Trezza, Carlos Alberto (1917–2009)

Carlos Alberto Trezza, pastor, evangelist, canvasser, and writer, was born on October 18, 1917, in the city of São José dos Botelhos, in the state of Minas Gerais, Brazil. He was the fifth son of José Trezza, a naturalized citizen from Italy, and Honorata Ferreira. His siblings were: Iolanda, Santa, Zelito, Maria Oliveira, Carlos, Milton, Francisco, Paula, Teresa, and Selma.¹

Carlos began his primary studies in the city of São Gonçalo in the countryside of Minas Gerais. Later, his family moved to the city of Campestre in the same state, where he finished his secondary studies and high school.² He was born in a Catholic family who followed the traditional religion of that region that had very few Protestants. The Trezza family had their first contact with the Adventist message in 1930. At fourteen years old, Carlos traveled with his father to visit a farmer at a nearby city. While his father was talking to the man, Carlos wandered around the house and found a book that caught his attention. It was entitled Nossa Era à Luz da Profecia [Our Era by the Light of Prophecy], a compilation of Ellen G. White’s writings. He bought the book from the owner, but³ even though he found the literature very interesting, Carlos didn’t completely understand the subjects presented. Sometime later, though, he met a young man named Filogênio, who cleared his doubts about the Sabbath-keeping doctrine. From that day on, he and his mother started to keep the Sabbath.⁴

At sixteen years of age, in May 1934, he was baptized in the city of Poços de Caldas, Minas Gerais, by Pastor Quirino Dau.⁵ Desiring to contribute to the advancement of the Adventist message, he nourished the dream of someday becoming a pastor.⁶ Since he received help from some Adventist friends, especially Haroldo P. de Castro Lobo, in 1939, he went to the city of São Paulo where he canvassed for one year in order to earn the needed resources.⁷ In 1940, Carlos enrolled in the theology courses at Brazil College (now referred to as UNASP-SP) and, with the support of his canvassing work during vacations, he graduated on November 9, 1944.⁸

Afterwards, on December 17, 1944, Carlos married Lúcia Henriques in the city of Campinas, São Paulo.⁹ Coming from a Spanish father and an Italian mother, Lúcia was born in the city of São Paulo, but moved to Campinas while still a child, where she and Carlos met.¹⁰ Lúcia contributed to the Adventist work during her husband’s ministry by visiting church members. From their union was born Maria Lúcia Trezza.¹¹

Carlos Trezza entered his first missionary field in 1945, working as a Bible instructor in Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais. Some months later, he accepted the call to serve in Cataguazes, which is in the same state, where he held an evangelistic effort because there was no Adventist church in the city.¹² At the end of the year, he accepted the invitation to temporarily assume the duties of Roberto Rabello as director of The Voice of Prophecy (Brazil), who was on a trip to the United States. Its headquarters was located in the city of Niterói, Rio de Janeiro, where Carlos worked until the end of 1946 when he accepted the call to serve at the Mato Grosso Mission as a Bible worker.¹³ Later, from 1948 to 1951, he served as a credentialed missionary at the Goiano-Mineira Mission, where he assisted the Goiânia Church and led the Publishing, Home Missionary, and Sabbath School departments.¹⁴

After that, Carlos served at the Uberlândia Church during the year of 1952. The following year, he accepted the call to work at the Brazil Publishing House¹⁵, where he served for the next 25 years until his retirement in 1978.¹⁶ At the Publishing House he was editor of some prominent periodicals, such as: O Atalaia [Watchman], Ide [Go], O Ministério Adventista [Ministry Magazine], Sinais de Fumo [Smoke Signals], Folha Evangélica [Gospel Paper], Alerta [Alert], and also devotional readings and Sabbath School lessons.¹⁷

Carlos translated about 18 books for the Brazil Publishing House, among them: A Ciência do Bom Viver [The Ministry of Healing, White], A História dos Profetas e Reis [Prophets and Kings, White], A Intepretação Bíblica Hoje [Biblical Interpretation Today, Hasel], Preparação para a Crise Final [Preparation for the Final Crisis, Chaij], Ana Stahl dos Andes e Amazonas [Ana Stahl of the Andes and Amazon, Westphal], As Belas Histórias da Bíblia [The Bible Story, Maxwell], Atos dos Apóstolos [Acts of the Apostles, White], Beneficência Social [Welfare Ministry, White], Conselhos sobre Educação [Counsels on Education, White], Cristo em seu Santuário [Christ in His Sanctuary, White], Meditação: Contemplando a Refulgente Aurora [Devotional: Catch the Bright Dawn, Doward] and Meditação: Da Minha Casa para o Céu [How to Get to Heaven from Your House, Dolson]. Trezza is author of A Reconquista do Homem, Fazedor de Cruzes, and A Suprema Esperança do Homem.¹⁸

In 1966, he had the opportunity to serve as a delegate of the General Conference Meeting held in Detroit, Michigan. He stayed in the United States for over one year, completing the Advanced Studies program at Andrews University while there.¹⁹ After his retirement, Carlos and his wife moved the city of Hortolândia and then Campinas, São Paulo. He continued editing and translating for the Brazil Publishing House for some years and also published a poetry book entitled Pedacinhos de Mim [Little Pieces of Me] and the autobiography Enquanto Estou Vivo [While I’m Alive].²⁰ He also was vice-director of the Retired Adventist Workers Organization of Hortolândia, inaugurated in 1979 with the objective of helping retired SDA Church workers to continue serving the church by holding public evangelisms and week of prayers.²¹

Carlos Trezza passed away on March 1, 2009, at 92 years of age, in Campinas. He left a legacy of 30 years of service to the SDA Church as pastor, evangelist, editor, and translator, including working for 25 years at the Brazil Publishing House. Among his translations to the Portuguese language were many of Ellen G. White’s books and compilations.

