
Oswaldo Felix
Photo courtesy of Brazilian White Center - UNASP.
Félix, Oswaldo Tavares (1932–2020)
By The Brazilian White Center – UNASP (2)
The Brazilian White Center – UNASP (2) is a team of teachers and students at the Brazilian Ellen G. White Research Center – UNASP at the Brazilian Adventist University, Campus Engenheiro, Coelho, SP. The team was supervised by Drs. Adolfo Semo Suárez, Renato Stencel, and Carlos Flávio Teixeira. The following are the team members: Melissa Querido Batista, Priscila Carvalho dos Santos, Allan Sleyter Soares de Atayde, Jonatan Ferreira Nascimento, and Leo Eduardo Menegusso Valenzi.
First Published: August 22, 2024
Oswaldo Tavares Félix was a pastor, administrator, and evangelist. He was born in 1932 in the city of Presidente Prudente, Sao Paulo. His parents, Júlia N. Félix and Henrique Tavares Félix (-1984), had six children.1 The couple accepted the Adventist message through Pastor Eugênio Weidle and his evangelistic series, being baptized in 1944.2 The family would remain steadfast in the faith, and in 1947, Oswaldo was also baptized by Pastor Jorge Hoyler.3
His primary education was completed at the Príncipe da Paz Adventist School in his hometown. He finished middle school in 1952 at the Campineiro Adventist School in Hortolândia. Later, he attended both high school and Theology college at the Brazil Adventist College (CAB), now UNASP Sao Paulo campus, graduating in 1958.4 Oswaldo had the desire to work as a dentist; he learned how to make dental prosthetics and worked in that area for a period of six years before studying Theology.5
His college education was fully funded through his literary evangelism, and in 1953, while selling books in the city of Franca, Sao Paulo, he met his future wife, Dorinha Giuntini Félix. After seven years of courtship, they were married in March 1960 by Pastor Luiz de Freitas. His wife was a teacher and educational counselor, and she assisted Pastor Félix through music, visitation, and counseling sisters. The couple were married for a total of 60 years and had three children: Cleber, Lucilene, and Luciane.6
He began his ministry in 1959 as an assistant pastor in the Vila Matilde District in São Paulo. At that time, he participated in three conferences with Pastor Alcides Campolongo, the first two in the neighborhoods of Penha and Casa Verde in the city of Sao Paulo, and the third in the city of Americana, São Paulo. Afterwards, he pastored the district of Barretos, São Paulo, until, in 1964, he was called to carry out the evangelistic work previously done by Pastor Campolongo in the south zone of São Paulo. In that same year, he was ordained to the ministry on the occasion of a Biennial Assembly of Paulista Conference which, at that time, covered the entire state of São Paulo.7
He served as director of the Sabbath School and Personal Ministries departments of the Paulista Association for five years. Later, he was called to work in the former South Brazilian Union, where he served for 20 years, being responsible for the Stewardship, Spirit of Prophecy, Communication, and Sabbath School departments.8 In 1985, he was elected by the South American Division as promoter of denominational literature for the region of the former Central Brazilian Union (UCB). This role aimed to distribute denominational literature to members through churches.9 He was also a correspondent for various editions of the Brazilian Adventist Review in the late 1980s and early 1990s.10 Finally, in February 1990, Oswaldo participated in the council of stewardship departmental leaders, treasurers, and auditors of the UCB, which took place in Peruíbe, São Paulo. During this event, he raised awareness among listeners about donating offerings to the General Conference, aiming to assist Adventist World Radio.11
After 25 years in administrative ministry, Pastor Félix requested to return to pastoral fieldwork, serving as pastor of the Central Paulistana Church in São Paulo for two years and in a district of Campinas, São Paulo, for another two years. His last assignment as a pastor was at the Brazil Publishing House, where he led the Caminhão do Livro (Book Truck) project, which made denominational literature easily available in various states and regions of Brazil. After 42 years of ministry, Oswaldo retired.12
In his final years, Pastor Oswaldo Félix remained active in the work, serving as elder counselor of the Moema Church in Sao Paulo, where he continued preaching, visiting, and conducting Bible studies.13 He passed away in 2020 at the age of 88 in the city of Sao Paulo.14
Sources
“Bodas.” Revista Adventista 75, no. 7 (July 1980).
