When First Brazilian Baptist Church of Stoughton — a congregation of 12 families located 20 miles south of Boston — voted nearly a decade ago to survive for another generation rather than close their doors indefinitely, they turned to Joe Souza and his Celebration Church, a Boston-based church network for immigrant Brazilians.
A native of Rio de Janeiro, Souza was then a church planting catalyst, who affiliated with the former Greater Boston Baptist Association, the Baptist Churches of New England, and the North American Mission Board. Following three months of meetings and corporate prayer, the busy pastor turned down their invitation to consult or to become their interim pastor.
“They had gone through a tough situation; the pastor left, there was some conflict, and they asked me what they should do. We asked for wisdom from above,” said Souza, who is now BCNE’s Boston area regional coordinator and immigrant ministry leader.
Immigrant church eventually voted to survive
At the end of their initial meetings, Souza communicated some unvarnished truth: “You guys have to decide what God is doing. I’m not going to come in and say, ‘Do this or do that.’” After three more months, he noted in a recent telephone interview, they “decided to try to, you know, survive.”
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EDITOR’S NOTE — This story was written by Dan Nicholas and originally published by the Baptist Churches of New England.
