Igreja Presbiteriana do Brasil: formação e evolução da rede geográfica potiguar

Abstract

This paper consists of a descriptive analysis of the formation of the territory of the Presbyterian Church of Brasil (IPD) in Rio Grande do Norte, being one of the most ancient denominations in the State. Its origin goes as far as the Protestant Reformation, in the 16th century, establishing a kind of religious domination that developed in diverse areas of the society. The goal of this paper is to understand how the IPB's territory was established in Rio Grande do Nortem since the foundation of the first church, in 1882, in the city of Mossoró. We draw cartograms of the distribution of the temples, followed by an analysis of the correlation with demographic and socioeconomic variables. Bein aware that the geographic notion of territory is related to the exercise of some kind of power, the proselytism of the evangelical faith stands out in this study, reason why we also study the inner organization of the church through its official documents. In order to fulfill these goals, we use statystical data from the municipalities, obtained from agencies as the Brazilian Institute of Statystical Geography, e from IPB itself, that provided us with location of the temples. We also conducted interviews with the leaders of IPB in the State, to clarify important topics of our research, allowing for a more precise visualization of the scenario for the state.