Souza, Alberto Ribeiro de (1932–2020)

Alberto Ribeiro de Souza was a Brazilian pastor and church administrator. He was born on May 26, 1932, in Campestre, the municipality of Santo Antônio da Patrulha, Rio Grande do Sul. His parents, Antônio Ribeiro de Souza and Jovelina Delfin de Souza, had eleven children. Alberto studied in Adventist institutions throughout his life. His primary education was completed at a school attached to the church in his neighborhood. There, he was baptized on December 3, 1950, by Pastor Lourival Ferreira. In 1954, he completed the Secondary Education and Technical Accounting course at Cruzeiro Do Sul Adventist Academy, in Taquara, Rio Grande do Sul. Finally, he graduated in Theology from what is currently called the Brazil Adventist University, São Paulo campus.¹

His ministry began in the district of Lages, Santa Catarina, in 1965. This district covered the cities of Lages, Bom Retiro, São Joaquim, São João de Pelotas, Despraiado, and others. In this region he assisted in a series of conferences with the Brazilian Voice of Prophecy. In 1968 and 1969, he served as the pastor of the Rio do Sul district. In the following two years, he worked as a director at the former Santa Catarina Mission, being responsible for the Youth, Social Assistance and Patrimonial Expansion ministries. There he contributed to the expansion of the current Centro Adventista de Treinamento e Recreação (Training and Recreation Adventist Center) in São Paulo, in the municipality of Governador Celso Ramos. From 1972 to 1976, Pastor Alberto assumed the presidency of the Santa Catarina Mission.² At that time, he was also invited to represent the state of Santa Catarina at the General Conference that took place in the city of Vienna, Austria.³

He had to leave his position in 1977 when he received a call to work in the North Brazil Union, which at the time comprised the states of Acre, Amapá, Amazonas, Ceará, Maranhão, Pará, Piauí, Rondônia, and Roraima. The region brought with it great challenges due to the extensive distances between the states, which often made it necessary to travel by boat or small plane. Alberto often needed to travel for 15 to 20 days to visit churches, communities, and institutions of the SDA Church.⁴ His management focused on dynamism; in the appreciation of youth, which included the organization of several camps in different states; and in the advancement and development of church institutions, of which we can highlight the creation of the Adventist Agricultural-Industrial Academy, which is located in Pará.⁵ In 1979, a Week of Prayer was held at the school. In addition to presiding over the event, Pastor Alberto turned to neighboring farmers, who donated heads of cattle, meeting the school’s needs.⁶ Furthermore, in 1981, he held an evangelistic series during Holy Week in Fortaleza, Ceará. There, he also joined an Evangelizing Unit of the Church of Bom Sucesso and went on to evangelize in an old cinema in the city of Maracanaú.⁷

Between 1983 and 1984, he served as secretary of the Rio Grande do Sul Conference. In the following two years, he became president of this Conference.⁸ On his parents’ wedding anniversary, May 12, 1985, he had the pleasure of presiding over the ceremony celebrating the couple’s 65th anniversary.⁹ In the same year, between March 20th and 30th, he directed a Stewardship program in Terra Roxa, Paraná.¹⁰

In 1987, Alberto took on his last post at the South Brazil Union, which at the time corresponded to the states of Rio Grande do Sul, Santa Catarina, Paraná, and Mato Grosso do Sul. There he was director of the Brazilian Adventist Development and Relief Agency, Patrimonial Expansion, and Stewardship.¹¹ Between February 6 and 9, 1995, he taught classes for a series of training meetings for pastors, volunteer workers, and colporteurs in Corumbá, Mato Grosso do Sul.¹² In the same year, between August 5th and 12th, he participated in the first Christian Stewardship Seminar of the Central Amazon Mission in the city of Manaus, which involved more than a thousand leaders from local churches.¹³ Furthermore, in 1996, he coordinated a series of seminars that covered topics such as social assistance and family. The main emphasis of the meeting was the preparation of the Church to serve in emergency matters.¹⁴ He remained in the Union until his retirement in 1998, concluding 34 years of ministry.¹⁵

