Elmwood Community Church, a congregational church affiliated with the United Church of Christ located at 24 Newington Road in West Hartford, recently sold for $700,000.
The property, including a 13,060-square-foot building and 0.86 acres, had been listed in February for $1.1 million. It is recorded in town land records as being sold on Sept. 16 to the Maranatha Christian Church of America, a pentecostal church with origins in Brazil.
The national organization purchased the church on behalf of the Maranatha Christian Church in Hartford. The Hartford congregation posted a video on Instagram on Sept. 10, with a church official speaking in Portuguese with English subtitles in front of the West Hartford church. In the post, the official describes the building as “our new church.”
The official adds that the date for the first service is Monday, Oct. 7.
David Vieira, a board member and treasurer for the Maranatha Christian Church of America, said the Hartford affiliate has been renting space for its congregation of 105 members. The church’s current space is located in the rear of a retail building at 1946 Park St. in Hartford.
In addition to the Hartford church, there are also congregations in Danbury and Wallingford, he said.
The congregation is mostly Brazilian, Vieira said, since the Maranatha Christian Church was founded in Brazil and has more than 5,000 churches in that country alone. The U.S. church, which has nearly 40 locations nationwide, is the same denomination but a separate entity, he said.
“There is a large Brazilian community in Hartford, so there is a lot of growth potential,” he said.
According to ZipAtlas.com, there are nearly 21,000 Brazilians living in Connecticut, with more than 5,300 living in Bridgeport and more than 4,800 in Danbury. Hartford is listed as having the seventh-largest Brazilian population in the state, at more than 600.
Vieira said the West Hartford church building, which was constructed in 1926, is in good shape but will require some minor renovations.
“There are no structural problems,” he said. “It’s a very good, sound structure.”
He did say the church will disconnect the commercial gas stove in the basement kitchen because it is leaking. The church also has a large event hall in the basement that it plans to use only for church events.
The Maranatha Christian Church generally conducts services Saturday and Sunday evenings, Vieira said. Evening services start at 7:30 p.m. He said there will also be a Thursday evening service at 8 p.m., and the church will eventually add a Sunday morning service.
Vieira added that the church is “pentecostal, but we’re quiet pentecostal. We’re pretty subdued.”
