A New Portuguese Assembly In Rhode Island LOI 1982-2
From BrethrenPedia
An INTEREST photo report
"One out of seven is Portuguese! That's an unexpected statistic for any part of old New England. The east-central edge of Rhode Island and parts of adjacent Massachusetts, however have seen a tremendous influx of immigrants over the last few years. They joined the many Portuguese already in the area, the children and grandchildren of hardy Portuguese fishermen, who settled in seaports like New Bedford and Fall River. As a result, today 130,000 of Rhode Island's 900,000 people (one in seven) and about 40% of Pawtucket's 80,000 people are Portuguese. Many of these people continue using the language of their homeland, and the newer ones often know little or no English.
The new Americans are immigrants, but not refugees. They come, for the most part, from the Azores, rather than from mainland Portugal. The Azores are a group of islands in the mid-Atlantic, politically a part of Portugal but separated from that European nation by a thousand miles of ocean.
In January of 1976, Carlos and Margarida Cerqueira came from Angola by way of Portugal to evangelize these people, and if possible to plant a Christian testimony in their midst (INTEREST, June 1976, p. 12). They came at the suggestion of former Angola missionary T. Ernest Wilson, and with the invitation of John Farrell and the Buttonwoods Bible Chapel in Warwick, Rhode Island. Carlos poured himself into Gospel meetings, home Bible studies, and door-to-door evangelism, all the while supporting his wife and three sons with a full-time factory job. Others came along to help as well, and by July 1980 they were able to hold a large baptism and begin the Lord's supper with the new converts.
The new assembly was composed of Portuguese-speaking people primarily from the Azores, but also from mainland Portugal and the Cape Verde Islands. Within a year the growing assembly was in desperate need of a building of its own. Meetings were held on Sunday afternoons in the old Pawtucket Gospel Hall, but that building was about to be sold. It was at this point that a remarkable example of assembly teamwork took place. It grew first out of the heart burden of several Christians who had a concern for the struggling new assembly. John Farrell was one of them. John McCallum of Stewards Foundation was another. Then there was Robert and Barbara Campbell of the Groton Bible Chapel in Connecticut. The Cerqueiras had been living in the home of Barbara's mother in Rhode Island.
Encouraged by these and other people, the brethren of several English-speaking assemblies met with the Portuguese Christians to see if a building could be obtained in Pawtucket. An obvious possibility was to try and buy the Hall that the Portuguese assembly had been using. It was 65 years old, and needed some remodeling, but it was well constructed, and located in the area where Portuguese immigrants were concentrated. Three assemblies were prepared to donate $5,000 each toward the purchase. Stewards Foundation was willing to provide mortgage funds at an attractive rate of interest. Other assemblies would help with the remodeling costs. And the Portuguese assembly would take on monthly payments commensurate with their ability. But all of this together fell well short of the asking price of the building.
Now it was the turn for the old Pawtucket assembly to enter the picture. That meeting dated back to Central Falls, Rhode Island, in the late 1800's. The Pawtucket hall had been opened April 9, 1916. In recent years, the assembly dwindled. It ceased functioning in mid-1981. The remaining Christians put the building up for sale, intending the disperse the proceeds in various aspects of missionary work. Missions start at home! What better opportunity to serve the Lord than to play a major role in establishing a strong Portuguese testimony in Pawtucket itself. So the Christians made a major reduction in the asking price, and then on top of that made a large contribution toward the purchase.
It was possible to avoid a great deal of legal work by transferring the legal corporation rather than the real estate title to the new assembly. After the dispersal of the purchase-price funds (the donations and mortgage money), a new group of trustees was installed, representing the Portuguese brethren. In addition, the three assemblies contributing purchase money were asked to provide one trustee each. These were Good News Chapel in Attleboro, Mass., Buttonwoods Bible Chapel in Warwick, R.I., and Groton Bible Chapel in Connecticut. It is anticipated they will continue to be represented in the ownership of the property until the new assembly develops its own leadership.
Assemblies sharing in the renovation of the building included Andover Bible Chapel (Andover, Mass.), Countryside Bible Chapel (Lexington, Mass.), Prospect Gospel Chapel (Hartford, Conn.), West Woods Bible Chapel (Hamden, Conn.), and the Portuguese assembly in Harrison, New Jersey.
