Sharing A Sanctuary Despite The Barriers Methodists, Slavic Baptists Cooperate On Church’S Fund-Raiser

The lobby of the lower South Hill church on Saturday was pure Americana: homemade quilts, freshly canned plum jam and kitschy Christmas ornaments.

But a few feet away, the steamy kitchen filled with the scent of borscht and the soft sounds of Russian conversation.

This isn’t an uncommon mix at Centenary United Methodist Church, which for the past five years has shared its building with Russian Baptists.

“It’s been a blessing,” said the Rev. Brenda Tudor, pastor of the Methodist congregation. “They are so loving, energetic, hard-working and spirit-filled.”

One is a congregation of longtime Spokane residents, some of them lifetime Centenary members.

The other, Freya Slavic Baptist Church, is made up of immigrants from Ukraine and Kyrgyzstan. Ukraine, which borders Russia to the south, and Kyrgyzstan, in south central Asia, have been independent nations since the breakup of the former Soviet Union. Most of the Baptists fled to the United States in the early ‘90s to escape religious persecution.

The two groups don’t often interact. The Baptists worship early in the morning, the Methodists later in the day.

Both congregations are still navigating cultural and language barriers. They tried a dinner once to forge friendships, but it didn’t quite work.

“They still sat there, and we sat here,” said one of the Methodists, Rovella Vawter.

But events like Saturday’s fund-raising lunch and craft sale show an effort from both groups, said Tudor. The Baptist choir occasionally sings Russian hymns at Methodist services. Both haul their rakes and vacuums to work together on clean-up days.

“I’m sure there’ve been times we’ve made major gaffes and not even known it,” Tudor said. “But I think as time goes on, we’ll do more together. We would miss them horribly if they left.”

The Russian community is one of the city’s fastest growing ethnic populations, but only a handful of Spokane churches share their facilities with Russian congregations.

Other Russian groups are founding their own places of worship. Members of the Spokane Slavic Baptist Church are building their own church on Five Mile Prairie. Earlier this year, Pilgrim Slavic Baptist Church bought First Baptist Church in downtown Spokane.

But the shared space at Centenary has provided a unique opportunity, said Methodist member Esther Westlund.

“They’re different, but I don’t think it’s a bad different,” said Westlund. “I do wish we could understand Russian and they could understand English. I think we’re missing so much of each other.”

The younger members of the Baptist hosts often serve as translators.

Oksana and Alla Ivashchenko barely remember life in Russia. They were only 9 and 7, respectively, when they came to America.

Now teenagers, Oksana studies accounting at Gonzaga University and Alla attends high school in the Valley.

Both speak perfect English as they recall a small Russian town where running water was a luxury and they were taunted for being Christian.

They wear Levi’s and clunky shoes like many American girls but whip up exotic-sounding dishes like pelmeny and roulet, and switch languages fluidly, as needed.

It didn’t require a translator Saturday for Methodist member Vawter to understand one thing.

“This,” she proclaimed, spooning Russian soup into her mouth, “is amazing.”

This sidebar appeared with the story: Other groups Some Russian groups are founding their own places of worship. Members of the Spokane Slavic Baptist Church are building their own church on Five Mile Prairie. Earlier this year, Pilgrim Slavic Baptist Church bought First Baptist Church in downtown Spokane.