New Covenant Church of Cambridge

New Covenant Church of Cambridge is located in Waltham, Massachusetts. It is the largest Haitian Church in Massachusetts and is headed by Reverends Esther and Thomas St.Louis.

History

The Protestant congregation began 25 years ago^[when?] as a gathering of the extended St. Louis family in a living room. As Haitian immigrants and native-born Americans swelled its numbers, the church rotated services among members' houses. Soon, prayers and songs in English were added to those in French and Haitian Creole.

In 1990, the congregation bought a building at 76 Harvard St. in North Cambridge. When it outgrew that site, the church held services at the Andrew Peabody School in Cambridge as it hunted for larger quarters. It put in bids for churches in Cambridge and Medford, but fell short. Then came the news that the St. Joseph property in Waltham—church, convent, and a 19th-century house next door—was going up for auction. Once again, New Covenant was outbid, but not entirely out of luck. A subsidiary of a Waltham real estate development firm, Eastport Real Estate Services, bought the property for a condo project, but didn't want to keep the church building. After months of negotiations, New Covenant had a new home—though not without one more hurdle. Before it could move in, the church had to assure Waltham's zoning board that it could provide sufficient parking. After more negotiations, a plan was worked out to add spaces on a grassy lot to the left of the church and behind it on the site of the now-demolished sexton's house. The church has its eye on the former rectory next door for use as a pastor's residence and guesthouse.