Where Are the Poor? (153): A Comparison of the Ecclesial Base Communities and Pentecostalism--A Case Study in Cuernavaca, Mexico (Princeton Theological Monograph)

The Ecclesial Base Communities (CEBs) emerged in the wake of Latin American liberation theology and are often referred to as "the Church of the Poor." This book, however, addresses whether or not CEBs are indeed the Church of the Poor today. It is an open question now if Pentecostalism has in fact become the new church of the poor. To answer this question Philip Wingeier-Rayo conducted a one-year ethnographic study of both movements in a marginalized barrio in Cuernavaca, Mexico. Using the anthropological method of participant-observer, the author studied a Roman Catholic Church and a Pentecostal Church--just 100 yards apart--compiling surveys, life interviews, and field notes to relay his findings. For those interested in liberation theology, Pentecostalism, new religious movements, or the influence of religion on society, this in-depth ethnographic study will be of great interest.

Philip Wingeier-Rayo is Associate Professor of Religion at Pfeiffer University where he teaches in the areas of theology, missions, and cultural anthropology. He is the author of Cuban Methodism (Dolphins & Orchids, 2006).

Justo L. Gonzalez, a United Methodist minister born in Cuba, is a retired member of the Rio Grande Conference of the United Methodist Church. After his basic college and seminary education in Cuba, he studied at Yale University, where he obtained three degrees: S.T.M. (1958), M.A. (1960) and Ph.D. (1961). In 1961 he joined the faculty of the Evangelical Seminary of Puerto Rico, teaching historical theology, and in 1969 he moved to Atlanta, where he now resides, in order to teach at Candler School of Theology (Emory University). Since 1977 he has been engaged in two main occupations: writing and promoting the theological education of Latinas and Latinos.

Among his numerous writings in the field of Church History are his three-volume 'A History of Christian Thought', and the two volume set on 'The Story of Christianity'. These and others of his books have been published not only in English and Spanish, but translated as well into Portuguese, German, Russian, Korean and Chinese.