Sources

“Fundada a Associação de Obreiros Jubilados,” Revista Adventista, 76, no. 06, June, 1981, 18. Accessed May 19, 2019.

“Teologandos de 1944 comemoram jubileu,” Revista Adventista, 91, no. 03, March, 1995.

Trezza, Carlos Alberto. “Breve Relato de Minha Vida,” In Minha vida de pastor: cinquenta e três pastores jubilados falam de sua vida e de seu ministério, editado Tercio Sarli, 75-82. Campinas, SP: Certeza Editorial, 2009.

Trezza, Carlos Alberto. Enquanto Estou Vivo: Registro de memórias para a Família. first edition, Campinas, SP: Emopi Gráfica e Editora LTDA, 1999.

Seventh-day Adventist Yearbook. Washington, D.C.: Review and Herald Publishing Association. https://www.adventistyearbook.org/.

Notes

1. Carlos A. Trezza, Enquanto Estou Vivo: Registro de memórias para a Família (Campinas, SP: Emopi Gráfica e Editora LTDA., 1999), 1, 2, 3, 10; Carlos Alberto Trezza, “Breve Relato de Minha Vida,” In Minha vida de pastor: cinquenta e três pastores jubilados falam de sua vida e de seu ministério, ed. Tercio Sarli (Campinas, SP: Certeza Editorial, 2009), 75.↩

2. Trezza, Enquanto Estou Vivo: Registro de memórias para a Familia 47, 49.↩

3. Ibid., 70, 71.↩

4. Ibid., 76, 77.↩

5. Ibid., 90.↩

6. Ibid., 91.↩

7. Ibid., 99, 100, 105.↩

8. Trezza, Enquanto Estou Vivo: Registro de memórias para a Família , 95, 105; “Teologandos de 1944 comemoram jubileu,” Revista Adventista, 91, no. 03 (March, 1995): 19.↩

9. Trezza, Enquanto Estou Vivo: Registro de memórias para a Família , 116.↩

10. Carlos Alberto Trezza, “Breve Relato de Minha Vida,” in Minha vida de pastor: cinquenta e três pastores jubilados falam de sua vida e de seu ministério, ed. Tercio Sarli (Campinas, SP: Certeza Editorial, 2009), 79.↩

11. Trezza, Enquanto Estou Vivo: Registro de memórias para a Família, 117.↩

12. Ibid., 118, 119; “Rio Minas-Gerais Mission,” Seventh-day Adventist Yearbook (Washington, D.C.: Review and Herald Publishing Association, 1946), 153.↩

13. “Mato Grosso Mission,” Seventh-day Adventist Yearbook (Washington, D.C.: Review and Herald Publishing Association, 1947), 153; Trezza, Enquanto Estou Vivo: Registro de memórias para a Família, 122, 123.↩

14. “Goiano-Mineira Mission,” Seventh-day Adventist Yearbook (Washington, D.C.: Review and Herald Publishing Association, 1949), 166; “Goiano-Mineira Mission,” Seventh-day Adventist Yearbook, 1952, 168.; Trezza, “Breve Relato de Minha Vida,”, 78; Trezza, Enquanto Estou Vivo: Registro de memórias para a Família, 131.↩

15. “South Brazil Union Conference,” Seventh-day Adventist Yearbook 1954, 175; Trezza, Enquanto Estou Vivo: Registro de memórias para a Família, 135.↩

16. Trezza, Enquanto Estou Vivo: Registro de memórias para a Família, 140; “The General Conference”, Seventh-day Adventist Yearbook, 1979, 276.↩

17. “Publishing Houses,” Seventh-day Adventist Yearbook, 173; “Publishing Houses,” Seventh-day Adventist Yearbook, 1965/1966, 400; “Publishing Houses,” Seventh-day Adventist Yearbook, 1967, 389, 406; Trezza, Enquanto Estou Vivo: Registro de memórias para a Família, 139, 144.↩

18. Trezza, Enquanto Estou Vivo: Registro de memórias para a Família, 157; Trezza, “Breve Relato de Minha Vida,” 79.↩

19. Trezza, Enquanto Estou Vivo: Registro de memórias para a Família, 159, 160, 161, 164, 170.↩

20. Trezza, Enquanto Estou Vivo: Registro de memórias para a Família , 173, 175, 176; Trezza, “Breve Relato de Minha Vida,” 79.↩

21. “Fundada a Associação de Obreiros Jubilados,” Revista Adventista, 76, no. 06 (June, 1981): 18.↩