Accommodating Secularization

Though the recent rise of neo-Pentecostalism in Uruguay invites sociological inquiry, classical Pentecostal history there garners little scholarly interest. Uruguay is unique in South America due to its early secularization and radical privatization of religion. Atheism, agnosticism, and religious indifference created challenges that differed from those Pentecostals encountered in other South American fields. Surveying denominational periodicals and missionary reports, this study explores Pentecostal approaches to mission in the secularized Uruguayan context in the 1960s. It argues that although missionaries recognized the highly secularized society as a challenge, their response was one of accommodation rather than resistance. By aligning with the government’s vision of privatized religion, they adopted a privatized approach to mission and witness that did not seek to impact the country’s politics

Secularization · Theology · History · Philosophy · Religion and Society Interactions · Religion, Society, and Development