Today's From the States features items from:

BaptistLIFE (Maryland-Delaware)

Kentucky Baptist Convention

Baptist New Mexican

4 congregations,

3 languages, 1 Lord

By Shannon Baker

SILVER SPRING, Md. (BaptistLIFE) -- It just makes sense. As the neighborhood demographics changed, so did Viers Mill Baptist Church.

Rather than facing a declining church membership, Viers Mill smartly opened its doors to non- Caucasian ethnic groups and in so doing, created a multi-ethnic worship environment that has created an exciting buzz throughout its campus.

Every Sunday morning at Viers Mill, four churches share space on the multi-building complex. In the basement of the church's chapel, Chinese Christians worship in Cantonese and Mandarin. In the large combined classroom space linking the older chapel with the newer sanctuary, Hispanic Christians worship in Spanish.

In the chapel's sanctuary, African American Christians worship; and in the main sanctuary, a multi-ethnic congregation worships in a traditional worship service. All at the same time.

To make it work, the four congregations, with a total of 350 worshippers, schedule their services and Sunday school classes at opposite times in order to share the space.

"We are four congregations meeting in one large facility all worshipping in slightly different ways, all reaching slightly different people. It's an exciting way to do church," shared Robert Wilson, senior pastor of Viers Mill's multi-ethnic congregation.

He explained, in the early 80s, as immigrants began moving into the area, Viers Mill had a heart to reach those who didn't speak English. So they started a Korean congregation, a Vietnamese congregation, as well as a Chinese congregation (now Montgomery Chinese Baptist Church), a Spanish congregation (Viers Mill Spanish Mission), and an African American congregation (Fellowship Baptist Church), the last three of which are still going strong.

Four times a year, the four congregations meet in the church's main sanctuary for a combined worship service, where they do the Lord's Supper and baptisms together. The four pastors share the preaching responsibility, each pastor taking one Sunday, providing the sermon and the special music.

"The Chinese and Hispanic congregations bring their hymnbooks so everybody can sing the hymns in their native language," said Wilson. "You may be singing Amazing Grace in English while the people around you are singing in Spanish and Cantonese. Just a lot of fun; it's like what you think heaven is going to be like. It's a great way of doing ministry."

Wilson explained all the churches work together to care for the space, contribute funds and share rooms and resources. Throughout the week, the fellowship hall and the larger sanctuary are available to all four congregations for weddings, funerals, revival services, concerts, and other special events on a first come, first served basis. In addition, the four pastors meet regularly for prayer, encouragement, calendaring and coordination of the facilities.

"One of the things very exciting about Viers Mill is the four congregations do not see each other as the renter or the rentees. They don't rent space from us. They are us. They are family. We're the mother church. They are the children. We're also brothers and sisters in Christ working together, reaching other people that the congregations can't," he said.

"That's really very exciting, particularly here in the Viers Mill community, where the schools have as many as 80 different languages spoken by children. This is an international community. And any way we can reach people for Christ, we want to try and do that, no matter what language they speak."

Wilson's congregation has people from Ethiopia, China, India, and from around the world. The Spanish congregation has people from all across Central and South America. The Chinese congregation is mostly Cantonese speakers from across China but there are also some Southeast Asians and Vietnamese and even Thai participants.

"This really points out the fact that to us, language is the key and in our area, English is the minority language," Wilson said. "We are a language congregation the way the Cantonese and Spanish language churches are. We are trying to reach the minority population by speaking the minority language."

The Spanish and the Cantonese congregations have the largest membership, but the focus on the multiethnic worship has been meaningful to each church.

"We work together, laugh together, pray together and enjoy life together. Once, the Cuban Spanish pastor baptized an African American boy in front of the group of Cantonese and European Christians," Wilson said. "I love that story. It sort of sums up who we are: four congregations, three languages, but just one Lord, working together to try and reach the very big, very diverse neighborhood."

To learn more, visit online at www.viersmillbaptist.org and www.montgomeryba.com.

This article appeared in BaptistLIFE (baptistlifeonline.org), newsjournal of the Baptist Convention of Maryland/Delaware. Shannon Baker is a national correspondent for the Baptist Convention of Maryland/Delaware.

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St. Louis Baptists thankful

for Kentucky partnership

By Ken Walker

ST. LOUIS (Kentucky Baptist Convention) -- Florissant Valley Baptist Church Located in northern St. Louis County, Mo., is an aging congregation whose members have found new hope thanks to the Kentucky St. Louis Partnership.

Launched at last year's annual meeting of the Kentucky Baptist Convention, the partnership has mobilized approximately 15 teams of Kentucky Baptists to serve in St. Louis this year. A greater number is expected in 2013.

Southern Baptist pastors in the Gateway City say they are grateful for the partnership—whose goals are to revitalize churches like Florissant Valley and plant new ones.

"We have a lot of struggles because we're small, but I love the Kingdom mindset that exists in this area," said Florissant's pastor, Ronn Brooks. "The Kentucky partnership is an awesome extension of that."

Among teams traveling west this year were the Muhlenberg Baptist Association, which helped stage Florissant Valley's vacation Bible school in late July. Ten children accepted Christ as Savior that week.

In late October, the church will welcome a team from Three Forks Baptist Association, based in Hazard. The group will help stage a "Trunk or Treat" Oct. 31, an event that usually draws 200 youngsters.

"We're enormously grateful for that," said Brooks, whose congregation averages 75 in Sunday attendance. "It would have been very hard to pull off without their help."

Tom Firasek of the St. Louis Metro Baptist Association said many of its 140 churches have fewer than 125 members or regular attendees, so extra manpower is needed for special projects.

"We're very pleased," said Firasek, who will visit Lexington to help staff an information booth at this year's KBC Annual Meeting, Nov. 13 at Immanuel Baptist Church. "We've had several churches looking at long-term partnerships. One did survey work for a new start that launched Sept. 1."

This activity symbolizes the closeness developing between Baptists in Kentucky and St. Louis.

Scott Pittman, KBC Mission Strategies & Partnerships consultant, attended the St. Louis association's annual meeting in mid-September. KBC also helped fund a late-August church planting conference in St. Louis.

"I've gotten a very positive response from people I talked to there," Pittman said. "I had a booth at the association meeting and one woman came up and said, 'We love Kentucky Baptists!'"

The partnership isn't a one-way street. Ken Lovelace, pastor of Amazing Love Community Church in St. Louis, recently was guest preacher at First Baptist Church of Richmond.

Ron Boyd, missions committee member at First Baptist Church of Richmond, extended the invitation to the pastor after the Kentucky congregation helped host a VBS and a block party at Amazing Love.

"We'll be back," Boyd said. "I wouldn't be surprised if we return in the next few months. There are so many needs there—physically, financially and others."

The partnership has inspired some Kentucky Baptists to venture beyond the border. After hearing about it at last year's annual meeting, Lexington pastor Jeremy Couture sensed God answering his prayer about a missions opportunity.

The six members of Parkway Baptist Church who traveled to St. Louis in late July marked the first time the 125-person congregation had sent a mission team outside the state.

Parkway Baptist helped a new church, Confluence Baptist, by distributing literature door-to-door, prayer walking, and passing out free water and snow cones in several area parks.

"For those who went, I think it's made them more aware of church planting and outreach opportunities right here in Lexington," Couture said. "I hope it also serves as a platform to take more outbound mission trips in the future."

One of the most active KBC churches this year has been Lone Oak First Baptist Church of Paducah, which sent five groups to tackle various projects. Continued...