Search for a spiritual home

It's Sunday afternoon, and a thunderous voice from Iglesia Cristiana Ebenezer in Lawrence can be heard from at least three blocks away.

The Spanish words, echoing off nearby buildings, houses, even St. Mary of the Assumption Catholic Church across the street, say that Christ will help you cleanse your soul and lead you to salvation, but only if you are truly ready to accept him into your life.

Inside the church, Ana Mundo, 41, closes her eyes and raises her hands to the message. She and other churchgoers clap and cheer throughout the sermon, as preacher Ana Leticia Jarvis pauses, lowers her voice, then goes into another intense round of pronouncements.

Some even cry.

Here at Iglesia Cristiana Ebenezer, there are no images of the Virgin Mary. There are no candles dedicated to saints, no statues of Jesus. Instead, at the center of the stage is a simple cross surrounded by flags from Latin American countries. On the wall to the left hangs a large banner with the phrase, ``Año de la Prosperidad," Spanish for ``The Year of Prosperity."

At this Pentecostal church, Latinos make up most of the membership. In seven years, membership has grown from just a few to more than 200, according to the Rev. Victor Jarvis, the church's pastor. Members come mainly from the Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, and Guatemala, Jarvis said.

For such Pentecostal and evangelical churches in Lawrence, it's the same story, said area church leaders. In recent years, this majority Latino and historically Catholic city has experienced a proliferation of small but active Protestant churches aimed at serving the Latino community, highlighting the national trend of US Latinos leaving the Catholic Church for evangelical and Pentecostal denominations.

In Lawrence, the churches, diverse in size and political alliances, are making their presence known on local radio stations, at community centers, on the Internet, even in the city's political scene. They are challenging not only the Catholic Church's dominance in Latino spiritual life, but some age-old Latin American cultural traditions, as Latinos adjust to new lives in the United States. For example, these Protestant churches don't celebrate various saint's days as Catholic churches do in Latin American countries.

These churches are emerging as the Catholic Church is closing and merging churches throughout the Archdiocese of Boston due to declining membership and a shortage of priests.

Two years ago in Lawrence, Holy Rosary, Holy Trinity, and Sts. Peter and Paul churches merged to become Corpus Christi Parish. St. Mary Inmaculada Concepcion and Asuncion de la Virgen Maria became the Parish of St. Mary of the Assumption. Sacred Heart closed its doors in 2005.

Currently, there are around 40 Spanish-speaking churches in Lawrence, according to religious websites.

But just how many Latinos in Lawrence are leaving the Catholic Church for evangelical denominations is unclear. The US Census does not keep track of religious affiliations, nor is there any reliable data on residents' churchgoing habits. Evangelical churches also tend to be loosely organized.

However, a 2002 study by the University of Notre Dame's Institute for Latino Studies concluded that the percentage of Latino Catholics drops with each US-born generation.

Nationwide, various studies show that around 25 percent of Latinos are Protestant, with 70 percent remaining Catholic.

In Lawrence, observers say, it isn't hard to notice new evangelical or Pentecostal churches popping up on every major street and the growing influence of those church leaders.

The phenomenon even has the attention of the Catholic Church.

``We do see at times . . . when a bank closes, they open a church; when a store closes, they open a church," said the Rev. Jorge Reyes of St. Mary of the Assumption Church.

The Rev. José Alberto Garcia, pastor of Iglesia Bautista Biblica, has lived in Lawrence off and on since 1975. He said that he, too, has noticed a growing number of evangelical churches in the city in 30 years.

``It's good, because I want to see people converted to Christ," Garcia said. Yet he said he is also alarmed because, in his eyes, some of those new churches ``are not walking right."

Garcia said some pastors have simply put a sign outside a storefront and called their place a church. ``That's not a church," said Garcia, who leads a Baptist congregation of 25 people. ``A church is something much more than that."

The proliferation of evangelical churches in Lawrence also has led to changes in the city's spiritual and political landscape.

In recent years, leaders of these emerging churches have encouraged their members to get involved in civic activities. For example, during the spring, the Rev. Victor Jarvis helped to organize immigration rallies in Lawrence and Haverhill with a coalition of religious leaders that included Reyes. Jarvis said that he had no choice but to get involved and encourage his members to make their feelings known.

``Some of my members are from Guatemala, and they don't have [immigration] papers," Jarvis said in Spanish. ``So I have a moral obligation to fight for them and to help them."

Still, others maintain a low-key presence. The Rev. Nelson Gonzalez, pastor of Spanish Evangelical Church, stays out of the limelight, despite having some high-profile members at his bilingual, nondenominational church. Among those who attend his services are School Superintendent Wilfredo T. Laboy, who also occasionally preaches. More than 350 members belong to Spanish Evangelical, and it's one of the oldest bilingual evangelical churches in the city.

Gonzalez declined to be interviewed for this story.

While some evangelical and Catholic leaders have worked together on various projects, tensions remain, said both Jarvis and Reyes. Among the reasons are the way that some evangelical leaders view the Catholic Church and the fact that most Latino converts were Catholics.

Garcia said that when a Catholic comes to his church seeking Christ, he treats them ``as if they have not been going to church."

``We believe that most people [who] have grown up in the Catholic Church are not truly Christians," Garcia said. That is because, Garcia said, most Catholics have been going to church out of tradition, rather than for spiritual reasons.

Reyes said that he tells parishioners to deal with such attitudes with politeness and to view them as a test of faith. He said that some evangelical leaders aren't open to working with Catholics and even decline to attend a Catholic church for a funeral or wedding. For example, on Tuesday, Reyes said, he presided over a funeral of a person with Catholic and evangelical family members. The evangelical members refused to enter the Catholic church for services.

Despite the growth in evangelical churches, Reyes said he isn't seeing members of his church leave the Catholic faith for nearby Protestant churches. St. Mary of the Assumption Church is still one of the city's largest churches, with around 2,000 members, 97 percent of them Latino. The church has four Spanish services on Sundays.

But there are some Catholics who are leaving.

Ana Mundo is one of those who grew up in a Catholic household before converting. She said that as she was growing up in Carolina, Puerto Rico, she felt something lacking in her life.

``The services at my Catholic church were always the same," Mundo recalled. ``I need something different."

She began attending an evangelical church in Puerto Rico and said her life has been different ever since. Part of the attraction was that she could read the word of God directly through the Bible, without the help of a pastor or priest. She has been attending Iglesia Cristiana Ebenezer since April.

``It's a family here," she said.

Have an opinion on this story? Post a comment on boston.com/northwesttalk. Russell Contreras can be reached at rcontreras@globe.com.