Uma igreja que canta, toca e cresce: princípios para o ministério de música no pentecostalismo brasileiro a partir da identidade litúrgico-musical da Assembleia de Deus

Abstract

The Assembly of God stands out in the Brazilian religious scenario due to its history, its musicality and its growth. A centennial church, it is considered the matrix of Brazilian Pentecostalism. It is a musical community recognized as a storehouse of singers and musicians. It is a denomination in expansion, considered the largest Evangelical church of Brazil and the only one of national expanse that is still growing. How to understand this relation history-musicality-growth in a religious period marked by the tendency of liberating oneself from the traditions and by the revolution of mediatic Evangelical music? Is it possible for a church to maintain its liturgical-musical identity and still continue growing? Moved by this investigation this research begins seeking to understand the phenomenon Assembly of God – through an analysis of its Brazilianness, of its concept of community, traditions, transformations, fragmentations and liturgy in an attempt to identify some peculiarities which could define an Assembly identity in the midst of its plurality. Following the musicality of this church is presented beginning with a return to its musical origins and liturgies – the history of a church founded upon a revolutionary musical practice which becomes traditionalized, sacralyzing its ways in the defense of a supposed identity and which is pulverized, reaching today the extremes of a petrified liturgy and of a “show worship”. Based on this historicity the research broadens its discussion analyzing the “music in the church”, perceiving the lack of reflection in the midst of so much musical activity. The conception of music as ministry and its dimensions, the lack of a “theology of music” and its problematization, issues of sacredness, with its parameters and criterion, and the Gospel movement with its tendencies and challenges are themes which are analyzed in the sequence of the work. In conclusion, the main characteristics of the musical-liturgical identity of the Assembly of God are established and the principles for the Ministry of Music in Brazilian Pentecostalism are proposed.