In Brazil, however, the official religion imposed by the Portuguese settlers was Catholicism and the early attempts by Protestant missionaries – French Huguenots and Dutch Calvinists – failed.

"[5] In 1810, Portugal and the United Kingdom signed the Treaty of Commerce and Navigation, which allowed the Church of England to build chapels in Brazil.

He chose Belém as his work post due to the existence of a Bibles distribution station in the city and his expectation that the Amazon River would be open to international navigation.

He used the local media to spread the church, writing newspaper articles that provoked the wrath of the Catholic bishop, Antônio de Macedo Costa.

Holden accepted the invitation of Presbyterian Robert Kalley to become a minister in the Fluminense Congregational Church in Rio de Janeiro.

William Cabell Brown (who would leave in 1914 to become bishop in his native Virginia, but after completing translations of the Bible and Book of Common Prayer), Rev.

In 1908, the missionaries began their activities in Rio de Janeiro, then capital of Brazil, where Kinsolving hoped to build the headquarters of the church.

In 1926, William M. M. Thomas was elected Bishop of the Missionary District of Brazil and Kinsolving returned to the United States a year later.

In 1949, the year of bishop Thomas' retirement and succession by Louis Chester Melcher, the Missionary District of Brazil was sub-divided into three dioceses, which prompted discussions about the ecclesiastical independence of the Episcopal Church Brazilian.

In 1985, IEAB began to ordain women following the decision of the 1984 General Synod; the first female priest was the Reverend Carmen Etel Alves Gomes.

The Episcopal Church still sends missionaries to Brazil and the dioceses of Pennsylvania and São Paulo and Indianapolis and Brasília maintain special relations.

The president of the House of Clergy and Laity for the first time is a lay woman, Selma Rosa, who was elected at the general synod for a three-year term.

Due to the predominance of the Liberal wing – which defends a social interpretation of the Gospels because of the oppression that a literal interpretation may cause – IEAB rejects fanaticism and preaches that the church should be an instrument of social change, seeking to engage congregations and communities in debates still considered taboo in Brazilian society, such as those involving land concentration, domestic violence, sexism, racism, homophobia and xenophobia.

It is also considered an inclusive church for it accepts, as members, people from historically marginalized groups such as LGBT, women, indigenous and landless.

According to the canons of IEAB, "as Christians, we bear the promise of the Holy Spirit, which leads us to the Word made flesh, who welcomes the oppressed, the neglected, the misunderstood and the marginalized".

IEAB argues that "everyone baptized, faithful and obedient to God, regardless of their sexual orientation, are full members of the Body of Christ, the Church".

In 2001, IEAB conducted the first national consultation on human sexuality, when its members decided to reject "the principle of exclusion implicit in the ethics of sin and uncleanness" and declare inclusiveness as an "essence of the ministry of Jesus".

On 12 May 2011, IEAB released a statement declaring its support for the Supreme Federal Court decision to recognize same-sex unions in Brazil.

[8] The Church has declared its support for the ordination of openly gay clergy and has offered a service of blessing for same-sex marriages.

[14] The Diocese of Recife, led by Bishop Robinson Cavalcanti, withdrew from IEAB in 2005, due to their disagreement with the national church policies on homosexuality.