Silva, José Maria Barbosa (1938–2023)

José Maria Barbosa Silva was a pastor, teacher, and youth leader in Brazil.

Early Life, Education, and Marriage

José Maria Barbosa Silva was born on October 8, 1938, in the city of Patos, Paraíba, Brazil.¹ He was the first son of Cyleno Silva and Cleonice de Assis Silva² and had 14 siblings.³ They were a Catholic family who occasionally attended the church on Easter and Christmas. His parents allowed their children to make their own religious choices but, when talking about school, Cyleno made sure the children had a good educational background. Yet, when the family moved to the coastal city of Natal, the beauty of the sea led José Maria to neglect his studies. Gradually his academic performance began to decline, and José failed the test three times for admission to middle school.⁴

In 1953 his father decided to send him to the Northeast Brazil Academy,⁵ at first thinking that the institution was a reformatory. His father found out about this boarding school through the owner's wife of the company where he worked, who was an Adventist. On being sent to the academy, José Maria did not imagine that in a few months he would become a Seventh-day Adventist. However, through informal conversation with his teachers and influenced by friends, he felt the desire to surrender his life to Christ.⁶ In October 1953, less than a year after his arrival at the Northeast Brazil Academy, José Maria was baptized by the director of the institution at the time, Pastor João Bork.⁷ At the age of eighteen, he concluded middle school and therefore began to work as a student canvasser, which he did for seventeen vacations, always obtaining the necessary funds to pay for his studies.⁸ In 1957 he moved to Brazil College (now referred to as UNASP-SP), where he began high school, graduating in 1959.⁹ In the following year, he began studying theology.¹⁰

In his last year of college, José Maria got married to Neuza Rodrigues Azevedo, who was studying pedagogy. He had known Neuza since high school.¹¹ Born in 1941, in the city of Curitiba, Paraná,¹² Neuza worked as a teacher in Adventist schools in the fields where her husband worked, while at the same time she dedicated herself to the church's children’s ministry.¹³ The wedding ceremony happened in 1963, in the Jacareí Central Adventist Church, São Paulo, and was officiated by Pastor Emílio Rodrigues de Azevedo. The couple had three children: Jussara, Cristiane, and Daniele Silva.¹⁴

Ministry

In 1963, near the date of his graduation, José Maria attended a youth program in the church of Moema, São Paulo, held by Pastor Altino Martins. On such occasions, the pastor reported his experience as a missionary in Peru. Inspired by what he heard, José also wanted to work in that country as a missionary. Then he wrote to the South American Division and to the Inca Union Mission in order to show his interest. A few weeks later he received a positive answer from the union, inviting him to work in Lima.¹⁵ In January 1964, José Maria moved to Peru and, in the first six months in the country, he worked as an assistant for Pastor Raul Alarcon, in the Lima Central Church. During the same period, he also worked as a pastor for an Adventist group in the neighborhood of San Martín de Porres, in the region of Lima. In the following six months, he worked as an assistant for Pastor Arturo Schimidth for a series of public meetings. In 1965 he was invited to be a pastor in the district of Surquillo, where he stayed until 1967, when he accepted an invitation to be pastor of a church in the city of Chimbote.¹⁶ Six months after starting the activities in that place, José was appointed as Lake Titicaca Mission's youth leader.¹⁷ Later, in 1970, he worked as a pastor in the Arequipa Central Church.¹⁸ While working in the district, José Maria received an invitation to go back to Brazil as pastor of the Plano Piloto Church in Brasilia, Brazilian capital, in 1971.¹⁹

Among his activities as pastor in Brasilia, the Pathfinder Club Cruzeiro do Sul organization stands out. He remained there until 1974. In the following year, he was appointed as the youth's ministry leader in Rio Grande do Sul Conference.²⁰

In this field he organized, in November 1976, the first Pathfinders Camporee of that state, with 16 clubs and about six hundred pathfinders.²¹ In 1997 the São Paulo Conference invited him to take over the Youth and Temperance Department of the same institution.²² In the temperance area, he worked in partnership with Dr. Ajax Silveira,²³ and in the youth ministry, he held camps and many courses for youth and pathfinder leaders.

