The oldest congregant was replacing tile on a floor adjacent to the water-damaged sanctuary. The pastor’s wife scraped paint. Another congregant was refitting a donated stove.
Meanwhile a crew of daredevils on the steep roof 40 feet above were re-shingling and assessing how to seal a leak in the towering steeple through which water has been pouring for months.
Welcome to an ongoing labor of love and historic preservation unfolding in Fair Haven.
On Friday afternoon, Pastor Hector Rivera and his congregants were busy transforming the old Methodist Church on East Pearl at Exchange into the new home of the Iglesia De Dios Pentecostal.
“This is blessing for the community, the city, and the Lord,” said Rivera. (He pointed out the recipients of the blessing in his statement should probably be in reverse order.)
Rivera said his congregation established in New Haven eight years ago in rented rooms. Its new home is to be in one of the city’s historic structures, a fragile 1871 gothic beauty that was badly in need of rescue.
After renting space first in the Hill and most recently on State Street at Ferry, Rivera and his congregation determined to seek a home of their own. Church member Martiza Rosa said the search began in April last year and eventually brought her to East Pearl Street.
There, the Methodist Church was experiencing severely declining membership. The building had in effect been vacant six months. Water damage was ongoing, as there was no money to fix the roof. Every time it rained, a torrent of water ran through gaping holes in the steeple curdling large sections of the plaster walls below.
“They were down to only six or seven members,” said Rosa. “They hung on, even as the building seriously declined.
Renting was not possible, because the church was thinking of selling its building.
The Pentecostal congregation, meanwhile, was not necessarily looking for a historic church building. But when Rosa heard rumors that the church might be sold to a developer for condominiums, she and Rivera rushed to make an offer.
It was accepted. “Because of its history, we are proud to be here,” said Rivera (pictured on the ladder, flanked by Rosa and congregant Joe Rivera, pictured at the top of the story).
Then the daunting dimension of the task met the congregation, which numbers 120 people, including children. The building cost $350,000. A downpayment was raised and made, and a mortgage secured. The congregation then raised an additional $118,000.
That’s the precise price tag alone for the repair of the massive roof and, it appears, a rebuilding of the steeple, which is an area visual icon. The roofing job commenced two weeks ago and will conclude in four more.
As the pastor, Rosa, and other church leaders gave a reporter a tour of the interior, it was apparent that at least another ten people, all church members, were at work painting, scraping, laying flooring, redoing kitchens.
They’ve been doing this day in and day out since the closing two weeks ago. Nearly every member has been contributing sweat equity, according to Rivera, including his wife Ivette, who was scraping paint off the repainted glass doors in the kitchen.
One could see why it was a labor of love: The main sanctuary, with its soaring wooden gothic arches, is a moving spiritual interior space, perhaps one of the most impressive, and least known, in New Haven
Because the church is in the Quinnipiac Historic District, all the work, including the types of shingles being hammered into the roof, is being done with the involvement and approvals of the Historic District Commission (HDC).
“We want to restore [the interior] to its original splendor,” said Rosa.
That’s going to take a lot money that the small congregation has yet to raise.
Once the roof is secured, next the water damage must be tackled. The director of the Spanish American Merchants Association (SAMA), Frank Alvarado, who is advising the congregation, estimated that $200,000 remains to be raised to finish the interior work.
“We’re looking for volunteer architects to redo the bathrooms, including making them handicapped accessible,” he said.
In December the church goes before the HDC and the Board of Zoning Appeals to discuss how to redo the adjacent parking lot. Rosa said that David Barone, City Plan’s liaison to the HDC, suggested that, given Fair Haven’s riverine history, oyster shells might be appropriate. The church would love to do that but only if someone could donate the oyster shells, Rosa replied.
The dark wood interiors with their crocket columns and the ribbed vaulting of the main sanctuary ceiling are in tact and very much in the spirit of a gothic cathedral; or, to bring it closer to home, the wooden superstructure of a ship’s hall turned upside down.
Rosa, who works as an assistant principal the Roberto Clemente Academy, suggested that might have been because there were mariners in the original congregation.
Of the church, Anstress Farwell, of the Urban Design League, said in an email message: “It’s a gorgeous place. Last time I was inside was about 7 years ago. Shabby then, but beautiful and largely intact.”
Elizabeth Mills Brown, in her seminal New Haven: A Guide to Architecture and Urban Design, described the 1871 East Pearl Street Methodist Church as “a local sally into Victorian Gothic that achieves a quite awesome effect.”
Pastor Rivera said he hoped to hold the first services in the restored church within four to six months.
For those interested in assisting, tax deductible contributions can be sent to Iglesia De Dios Pentecostal at 99 East Pearl St. Donated labor of architects and other skilled craftsmen is also needed. Call Martiza Rosa at 415‑2812.
Those of us who live in the neighborhood are happy that this gorgeous building is being fixed. However, some consideration to the residents of the neighborhood is due. Work on the roof last week started early in the morning, including Saturday and the loud repetitive banging woke up a bunch of folk living in the streets close to the church. While the pastor says that services will start in 3 months, there was a service yesterday afternoon and the sounds of loud music and preaching could be heard all the way from the Quinnipiac River Park. Not a good way to make yourself welcome.