaries from the Porto Alegre churches do not comprise Europeans but rather Brazilians, Latin Americans and Africans, we suggest that the “inverted mission” contains other meanings, beyond those articulated verbally, such as conferring monetary benefits, going “global” and elevating the prestige of churches and agents in the “local” socio-religious context. In sum, the article analyzes the tensions experienced by Brazilian missionaries in Europe due to the cultural shocks they face and the ripple through their religious practice, specially in relation to the spaces intended for emotion in rituals.
Pentecostalism; religious transnationalization; religious partnerships; “inverted mission”; rechristianization of Europe