A Gang of Pentecostals

Inside Rio’s gang-controlled prisons and jails, incarcerated Pentecostals form inmate-led prison churches. These inmates claim part of the jail as their own and operate collectively as a cohesive group with a shared religious identity. In many ways these prison churches look like gangs because of their strong identity, shared values, rituals, the high cost of membership, and hierarchical leadership. In the same way that Pentecostalism spread throughout Brazil by empowering local leadership, the prison churches are led entirely by incarcerated Pentecostals and do not have any formal connections with prison ministries or churches on the street.