Video: Karen Baptist Church children’s choir

What happens when a church in decline decides to embrace the immigrants in its changing neighborhood?

Gaston Christian Center is the surprising yet logical progression of Gaston Avenue Baptist Church, for decades a powerhouse in Dallas, TX, with a peak membership of 7,000 and a legacy of producing more foreign missionaries than any other church affiliated with the Southern Baptist Convention. Now the church claims only 100 in membership, but on any given week, they host more than 2,000 people for worship services, medical care, educational activities and community events. Five different native congregations worship there. “If two of our greatest challenges in this country are immigration and health care, then we’re a microcosm of that in this building.”

View the Karen Baptist Church children’s choir singing in their native language:

Read more in the Hospitality on the corner: Gaston Christian Center series:

Where the colors of the world worship together

Photo Gallery: Gaston Christian Center

Video: Chin Agape Baptist Church congregational singing

Video: Pastor Hsa Twel and Wallace Yay interview

Video: Karen Baptist Church children’s choir singing in their native language

Related commentary at baptistnews.com:

Humility, kindness and welcome: Hard but biblical callings | David Jordan

Is Jesus irrelevant to the immigration debate? | Alan Bean

Related news at baptistnews.com:

Ready to ‘welcome the stranger,’ Baptist church invites Muslim spiritual leader to preach Advent service

Volunteers in refugee programs fulfilling biblical mandate to care for strangers

This series in the “Welcoming the Stranger” project is part of the BNG Storytelling Projects Initiative. In “Welcoming the Stranger,” we share the inspiring stories of the people and faith communities that are teaching us all to love our neighbor as ourselves.

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Seed money to launch our Storytelling Projects initiative and our initial series of projects has been provided through generous grants from the Christ Is Our Salvation Foundation and the Eula Mae and John Baugh Foundation. For information about underwriting opportunities for Storytelling Projects, contact David Wilkinson, BNG’s executive director and publisher, at [email protected] or 336.865.2688.

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Video: Karen Baptist Church children’s choir

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