Members come mainly from the Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, and Guatemala, Jarvis said.

For such Pentecostal and evangelical churches in Lawrence, it's the same story, said area church leaders. In recent years, this majority Latino and historically Catholic city has experienced a proliferation of small but active Protestant churches aimed at serving the Latino community, highlighting the national trend of US Latinos leaving the Catholic Church for evangelical and Pentecostal denominations.

In Lawrence, the churches, diverse in size and political alliances, are making their presence known on local radio stations, at community centers, on the Internet, even in the city's political scene. They are challenging not only the Catholic Church's dominance in Latino spiritual life, but some age-old Latin American cultural traditions, as Latinos adjust to new lives in the United States. For example, these Protestant churches don't celebrate various saint's days as Catholic churches do in Latin American countries.

These churches are emerging as the Catholic Church is closing and merging churches throughout the Archdiocese of Boston due to declining membership and a shortage of priests.

Currently, there are around 40 Spanish-speaking churches in Lawrence, according to religious websites.

But just how many Latinos in Lawrence are leaving the Catholic Church for evangelical denominations is unclear. The US Census does not keep track of religious affiliations, nor is there any reliable data on residents' churchgoing habits. Evangelical churches also tend to be loosely organized.

However, a 2002 study by the University of Notre Dame's Institute for Latino Studies concluded that the percentage of Latino Catholics drops with each US-born generation.

The phenomenon even has the attention of the Catholic Church. ``We do see at times . . . when a bank closes, they open a church; when a store closes, they open a church," said the Rev. Jorge Reyes of St. Mary of the Assumption Church.