Faithify: Help UUs in Brazil Host a Gathering in 2025

Unitarian Universalists in Brazil have launched a Faithify campaign to raise funds for an in-person gathering in January. The campaign ends November 20.

In this Q&A, organizers from the UU Congregation of the Splendid Cradle shared more about the campaign and how UUs are growing the faith in Brazil.

Q: Tell us more about your campaign and what it hopes to accomplish.

A: First, we’d like to share some of our religious landscape: Brazil is the home of many religions and faith communities. However, Unitarian Universalism is still a foreign idea to many ears, due to the lack of physical spaces and very little cultural representation. Also, our fellowship members speak Portuguese. It does not have American immigrants or expats at this time. We do have Brazilian Americans and Portuguese-speaking members from Bolivia and the United States. Finally, Brazil is larger than the [contiguous] United States, so it is difficult for those who meet us online to meet each other.

If our fundraising campaign is successful, we will be able to bring together fifteen to twenty people who are the core members of our UU community in Brazil. There is great excitement about this, and we expect that the energy generated by our face-to-face interaction will enable a leap to our presence in Brazil. We hope we can generate more visibility and more media awareness. We would like to “bring hope when hope is hard to find.”

Q: How is Unitarian Universalism spreading in Brazil? How does this campaign support that work?

A: The honest answer is that it is spreading very slowly. The main way is online, through our website, auubra.org, and on social media—primarily our Facebook page. However, despite a lot of hits, few people join us for our weekly Saturday services in Portuguese, and even fewer remain in touch. We hope to energize each other to reach out more and to engage with visitors to our sites.

This campaign will give us opportunities to explore new ideas and to create and strengthen work groups. Also, we intend to register our association as a legal entity in Brazil. As an official association we will be able to have a bank account, to participate in official acts, and to give and receive contributions. Currently, we are stymied in that respect.

Q: What else would you like fellow UUs to keep in mind as the campaign deadline approaches?

A: As the fundraising campaign progresses, we see the real possibility of not reaching our goal. This will mean that our gathering will include fewer people and generate less energy. In any case, we will meet, and the majority who can’t afford to travel to the event will be able to participate online. But we will miss the special ingredient of face-to-face togetherness.

On the other hand, if we receive funds beyond our goal, we could plan to have a public service in Brasilia, since our get-together will be fairly close. This would involve advertising to promote the event, and rental of an appropriate space. What a fine thing it would be, to offer a Unitarian Universalist service in the capital of Brazil!