Congregation realizes dream of replacing church after fire

“It’s a miracle, a miracle,’’ said a teary-eyed Shirley Miranda, one of nine people who founded the church in 1969 as her children, the Rev. Loretta Gomes and the Rev. John Miranda, hugged her. “Oh Lord, it’s a miracle.’’

From the ashes of a church destroyed in an electrical fire on Nov. 11, 2007, rose a church of modular design, put up in a single day by Realty Development Associates of Sagamore and Norton. The company president, Don Shulman, said that as far as he knows, it’s the only modular church in the area.

“When it burned, we immediately said we’d rebuild,’’ said John Miranda, assistant pastor at the church where his sister is pastor. “We didn’t know how or how much it would take. We just knew we had to do it.’’

The church was also founded by the late Le ota R. Soares, Shirley Miranda’s sister, in the basement of a house on Perry Avenue in Brockton. There were six other women, including another sister, and two men. A couple of years later, the group acquired a small plot on Monponsett Avenue in Hanson and built it themselves, enlisting the aid of local youngsters.

“The adults built it, and we did what we could,’’ John Miranda said. “I was about 7 and remember running around pulling weeds and dragging away brush.’’

This time around, construction was performed by Realty Development, but a basement will be finished by volunteers, he said. The church arrived in three pieces - two halves of the building and a roof - on three trucks, a six-hour journey from the fabrication plant in Wingdale, N.Y.

A massive crane began lifting the pieces into place early on July 29, and workers scrambled to fasten it together.

By late afternoon, it was done, sealed against the weather. In roughly eight weeks, Shulman said, it will be ready for occupancy, with all electrical, plumbing, and heating hookups complete, pews installed, and basement finished.

John Miranda and Gomes vowed the church would have Thanksgiving services.

The cost of the project will be approximately $215,000, Miranda said, paid for by insurance, donations, and the largesse of Realty Development. Shulman said all the work, from erection of the building to finishing off the interior, is being done for “a little bit above cost.’’

Additional help came from the community. After the blaze, several area churches chipped in, letting the group hold services in their buildings, including the First Congregational Church in Hanson, where the congregation has met most regularly.

The congregation’s children helped out by collecting donations.

According to Gomes, the church decided to go on modular because it eliminated all the process work that had to be done. Shulman’s company built Gomes’s modular home in Middleborough four years ago, and when the church ran into trouble getting permitting and planning the rebuilding, she went to Shulman, who agreed to help.

The new church is roughly the same size as the old one; 2,800 square feet on one story, but this one has a cathedral ceiling and the bathrooms are on the first floor rather than in the basement.

The church is seeking donations of time and material, including pews. It also needs a replacement for one of the only things the fire didn’t destroy - the steeple, which was stolen not long after the blaze.

The congregation at the tiny, independent Pentecostal church has always numbered around 30 to 35, which includes many children, Miranda said.

“We know in times of trouble, people will come to church, get their lives in shape, and then go,’’ he said. “We don’t mind. This isn’t our house, this is God’s house. All are welcome to take what they need. If they stay, they stay, if not, go - with our blessings.’’

One of the people who stayed is Shirley Miranda, who saw both the creation and the destruction of the first church.

“It came down the way it came down,’’ she said, dabbing her eyes with a tissue. “And the Lord put it back up the way he put it back up.’’

Anyone wishing to make donations can visit www.unitedchurchofthefirstborn.org for information.