Circulation and strategies from the magazine “The Young Lutheran” transnational perspective and intertwining stories (1950-1970)

Abstract

This study discusses a possible cultural exchange among young Lutherans associated with Missouri Synod in different countries worldwide. The discussion is based on the magazine “The Young Lutheran” (1929-1970), a periodical for young adults created by the Missouri Synod, the current Evangelical Lutheran Church of Brazil, to educate and mentor the social and religious life of their youths. The chosen timeframe is between 1950 and 1970, since it was a period of distribution and strategies aiming to foster such exchange. Thus, “The Young Lutheran was printed and published to accomplish the mission. This magazine was responsible for mediating questions and connections from different Lutheran youth realities. Through its pages, strategies were spread, such as reading plans, friendship circles, and youth trips, allowing the connection of young people from different parts of the world. For corpus analysis, we used the transnational theory and crossed histories (WERNER; ZIMMERMANN, 2003; SCHWRIEWER; CARUSO, 2005) to understand how the religious ideas and principles engaged in the dynamics reverberated within the Brazilian context, as well as how the interconnectivity occurred between realities. We can affirm that the Missouri Synod Lutheran institution, through the incorporated exchanges and experiences, pursued to standardize cultural, educational, and moral development of the youth unity. However, such actions were taken and adapted according to the local situation.