Memórias de um momento novo: Juventude metodista no protagonismo da educação popular na Baixada Fluminense na década de 1980

Abstract

This research aims to present a project carried out in the specific context of Baixada Fluminense during the 1980s, initiated by the Methodist Church, known as Baixada Livre. It focuses on analyzing the development of actions directed toward popular education, particularly emphasizing the leadership role played by Methodist youth between the years 1983 and 1991. Throughout this period, the movement had a significant impact on both the ecclesial reality of the Methodist Church communities involved and the broader social contexts in which they were embedded. “Momento Novo” ("New Moment") is the title of a song that inspired this generation of young people engaged in transforming the reality of Baixada Fluminense, acting from within a religious setting and driven by hope, despite the region’s hardships marked by inequality, violence, and precarious living conditions. As participants in a movement characterized as liberating, they joined forces with other historically rooted social movements that expressed the resistance and struggle of this territory.