TRURO — Since the mostly Jamaican congregation that meets at the Chapel on the Pond in North Truro received news of a substantial anonymous donation toward a possible purchase of the property, a grassroots fundraising campaign has kicked off, striving to meet an April 1 deadline when the building is expected to be put on the market.
The Truro Conservation Trust has agreed to try to purchase the chapel and lease it back to the congregation for $1 per year, with the parish responsible for maintenance and utilities. The anonymous donor has pledged $500,000 toward the trust’s purchase and will match additional donations up to another half million dollars, according to Fred Gaechter, chair of the trust.
The campaign had by this week raised more than $65,000, all of which will be matched by the donor. That brings the total so far to more than $630,000, according to campaign organizer Kate Wallace Rogers.
Just over $30,000 has been raised on an online GoFundMe page since Feb. 25, and the Truro Conservation Trust has raised another $37,000.
Wallace Rogers and her partner, Myra Kooy, are also soliciting contributions from businesses on Commercial Street in Provincetown.
Many of those businesses rely on Jamaican workers, some of whom worship at the chapel. But Wallace Rogers said that every business should contribute because the Jamaican community at large has been so important to the Outer Cape’s economy.
The Commercial Street fundraising effort “is ongoing,” Wallace Rogers said. “You have to plant some seeds and come back three or four times to get what you’re looking for.”
The time of year has not helped, she said: “It’s March, and businesses don’t have a lot of money.” Partly for that reason, she’s asking every business to pitch in what they can.
“I’m putting it out there as a challenge,” she said. “We are asking everyone to show up in some way.”
There have also been public events, and more are in the works.
Wallace Rogers and Pastor David Brown, who has led the chapel’s congregation for the past seven years, appeared together on the morning show Wake Up! in Provincetown on March 8.
During that appearance, Wallace Rogers and Brown said they had both been frequently asked whether Brown’s congregation accepts LGBTQ people.
“It’s a question that I somewhat don’t understand, because I look around me at the people who are supporting me, and the love of God is unconditional,” Brown said. “We are all God’s people, and we should accept and appreciate each other for who they are, and that’s where I stand.”
Wallace Rogers said she was moved to help after learning about the H-2B visa program and the people who have been working on the Outer Cape “for 30 years plus.”
“It’s time for the community to give back to the Jamaican workforce that’s been the backbone and heart and soul of this community,” she said.
Wallace Rogers and Kooy also raised money at the Crown & Anchor’s screening of RuPaul’s Drag Race last Friday, she said.
Another event will be held on Friday, March 15 at 5:30 p.m. at the Provincetown Commons featuring Jamaican food, singing by church members and Pastor Carlene Brown, and a question-and-answer session with David Brown and the Truro Conservation Trust.
The next day at 4 p.m. there will be an open house at the chapel, also with a question-and-answer session. Organizers are planning to raise money at both events.
The $630,000 raised so far is slightly more than the property’s current assessed value, said Wallace Rogers, and is almost halfway to the property’s likely list price of at least $1.5 million, according to messages sent by property owner Bob Valleau.
“Everyone is working assiduously to bring this to fruition,” Pastor Brown told the Independent this week. “I am hopeful.”
Wallace Rogers said she “absolutely” felt hopeful about raising the full amount. “We’ve had miracles already, so we’re just going to have more of them,” she said.
In the meantime, worship services at the chapel continue. Sunday services will be held until March 31, the day the congregation must vacate the premises, Brown said.
The chapel’s “Crusade,” a week of evening worship services, took place from March 3 to 10. That long-planned program had helped persuade chapel owners Bob and Kathy Valleau to delay the closure from late January to the end of March.
“The crusade was awesome,” Pastor Brown said. “Every night was amazing; the turnout was great.” The occasion felt separate from the congregation’s impending need to vacate the chapel.
“It didn’t hang over us like a cloud,” Brown said. “We celebrated and gave thanks.”
Editor’s note: Because of an editing error, an earlier version of this article, published in print on March 14, referred to the chapel property’s “appraised” value rather than its assessed value.