During his time working in the São Paulo Conference, José Maria launched the Projeto de Integração de Serviço da Mocidade Adventista (PRISMA).²⁴ The project gave young people the opportunity to enter the Adventist missionary service. Several community-based health-care services were offered at service stations and missionary motorboats.²⁵ Still in the same period, his partnership with Pastor José Silvestre in the Youth Department of the São Paulo Conference resulted in a significant increase in the number of Pathfinders Clubs in that state.²⁶

While in his ministerial activities, José Maria had the dream of pursuing a Master’s degree at Andrews University. He began to materialize the project in 1978, when he received financial support from the deliberative board of his field. In August of that same year, José began to study at Andrews University, the United States.²⁷ There, among others, he had as Brazilian colleagues Assad Bechara and Amin Rodor. In 1980²⁸ he obtained his Master’s degree in church leadership with an emphasis on Pastoral Counseling,²⁹ with a dissertation entitled "Seventh-Day Adventist Church growth in São Paulo between 1960-1975 and the lay involvement."³⁰

In 1980, after his return from the United States,³¹ he was invited to pastor the São Paulo Central Church, where he remained for two years.³² José Maria considers the period he worked there very profitable for his ministry.³³ In 1983 he was appointed leader of the Youth and Temperance departments of the old Rio Grande do Sul Conference, which at that time comprised the Federal District and the states of Goiás, Mato Grosso, Mato Grosso do Sul, Paraná, Rio Grande do Sul, Santa Catarina, and São Paulo. José remained there for four years, two of them also as secretary.³⁴ At that time he began to answer member’s questions that were sent to the Brazilian Adventist Review.³⁵

In 1986 he was invited to teach at Latin-American Adventist Theology Seminary (SALT), located in Brazil College (now referred to as UNASP-SP).³⁶ There he worked for four years as a theology teacher³⁷ in the following subjects: Applied Theology, Homiletics, Christ and the Gospels, Family and Life Management, Biblical Backgrounds, Church Administration, Liturgy, Pastoral Counseling, Pentateuch, and General Psychology.³⁸ In 1987³⁹ he was invited to organize the first Central Brazil Union Conference Camporee in the city of Avaré, São Paulo, entitled: “Ele está ao leme.” In the last two years, he served as secretary of SALT and director of Student Affairs at Brazil College.⁴⁰

South American Division Youth Director

In 1990 José Maria was elected by the General Conference as youth director of the South American Division (SAD). During his term he strengthened the young leadership with strategic planning and the production of support materials.⁴¹ In 1993 he held the second SAD Camporee, in the city of Ponta Grossa.⁴² He participated in the historical process that officiated the implementation of the Adventurers Club in 1998 and contributed, along with Pastor Claudio Belz, for the recording of young adults CDs.⁴³ In 1999 he held a SAD Leaders Camporee in Pucón, Chile. At the end 2002, José left his activities in the division in order to resume employment at the University Pastoral Unit of UNASP in the following year.⁴⁴ In this new function, he established the Spiritual Development Master Plan (PMDE), proposed by the church's educational department. José Maria remained in that position until his retirement in 2008. After his retirement he taught leadership courses and, as a request from the Brazilian Publishing House, he wrote the morning meditation "Momentos de Graça" for the year 2011, as well as articles for the Adventist church periodicals in Brazil.⁴⁵

Demise and Contribution

José Maria Barbosa e Silva died on March 15, 2023.⁴⁶ He made significant contributions to the Seventh-day Adventist Church in South America. In Brazil he idealized the PRISMA missionary activity, founded Pathfinder Clubs in many places, being a pioneer in the organization of Brazil Central Brazil Union Conference and Rio Grande do Sul Conference Camporees, and took part in the meetings that established the Adventurers Club in South America.⁴⁷ He was a youth department leader at SAD, and in his management, he gave special emphasis to the formation of leaders. He taught at the Latin-American Adventist Theology Seminary and implemented the Spiritual Development Master Plan at UNASP and also wrote numerous articles for Adventist church periodicals in Brazil.

Sources

“Camporis da União Central Brasileira.” Ministério dos Desbravadores e Aventureiros – WIKI (Online).

Denise Kuntze, Tânia. “Faculdade Adventista de Enfermagem: Memória Histórica 1968-1998.” Ph.D. Dissertation, São Paulo University, 2010.

