Churches find there's room for multiple congregations



Some churches have opened their doors to groupsof other faiths.
DALLAS MORNING NEWS
DALLAS -- Three congregations, three cultures, three languages and one church.
It's a busy place, this tired, old building with narrow hallways and wide cracks in the walls.
Every Sunday, the mostly elderly, white congregation of the 100-year-old North Dallas Baptist Church meets in the fellowship hall of Crossover Ministries in Oak Lawn, Texas. Upstairs, meanwhile, members of Iglesia Bautista Ebenezer and of Vietnamese Crossover Baptist Mission greet one another warmly, smiling and nodding as they pass one another at the doors of the sanctuary.
Children speak different languages as they play. Pastors embrace and call one another "brother."
Across the country, places of worship like Crossover Ministries are becoming home to more than one congregation. "Churches within churches" are sprouting for many reasons. Sometimes, an older church in a dying or changing neighborhood needs a tenant to help with expenses as its congregation dwindles.
"I say to people that we are a tossed salad," said the Rev. Quyen V. Le, of the Vietnamese congregation. "We're the tomato, Ebenezer is the lettuce, North Dallas is the carrot -- and the dressing is the Holy Spirit."
Churches within churches are becoming more commonplace as the United States grows more diverse ethnically and religiously, said John C. Holbert, a professor at Southern Methodist University's Perkins School of Theology.
Cultural diversity
When people of different cultures share space, it can be an enriching experience for all, Holbert said. Or it can be a disaster, he said, if people can't get past their differences -- even small ones.
Most churches in America remain decidedly monocultural. One recent study estimated that no more than 7 percent are significantly diverse.
The Rev. Diane Presley, pastor at Oak Cliff United Methodist Church, said her building, with a largely white, elderly congregation, is located in a predominately Hispanic neighborhood on East Jefferson Boulevard. It shares space with Warren United Methodist Church, a vibrant, predominantly black congregation.
Oak Cliff invited Warren to worship at its building when Warren's church, near Fair Park, burned in 2001. Oak Cliff also provides after-school and summer programs for neighborhood children.
The Rev. Ms. Presley said she and Warren's pastor, the Rev. Perry Crenshaw, who've known each other since seminary, try to set the tone for their congregations.
"Pastor Crenshaw and I try to talk about things directly," she said. "If we address problems directly, we are able to work through problems, like when someone steps on the feelings of someone else."
They want members to know that the building belongs to both congregations.
A desire to help
She said the "host" church in any such arrangement has to share space because it wants to, not because it has to.
"If they don't see it as a part of the joy of being Christian and reaching out to other people, it won't work," she said. "If they see this as a magnanimous thing they're doing but see the other congregation as an interloper, well, as they say, company and fish smell after three days."
Different faiths also can share a building.
The Community Unitarian Universalist Church in Plano shares space with a Hindu group, the Sai Baba Center. Earlier, it housed a Jewish congregation, then another Hindu group. Trinity Episcopal Church in North Dallas is home to a Messianic Jewish congregation and a ministry for Africans, led by a Kenyan pastor. Richardson Spanish Seventh-Day Adventist Church shares its building with Clearwater Community Church, a nondenominational Bible church.
And few churches anywhere have opened their doors to more diverse groups than First Baptist in Irving. The church is home to Korean, Muslim, Hindu, Chinese and Hmong congregations. Brazilian, Indian and black congregations also used to worship there, but they've moved on.
Incubator for congregations
Often, that's the goal -- to get fledgling churches on their feet, able to stand on their own.
The Rev. James O'Connell, of Hope Reformed Church in Carrollton, likened the process to raising teenagers.
"Sooner or later, our desire is that they become independent and that they are able to do the same for someone else," he said.
Experts, like Holbert of Perkins, said such arrangements work only through the efforts of all involved.
At Highland Park Presbyterian Church in Texas, the Rev. Ron Scates and the Rev. Cyprian Kimathi Guchienda try to bring their congregations together whenever possible. So members of Highland Park help with communion at services of the Rev. Mr. Guchienda's African Fellowship Presbyterian Church of Dallas. And members of the African church sing in the choir at Highland Park.

By using this site, you agree to our privacy policy and terms of use.

» Accept
» Learn More