“Dormiram no Senhor.” Revista Adventista 79, no. 7 (July 1984).
“Literatura Denominacional.” Revista Adventista 80, no. 9 (September 1985).
“Memória.” Revista Adventista 115, no. 1360 (August 2020).
“Notícias 89.” Revista Adventista 85, no. 8 (August 1989).
“Notícias 89.” Revista Adventista 85, no. 2 (February 1989).
“Notícias 89.” Revista Adventista 85, no. 7 (July 1989).
“Notícias 89.” Revista Adventista 85, no. 6, (June 1989).
“Notícias 89.” Revista Adventista 85, no. 5 (May 1989).
“Notícias 90.” Revista Adventista 86, no. 7 (July 1990).
“Notícias 90.” Revista Adventista 86, no. 5 (May 1990).
Sarli, Tércio. Minha Vida de Pastor: Cinquenta e três pastores jubilados falam de sua vida e de seu ministério. 2nd edition (Campinas, SP: Certeza Editorial, 2007).
Stencel, Renato; William Eduard Timm. “Histórico da Faculdade de Teologia no Brasil.”
Notes
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“Bodas,” Revista Adventista (July 1980): 31; Sarli, Tércio, Minha Vida de Pastor: Cinquenta e três pastores jubilados falam de sua vida e de seu ministério, 2nd edition (Campinas, SP: Certeza Editorial, 2007): 381. ↩
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Tércio Sarli, Minha Vida de Pastor: Cinquenta e três pastores jubilados falam de sua vida e de seu ministério, 2nd edition (Campinas, SP: Certeza Editorial, 2007): 381; “Dormiram no Senhor,” Revista Adventista (July 1984): 36. ↩
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Tércio Sarli, Minha Vida de Pastor: Cinquenta e três pastores jubilados falam de sua vida e de seu ministério, 2nd edition (Campinas, SP: Certeza Editorial, 2007): 381.↩
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Ibid.; Renato Stencel, William Eduard Timm, “Histórico da Faculdade de Teologia no Brasil.”↩
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Tércio Sarli, Minha Vida de Pastor: Cinquenta e três pastores jubilados falam de sua vida e de seu ministério, 2nd edition (Campinas, SP: Certeza Editorial, 2007): 381. ↩
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Ibid., 382-383; “Memória,” Revista Adventista (August 2020): 45.↩
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Tércio Sarli, Minha Vida de Pastor: Cinquenta e três pastores jubilados falam de sua vida e de seu ministério, 2nd edition (Campinas, SP: Certeza Editorial, 2007): 381-382.↩
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Ibid., 382; “Memória,” Revista Adventista (August 2020): 45.↩
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“Literatura Denominacional,” Revista Adventista (September 1985) 23.↩
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“Notícias 89,” Revista Adventista 85, no. 8, (August 1989): 18; “Notícias 89,. Revista Adventista85, no. 2 (February 1989): 21; “Notícias 89,” Revista Adventista 85, no. 7 (July 1989): 18; “Notícias 89,” Revista Adventista 85, no. 6 (June 1989): 18; “Notícias 89,” Revista Adventista 85, no. 5 (May 1989): 21; “Notícias 90,” Revista Adventista 86, no. 7 (July 1990): 18; “Notícias 90,” Revista Adventista 86, no. 5 May 1990): 19. ↩
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“Líderes assistem a Concílio de Mordomia,” Revista Adventista 86, no. 4 (April 1990): 21. ↩
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Sarli, Tércio, Minha Vida de Pastor: Cinquenta e três pastores jubilados falam de sua vida e de seu ministério. 2nd edition (Campinas, SP: Certeza Editorial, 2007): 382. ↩
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Ibid.↩
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“Memória,” Revista Adventista (August 2020): 45.↩