Sarli, Tércio, Minha vida de Pastor II: Setenta pastores jubilados falam de sua vida e de seu ministério. 1st edition, Campinas, SP: Certeza Editorial, 2009.

Seventh-Day Adventist Yearbook. Washington, D.C.: Review and Herald Publishing Association, 1971, 1975, 1981, 1984.

Silva, José Maria B. “Seventh-day Adventist church growth in São Paulo between 1960-1975 and the lay involvement.” M.A. Thesis, Andrews University, 1980.

Tonetti, Márcio. “Líder de Uma Geração.” Revista Adventista Online, March 23, 2023. Accessed June 28, 2023, https://www.revistaadventista.com.br/marcio-tonetti/destaques/lider-de-uma-geracao/

Vargas, Éverson. “Vida e Obras do Pastor José Maria Barbosa e Silva.” Monography, UNASP-SP, 1988.

Notes

1. Tércio Sarli, Minha Vida de Pastor II: Setenta pastores jubilados falam de sua vida e de seu ministério (Campinas, SP: Certeza Editorial, 2009), 343.↩

2. Éverson Vargas, “Vida e Obras do Pastor José Maria Barbosa e Silva” (Monografia, UNASP-SP, 1988), 2; Sarli, 343.↩

3. José Maria Barbosa Silva, interviewed by Ivo Ribeiro de Carvalho, Ellen G. White Research Center, Engenheiro Coelho, São Paulo, December 13, 2017; Sarli, 343.↩

4. Vargas, 2-3; and “Programa 71 - José Maria Barbosa,” by Creriane Lima, “180º O Ponto da Virada,” February 26, 2014, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f16b_Aus0rk; José Maria Barbosa Silva, interviewed by Ivo Ribeiro de Carvalho, Ellen G. White Research Center, Engenheiro Coelho, São Paulo, December 13, 2017.↩

5. Vargas, 2.↩

6. “Programa 71 - José Maria Barbosa,” by Creriane Lima, “180º O Ponto da Virada,” February 26, 2014, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f16b_Aus0rk; José Maria Barbosa Silva, interviewed by Ivo Ribeiro de Carvalho, Ellen G. White Research Center, Engenheiro Coelho, São Paulo, December 13, 2017; Sarli, 343.↩

7. Vargas, 2; José Maria Barbosa Silva, interviewed by Ivo Ribeiro de Carvalho, Ellen G. White Research Centero, São Paulo, December 13, 2017.↩

8. Vargas, 6; Sarli, 343.↩

9. Vargas, 5; José Maria Barbosa Silva, interviewed by Ivo Ribeiro de Carvalho, Ellen G. White Research Center, Engenheiro Coelho, São Paulo, December 13, 2017.↩

10. José Maria Barbosa Silva, interviewed by Ivo Ribeiro de Carvalho, Ellen G. White Research Center, Engenheiro Coelho, São Paulo, December 13, 2017.↩

11. Sarli, 349.↩

12. José Maria Barbosa Silva, interviewed by Ivo Ribeiro de Carvalho, Ellen G. White Research Center, Engenheiro Coelho, São Paulo, December 13, 2017.↩

13. Sarli, 349; José Maria Barbosa Silva, interviewed by Ivo Ribeiro de Carvalho, Ellen G. White Research Center, Engenheiro Coelho, São Paulo, December 13, 2017.↩

14. José Maria Barbosa Silva, interviewed by Ivo Ribeiro de Carvalho, Ellen G. White Research Center, Engenheiro Coelho, São Paulo, December 13, 2017.↩

15. Sarli, 343-344.↩

16. Ibid., 344; Vargas, 14; José Maria Barbosa Silva, interviewed by Ivo Ribeiro de Carvalho, Ellen G. White Research Center, Engenheiro Coelho, São Paulo, December 13, 2017.↩

17. “Directory of Workers,” Seventh-day Adventist Yearbook (Washington, D.C.: Review and Herald Publishing Association, 1971), 696; José Maria Barbosa Silva, interviewed by Ivo Ribeiro de Carvalho, Ellen G. White Research Center, Engenheiro Coelho, São Paulo, December 13, 2017.↩

18. “Directory of Workers,” Seventh-day Adventist Yearbook (Washington, D.C.: Review and Herald Publishing Association, 1971), 701; José Maria Barbosa Silva, interviewed by Ivo Ribeiro de Carvalho, Ellen G. White Research Center, Engenheiro Coelho, São Paulo, December 13, 2017.↩

