Josué Bengtson (born 27 May 1944) is a Brazilian politician and pastor. Although born in

São Paulo São Paulo (, ; Portuguese for 'Saint Paul') is the most populous city in Brazil, and is the capital of the state of São Paulo, the most populous and wealthiest Brazilian state, located in the country's Southeast Region. Listed by the GaWC a ...

, he has spent his political career representing

Pará Pará is a Federative units of Brazil, state of Brazil, located in northern Brazil and traversed by the lower Amazon River. It borders the Brazilian states of Amapá, Maranhão, Tocantins (state), Tocantins, Mato Grosso, Amazonas (Brazilian state) ...

, having served as state representative since 1999. He is also the pastor and head of the Brazilian division of the

International Church of the Foursquare Gospel The Foursquare Church is an Evangelical Pentecostal Christian denomination founded in 1923 by preacher Aimee Semple McPherson. The headquarters are in Los Angeles, California, United States. History The church has its origins in a vision of ...

Personal life

Bengtson was born in a family of distant Scottish descent to João André Bengtson and Elza Luiza Bengtson. He was raised

Presbyterian Presbyterianism is a part of the Reformed tradition within Protestantism that broke from the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland by John Knox, who was a priest at St. Giles Cathedral (Church of Scotland). Presbyterian churches derive their nam ...

. In 1955 he began listening to evangelical podcast on the radio and his family began attending the newly founded

Foursquare Gospel Church The Foursquare Church is an Evangelical Pentecostal Christian denomination founded in 1923 by preacher Aimee Semple McPherson. The headquarters are in Los Angeles, California, United States. History The church has its origins in a vision of ...

in his community. It was not until 28 January 1961 that Bengtson formally converted and joined the church following the lead of his sister Anna who had joined the church a few years before. Almost immediately after being baptized, Bengtson became a missionary and pastor, traveling Brazil to establish other Foursquare Gospel Churches, including in the states of

Mato Grosso do Sul Mato Grosso do Sul () is one of the Midwestern states of Brazil. Neighboring Brazilian states are (from north clockwise) Mato Grosso, Goiás, Minas Gerais, São Paulo and Paraná. It also borders the countries of Paraguay, to the southwest, and ...

Bahia Bahia ( , , ; meaning "bay") is one of the 26 Federative units of Brazil, states of Brazil, located in the Northeast Region, Brazil, Northeast Region of the country. It is the fourth-largest Brazilian state by population (after São Paulo (sta ...

, Santa Catarina and

where he ended up moving to. He is the current leader of the Brazilian division of the Foursquare Gospel Church and is the pastor of igreja da Pedreira in

Belém Belém (; Portuguese for Bethlehem; initially called Nossa Senhora de Belém do Grão-Pará, in English Our Lady of Bethlehem of Great Pará) often called Belém of Pará, is a Brazilian city, capital and largest city of the state of Pará in t ...

. Bengtson is married to Marilene Maestri Bengtson with whom he has 4 children.

Political career

Bengtson voted in favor of the impeachment against then-president

Dilma Rousseff Dilma Vana Rousseff (; born 14 December 1947) is a Brazilian economist and politician who served as the 36th president of Brazil, holding the position from 2011 until her impeachment and removal from office on 31 August 2016. She is the first w ...

. Bengtson voted in favor of the

Brazil labor reform (2017) The 2017 labor reform in Brazil was a significant change in the country's Consolidation of Labor Laws ( pt, Consolidação das Leis do Trabalho). According to the government, the goal of the reform was to combat unemployment and the still ongoing ...

, and would later back Rousseff's successor

Michel Temer Michel Miguel Elias Temer Lulia (; born 23 September 1940) is a Brazilian politician, lawyer and writer who served as the 37th president of Brazil from 31 August 2016 to 31 December 2018. He took office after the impeachment and removal from off ...

against an investigation looking into possible corruption. In May 2018 a court in

found Bengtson guilty of diverting funds for the state health department for his church and personal usage. As a result, Bengtson was banned from running for political office in the state of

for 8 years.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bengtson, Josue 1944 births Living people People from São Paulo (state) Brazilian Labour Party (current) politicians Brazilian Pentecostal pastors Members of the Foursquare Church Converts to Pentecostal denominations Former Presbyterians Brazilian people of Scottish descent Members of the Chamber of Deputies (Brazil) from Pará Brazilian politicians convicted of corruption