Three's Not a Crowd, It's a Congregation!

On New Year's Eve, the Russian-speaking Baptist Church of the Transfiguration, the Korean-speaking Presbyterian Tacoma Trinity Church and the English-speaking Evangelical Covenant First Covenant Church gathered four hundred persons strong for trilingual worship on the eve of 2000 in the sanctuary of First Covenant Church in Tacoma, Washington. The three congregations praised Christ and "prayed-in" the year 2000 in the Pacific Northwest.

Each congregation's choir sang individually as part of the worship event, then combined the one hundred voices in singing Handel's Hallelujah! chorus to welcome the new year.

The Tacoma Trinity and First Covenant churches, which have shared the same building for the past six years, have an established history of periodic bilingual worship. This was the first attempt at a trilingual event as a way to welcome the 220-member Church of the Transfiguration, which began meeting in the First Covenant Church facility eighteen months ago. For Luke Pedersen, the event was a culmination of hard work in melding a plethora of cultures. For those who were part of the event, it was beyond their wildest expectations.

The Rev. Timothy Jung, pastor of Tacoma Trinity Church, reflected for a moment when asked about his experience of the evening, then said quietly, "It was overwhelming."

Because of the language barriers, most of the liturgies and greetings were short and translated quickly. A short list of songs that each congregation knew was incorporated, but the songs were sung in three languages, which made for an interesting sound. For the pastor at First Covenant, Luke Pedersen, what was heard was sweet harmony, both literally and figuratively.

"It's probably the most people we've ever had in this sanctuary and it's a credit to our congregation that this happened," said Pedersen. "We've had a long relationship with the Tacoma Trinity Church and an 18-month history with the Russian church. Culturally, it was very rich, and we brought in $2,500 which benefited a Ukraine Baptist church in Russia. Some people said that it was a high moment of their life to be a participant in this."

The New Year's Eve service culminated a busy year for the three congregations at First Covenant. With a handful of services and education times, the Sabbath Day is anything but restful at the church.

On an average Sunday, the Russian congregation, pastored by Aleksey Marchenko, gathers for a 7:30 a.m. worship service with an average of 220 in attendance. Once that service ends at 9:15 a.m., the First Covenant Church begins using the church, with adult Sunday school programs. First Covenant's worship service, which has approximately 150 in attendance, lasts from 10:30 a.m. until noon. The incoming Tacoma Trinity Church crowd then fellowships with those from First Covenant for one half-hour.

Trinity then conducts its Korean-language service, which is attended by 200 people, with Trinity and First Covenant youth education classes meeting simultaneously until 1:30 p.m. Lunch is served at 1:30 p.m. for the Trinity congregation. Then, at 2:30 p.m., 50 youth from that church conduct an English-language service while the adults have an afternoon Sunday school session.

In recent years, both the First Covenant Church of Tacoma and the Korean-speaking church have combined programming - children's programs, youth and mission projects are among the regular list of combined activities. The churches have engaged in two bilingual worship services and potluck meals each year. Bible studies involving members of both churches are also in progress.

"When I think about what's happening, it's not just a cross-cultural experience, it's an inter-racial experience," said Pedersen. "You've got Asians with an eastern culture with those from our western culture. To me, having people from three continents worshiping together is pretty neat," Pedersen said. "And, the personal stories of those coming out of religious persecution in Russia have been incredible."

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