Alberto married Leah Silveira de Souza, with whom he had three children: Cleber in 1963, Helbio in 1965, and Elmo in 1972. Leah had a degree in artistic education and taught at several Adventist schools where the couple served. Additionally, she actively worked in children’s ministries, led children’s choirs, and directed Shepherdess Journal’s ministry in various fields. Unfortunately, Leah passed away on March 2, 2005, from cancer. Two years after Leah passed away, Alberto married Mercedes de Bacco Dornelles on July 23, 2007. Mercedes helped the work as a deaconess, and her last place of activity was at the Jardim das Américas Church in Curitiba, Paraná.¹⁶ Alberto was widowed again after two years of marriage when Mercedes passed away in 2009, at the age of 69.¹⁷ Alberto then married Maria Olívia.¹⁸

Even in his retirement, Alberto continued to be involved with the Adventisy Church. In addition to having served as an elder in the church of Itapema, Santa Catarina, he was the provisory pastor in the districts of Santa Catarina on several occasions, at the request of the Conference. For four months, he took over the District of Brusque because the pastor responsible for them was ill. Likewise, he took over the Camboriú district for five months, as the district pastor had received a call to another field. Finally, he served as a provisory pastor of the Penha District.¹⁹ This dedication to the gospel message remained firm in Alberto’s life until, on November 13, 2020, he passed away in Sapiranga, Rio Grande do Sul.²⁰

Sources

“Acontecimentos nas Missões.” Revista Adventista 76, no. 6 (June 1981). 

“ASM promove vários encontros.” Revista Adventista 91, no. 4 (April 1995(. 

“Bodas.” Revista Adventista 80, no. 7 (July 1985). 

“Falecimentos.” Revista Adventista 104, no. 1217 (October 2009).  

“IATAI: Pioneirismo na Amazônia.” Revista Adventista 76, no. 2 (February 1981).

Lessa, Rubens. Construtores de Esperança: na trilha dos pioneiros adventistas da Amazônia. (Tatuí, SP: Casa Publicadora Brasileira, 2016).

“Memória.” Revista Adventista 116, no. 1365 (January 2021). 

“Mordomia Crista é destaque em Manaus.” Revista Adventista 91, no. 10 (October 1995). 

“Nova Associação está progredindo.” Revista Adventista 87, no. 6 (June 1991). 

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

“Seminários movimentam a USB.” Revista Adventista 92, no. 10 (October 1996).

Notes

1. Tercio Sarli, Minha Vida De Pastor II: Setenta pastores jubilados falam de sua vida e de seu ministério (Campinas, SP: Certeza Editorial, 2009): 12.↩

2. Ibid., 13.↩

3. Ibid., 15.↩

4. Ibid., 13.↩

5. Rubens Lessa, Construtores de Esperança: na trilha dos pioneiros adventistas da Amazônia (Tatuí, SP: Casa Publicadora Brasileira, 2016): 207.↩

6. “IATAI: Pioneirismo na Amazônia,” Revista Adventista 76, no. 2 (February 1981): 18-19.↩

7. “Acontecimentos nas Missões,” Revista Adventista 76, no. 6 (June 1981): 23.↩

8. Tercio Sarli, Minha Vida De Pastor II: Setenta pastores jubilados falam de sua vida e de seu ministério (Campinas, SP: Certeza Editorial, 2009): 13.↩

9. “Bodas,” Revista Adventista 80, no. 7 (July 1985): 26.↩

10. “Nova Associação está progredindo,” Revista Adventista 87, no. 6 (June 1991): 24.↩

11. Tercio Sarli, Minha Vida De Pastor II: Setenta pastores jubilados falam de sua vida e de seu ministério (Campinas, SP: Certeza Editorial, 2009): 13-14.↩

12. “ASM promove vários encontros,” Revista Adventista 91, no. 4 (April 1995): 27.↩

13. “Mordomia Crista é destaque em Manaus,” Revista Adventista 91, no. 10 (October 1995): 45.↩

14. “Seminários movimentam a USB,” Revista Adventista 92, no. 10 (October 1996): 36.↩

15. Tercio Sarli, Minha Vida De Pastor II: Setenta pastores jubilados falam de sua vida e de seu ministério (Campinas, SP: Certeza Editorial, 2009): 14.↩

16. Ibid., 14-15.↩

17. “Falecimentos,” Revista Adventista 104, no. 1217 (October 2009): 43.↩

18. “Memória,” Revista Adventista 116, no. 1365 (January 2021): 46.↩

19. Tercio Sarli, Minha Vida De Pastor II: Setenta pastores jubilados falam de sua vida e de seu ministério (Campinas, SP: Certeza Editorial, 2009): 18-19.↩

20. “Memória,” Revista Adventista 116, no. 1365 (January 2021): 46.↩