19. José Maria Barbosa Silva, interviewed by Ivo Ribeiro de Carvalho, Ellen G. White Research Center, Engenheiro Coelho, São Paulo, December 13, 2017; and Sarli, 344.↩

20. “Rio Grande Do Sul Conference,” Seventh-day Adventist Yearbook (Washington, D.C.: Review and Herald Publishing Association, 1976), 740.↩

21. José Maria Barbosa Silva, interviewed by Ivo Ribeiro de Carvalho, Ellen G. White Research Center, Engenheiro Coelho, São Paulo, December 13, 2017.↩

22. Ibid.↩

23. Sarli, 345.↩

24. Ibid., 346.↩

25. Tânia Denise Kuntze, “Faculdade Adventista de Enfermagem: Memória Histórica 1968-1998” (Ph.D. Dissertation, São Paulo University, 2010), 174.↩

26. Sarli, 346.↩

27. Ibid., 346-347.↩

28. José Maria B. Silva, “Seventh-day Adventist church growth in São Paolo between 1960-1975 and the lay involvement” (M.A. Thesis, Andrews University, 1980).↩

29. Sarli, 347.↩

30. Silva, “Seventh-day Adventist church growth in São Paolo between 1960-1975 and the lay involvement” (M.A. Thesis, Andrews University, 1980).↩

31. “East São Paulo Conference,” Seventh-day Adventist Yearbook (Washington, D.C.: Review and Herald Publishing Association, 1981), 818.; and José Maria Barbosa Silva, interviewed by Ivo Ribeiro de Carvalho, Ellen G. White Research Center, Engenheiro Coelho, São Paulo, December 13, 2017.↩

32. Sarli, 347; Vargas, 25.↩

33. José Maria Barbosa Silva, interviewed by Ivo Ribeiro de Carvalho, Ellen G. White Research Center, Engenheiro Coelho, São Paulo, December 13, 2017; and Sarli, 347.↩

34. José Maria Barbosa Silva, interviewed by Ivo Ribeiro de Carvalho, Ellen G. White Research Center, Engenheiro Coelho, São Paulo, December 13, 2017; Sarli, 351; “South Brazil Union Conference,” Seventh-day Adventist Yearbook (Washington, D.C.: Review and Herald Publishing Association, 1984), 306-307.↩

35. Sarli, 348.↩

36. Vargas, 27.↩

37. Sarli, 348.↩

38. Vargas, 27; José Maria Barbosa Silva, interviewed by Ivo Ribeiro de Carvalho, Ellen G. White Research Center, Engenheiro Coelho, São Paulo, December 13, 2017.↩

39. “Camporis da União Central Brasileira,” Ministério dos Desbravadores e Aventureiros – WIKI, Accessed on March 22, 2018, http://mda.wiki.br/Camporis_da_Uni%C3%A3o_Central_Brasileira.↩

40. José Maria Barbosa Silva, interviewed by Ivo Ribeiro de Carvalho, Ellen G. White Research Center, Engenheiro Coelho, São Paulo, December 13, 2017.↩

41. Ibid.; Sarli, 348-349; “O Mistério dos Troféus - Entrevista Pastor José Maria Barbosa,” by Janaina Toledo, November 24, 2015, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MnZiMBdGIEo.↩

42. Sarli, 349.↩

43. José Maria Barbosa Silva, interviewed by Ivo Ribeiro de Carvalho, Ellen G. White Research Center, Engenheiro Coelho, São Paulo, December 13, 2017; Sarli, 348-349; “O Mistério dos Troféus - Entrevista Pastor José Maria Barbosa,” by Janaina Toledo, November 24, 2015, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MnZiMBdGIEo.↩

44. Sarli, 349.↩

45. Ibid., 351; José Maria Barbosa Silva, interviewed by Ivo Ribeiro de Carvalho, Ellen G. White Research Center, Engenheiro Coelho, São Paulo, December 13, 2017.↩

46. Márcio Tonetti, “Líder de Uma Geração,” Revista Adventista Online, March 23, 2023, accessed June 28, 2023, https://www.revistaadventista.com.br/marcio-tonetti/destaques/lider-de-uma-geracao/↩

47. Sarli, 345-346.↩