by karen l. willoughby
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Photos from top: Compass Community Church Easter Service. Members of Compass Church take time to fellowship while they prepare the room for the next service. Ellias Savides serves the Lord's Supper to Kyki Savides, Nasya Savides, Melissa Sidiropoulos and David Deligiannides. Pastor Hariton Deligiannides promotes the Annie Armstrong Easter Offering as a part of the Easter service.
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What does it take for six congregations to successfully share one building? The same thing it takes for a handful of college roommates to remain on speaking terms: sensitivity to schedule, common purpose, flexibility and cooperation. In Newton, Massachusetts-metro Boston-six Southern Baptist congregations call the same red granite building with Tiffany windows "my church."
Hellenic Gospel Church, a Greek-speaking congregation, is legal owner of the building, but Pastor John Metallides says God is the real owner. When several new church starts needed a place to meet, Hellenic Church opened its doors. "It's not hard to share the building," he says. "The good thing is we all have a place to worship. There's no conflict whatsoever, and there's something going on at the church all the time, which is a good witness in the community."
Carol Dame's recent baptism is an example of how they work together. Philippine International Church ended worship early so Compass Community Church could set up Dame's 90-minute baptismal celebration, an extra service. Every congregation had to begin and end services on time so no one was tripping over another group. The willingness of all to respect the others' schedules and to work together for the specific good of one are key to the success of this group of churches.
"The baptismal service was so beautiful, like a wedding," says Compass pastor's wife Meta Deligiannides. "Carol invited a lot of her friends who are Jewish. They heard clear presentations of the gospel as well as testimonials from people who brought her into the church. Many of us got to know them at the reception. They said they'd like to get together again. We foresee great things happening from that."
A master calendar posted in the foyer of the church, coupled with telephone calls between pastors, makes it possible to juggle the schedules of Compass, Hellenic Gospel Church, Philippine International Church, Eglise Baptiste Haitienne Church, Arabic Baptist Church and the East Indian Telugu Christian Fellowship.
In many ways, they're a microcosm of the 4 million people in 140 language groups who live in Metro Boston. Compass, one of a dozen churches started during Boston's recent Strategic Focus Cities thrust, targets a multicultural community that responds to a contemporary worship style and intense discipleship. The other congregations meet the needs of other people groups in the Boston area.
"Because some of the expenses of the building are shared by all, each congregation contributes to mission causes and is part of Southern Baptists' global missions thrust," Metallides adds. A recent missions dinner was one of the times all six congregations gather throughout the year for a joint celebration.
Newton's central location just south of the Massachusetts Turnpike and within Route 128 that encircles Boston is one reason the Hellenic building is home to so many congregations. The desire by members to retain cultural distinctives is another. The value of the arrangement outweighs compromises necessary in what is essentially a "roommate" situation. They respect each others' worship times. They clean the building after each use. And they leave the building arranged the way the next group wants it.
"It's important to be flexible," says Hariton Deligiannides, pastor of the multicultural Compass. "When we're out visiting, we're as apt to talk about one of the other churches, depending on who we're talking to, as we are to talk about Compass. It's all kingdom work."
One challenge for the imposing church built in 1885 is its upkeep. The rent covers utilities and insurance, but there's no budget for building maintenance, and no "ownership" of the deed. The organ was broken and piano out of tune when Compass checked into using the main sanctuary-the one with 30-foot ceilings-for its baptismal service. Compass usually meets in the smaller downstairs sanctuary.
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Photos from top: John Metallides, pastor of Hellenic Gospel Church. Natish Etienne opens the Eglise Baptiste Haitienne morning service with songs. Youth from Eglise Baptiste sing during the service. Pastor Prospect Etienne preaches an Easter message. Mary Eginne reaches for little Victoria Etienne who was dedicated during the Easter morning service.
Photography by Morris Abernathy
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"We just prayed about it and said, 'Whatever You want, we'll do,'" says Meta Deligiannides. "It was God's way of saying to us, 'I will take care of things; just lean on me.'" The organ was repaired; the piano, ignored. "But it's not about the building. The people at the baptism didn't come to see the structure, to see the stained glass window. They were there to see their friend baptized, and they left there saying, 'Wow, we had such a great time.' It's not about the place or the way things look. It's all about the people."
Sharing a building and tending to resultant relational issues is one way to model Christian living with people from different cultures. "It's like being in a family and still maintaining your individual identity," says Hariton Deligiannides. "Different cultures might have a different perspective, but what we have in common is that our culture is that of children of God who give preference and deference to one another."
Karen L. Willoughby is a writer living in Salem, Oregon.
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