Our History
Christ the King Presbyterian Church has its beginnings in the 1995 uniting of three groups. In 1994 the Presbyterian Church in America sent Pastor Terry Gyger to plant a church in Boston and he set to work, gathering a core group that met regularly. At the same time pastor Osni Ferreira was pastoring a Brazilian Presbyterian church. After connecting several times to discuss the possibility of a concerted endeavor, the two groups joined each other as Christ the King Presbyterian Church. When local Brazilian pastor David Gomez decided to return to Brazil, the congregation he led also joined the effort.
After much prayer and a remarkable financial gift the group purchased and renovated the Prospect Street building, originally of the First Evangelical Congregational Church of Cambridgeport (later called the Prospect Street Congregational Church), on July 13, 1995.
In February of 1996 Pastor Osni returned to Brazil and was succeeded by Pastor Samuel Viera. Christ the King Presbyterian Church was formally constituted a particular church in the PCA in August of 1996. In March of 1999, Terry Gyger accepted a call to Redeemer Presbyterian in New York and nine months later Rick Downs was installed as pastor of the morning congregation. Pastor Samuel returned to Brazil at the end of 2002 and Pastor Naamã Mendes arrived in February of 2003. Today Naamã and Rick work together to feed and encourage a truly multi-cultural church.
Our location in Cambridge is deliberate. We love the city and want to live in the city, pray for it, and work for its peace and well being. We want to take seriously the issues facing the city and work to bring the values of the kingdom of God to bear. We long to see the city healed and beautified.
At the center of our vision is the conviction that the gospel of Jesus Christ is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes, that every malady and grief is addressed and substantially healed in this gospel. We long to see a transformation of the city by the outgrowth of the lives of the congregants as they are transformed by this gospel. We are convinced that the good news of the love of God expressed in the death and resurrection of Jesus towards real sinners with real problems will change everything as it courses through our communities.