Pentecostal purposes revive church

INDIAN ISLAND – The first Europeans to meet the Wabanaki people were French Jesuit priests, known as “black robes,” who came to what is now Maine to convert the Indians to Christianity.

They were so successful that for generations the Catholic church was the only church on the Penobscot and Passamaquoddy reservations, and, until the 1970s, most Indians in Maine attended Catholic schools.

While the history of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Portland is part of modern tribal history, not all Indians are Catholic. Indian Island Faith Tabernacle is the only United Pentecostal Church International located on Indian land in the country and one of the few Protestant denominations with a church on a reservation.

The Rev. B.A. Cote Jr. has worked for more than a decade to bring new life to the church. Cote’s work in the building is part of a family legacy – his grandfather was pastor when it was a Baptist church and lived in the rectory attached to the sanctuary.

“One of our biggest challenges is getting across the community that we’re here to stay and that we are normal people,” Cote said after a recent Sunday service.

Faith Tabernacle is less than a mile past St. Ann’s Catholic Church, one of the first buildings visitors see when they drive onto the island from Old Town. What is now a Protestant church was built in 1834 as the Penobscots’ first tribal hall on Indian Island.

The building last was used as a church in the 1980s, but had been abandoned for more than 10 years when Cote and his fledgling congregation decided they wanted to fix it up as a Pentecostal church.

The building was in such disrepair that residents called it “the haunted house,” said the pastor. There were holes in the roof and the walls, the pews were covered with dirt, and the walls were stained from water damage. Cote said that volunteers have done more than $22,000 in repairs since 1994.

Residents also were wary of the evangelical denomination, he said. The church emphasizes direct access to God, the father, believes prayer can manifest miracles, especially divine healing, and is certain that the Holy Spirit may enter the bodies of congregants during worship and cause them to speak in tongues.

“There’s a story that the devil danced in the building and his foot came down and marked the floor right here.” Cote pointed under a pew to a section of floor that does not match the rest of the hardwood. “From my grandfather I learned that there was a potbellied wood stove here and when it was removed, that section of the floor was replaced. We have to work against that kind of stigma.”

Yet, native spirituality has worked in the church’s favor on a least one occasion. Cote said that one day an eagle perched on the bell tower to devour its lunch – a cat that apparently had run out of lives. A crowd gathered in front of the church to watch, according to Cote. After that, many declared that the evil was gone from the building.

Cote said that he and his wife, Claire, know all 200 families that also live on Indian Island. All of the church board members are Penobscots, he said. On April 30, members of the congregation delivered May baskets to every household.

“Our mission is the same as Christ’s,” said Cote, who works as a dispatcher for the tribal police. Claire Cote works at the Indian Island School, which has pupils in kindergarten through grade eight.

The minister said he wants to reach out to the young people in the area, and Cote, a high school dropout himself, knows the struggles they face.

He was living in a housing project in Hartford in the 1960s when a neighbor invited him to go to church. On his fifth visit, he had an intense religious awakening.

The same day that Cote enlisted in the Navy, he learned that his neighbor had arranged for him to attend Bible college in Minneapolis, even though he did not have a high school diploma or a GED.

“I got a scholarship from the Bureau of Indian Affairs,” he said. “As far as I know, I’m the only Indian the BIA ever sent to Pentecostal Bible college.”

Cote met his wife there. She has a degree in Christian education and the two work as a team in every area of their ministry, he said.

The Cotes served churches in Mississippi and Connecticut before moving to Maine, and for several years Cote was assistant pastor at Apostolic Lighthouse Church in Bangor. That congregation supports Faith Tabernacle.

Cote said his church began with just seven people, including his own family of four, and now averages about 30 worshippers every Sunday with a record 53 attending Easter Sunday.

“I grew up in the street and wasn’t really a good person,” said Cote. “Now, I try to help people with every aspect of their lives.”

Indian Island Faith Tabernacle offers Sunday school at 10 a.m., followed by a potluck luncheon at 11:30 a.m. Worship services begin at 12:30 p.m. For information, call 827-5672 or 827-2325.