AS I enter the room, I am instantly hit with a mix of languages, with Portuguese and English being the two predominant ones.
Pastor Marinho greets me with a smile and introduces me to the people around, excited to tell me about the close community he built.
I am at The Heart Of Newhaven Community on a Thursday. It is 7:30pm and despite not knowing any of these people here, I feel at home in the Pleni Church.
Marinho had told me that this was a church “for everyone”, but it was not until I arrived that I truly understood the meaning of it.
The pastor first came to Scotland in 2018 under the invitation of Pastor Bill Cowie to take over a church in Leith that was about to close due to the lack of leadership.
“He had a vision of uplifting the people of the nation, along with others from different nationalities as well,” Marinho explained.
“He had this vision that the church was made for all languages, races, and nations, so when he saw that we shared the same goals, he officially invited me to move to Edinburgh, with the church sponsoring a religious visa for me, so that I could work here trying to build a church for everyone.”
During the four years of Marinho in this church, they gathered people from many nationalities with a variety of backgrounds, calling out to more people to join.
However, being Brazilian, he naturally attracted a congregation with a majority of Brazilian nationals, who also later brought family and friends from different nationalities.
“When we arrived, the church had approximately four to six active members, and when we left, it had about 130 members from 20 different nationalities”, Marinho recalls.
Although Marinho had successfully revived the church and had been ministering services for four years, the death of Cowie in 2022 changed everything.
A small group of the church’s administration had a different vision, feeling uncomfortable with people speaking different languages in the church. Contrary to Marinho and Cowie’s vision, they thought that the Scottish church should be for Scottish people.
Trying to find a middle ground between the administration and the congregation, Marinho decided to leave and open the Pleni Church.
Pastor Silvia, Marinho’s wife, said: “The intention wasn’t to start Pleni Church, but when things became uncomfortable, he resigned.
“Although we had very good support from the Baptist Church, and they followed the entire process and even offered another church, we understood that with the vision we had, in a church founded by us, we would be able to manage it in a freer way.”
The journey to start Pleni Church was not necessarily smooth as they found challenges along the way, however, one thing was certain, they wanted an inclusive church, a church “for all”.
As Marinho explained: “The first focus was, ‘let’s do it in English’ because if we did it in Portuguese, even though we had a larger number of Brazilians, no matter how much you say that everyone is welcome, you limit it due to the language barrier.
“We understood that since we are in this country and serving in this country if the service is in English and we have translations, we can reach everyone.
“When we realised that we had people who didn’t speak English but wanted to be part of our community, even with Pastor Bill, we decided to implement simultaneous translation until they learned.”
In the first church, they used electronic translation, however, in the new church, to make the translation more interactive, Marinho opted for a second person: “It makes people feel more comfortable.”
The pastor called the move to Pleni Church a “change of address” since almost all the congregation followed him to Pleni Church: “It’s important to emphasise that although we had a large number of Brazilians, it wasn’t just Brazilians.
“We had people of other nationalities who joined us at Pleni Church, including Scots who disagreed with the administration. It was the vision of a group that does not represent the Scottish people.
“In fact, some Scots joined us because they disagreed and made it clear that it was not their vision.”
One of these Scots is David Montgomery. “Decisions were being made at the time within the church that didn’t sit well with me.”
He had been part of the Baptist Church for more than 20 years when he met his wife in the previous church who now does simultaneous translation for Pleni Church for some services: “Now I’ve got a Brazilian family as well.”
Young Scot Edward Hutchings found the church through his mother’s friend: “My mum is Ghanaian and was brought up in Italy, so growing up I was always surrounded by this English-Italian environment.
“With this church, it brings back that expressive, compassionate side of the culture. It brings back that homely, fuzzy feeling.”
For Brazilians in Edinburgh, being far away from home, Pleni Church is an important part of their lives, as explained by Camila Marchioni. “The change wasn’t easy, but we are a very united international community and we wanted to be together.
“It’s the feeling of belonging makes people stay.”
Henrique Dias also shares the same opinion. “I was so welcomed that I felt as if I was at my family’s home in Brazil.”
Now, almost a year after the opening of Pleni Church in Edinburgh, the community is fast growing with people from various nationalities, such as from Portugal, Spain, Hungary, Bolivia, Italy and Sudan, besides Brazil and Scotland.
Ultimately, Marinho aims to continue to build a familiar community, uniting people from more different nationalities while integrating them into the Scottish culture, as he intended since before moving to Scotland. “The intention was never about changing, but about adding up.”
Pleni Church services take place every Thursday at 7:30 pm on Newhaven Main Street EH6 4HY and every Sunday at 6:30 pm on 140 Pleasance, Newington, EH8 9RR.
This article is part of a partnership with Pass The Mic, a national programme to amplify the expertise of women of colour in Scotland
