In a display of ecumenical harmony, two local Foursquare churches are now sharing space for services each Sunday. Since Aug. 7, Lakepoint Community Church has been holding their services at the Shekina Fellowship, a Spanish-language Foursquare church in Salem.
“We’ve always been a mobile church, since we started,” said Lakepoint’s Senior Pastor Rachel Taylor. “We started meeting at McNary High School in 2006. We outgrew that space and moved to the Keizer Community Center for nearly 10 years.”
Taylor said nearly all local churches in which she’d been in contact have reported lower numbers of attendees since the beginning of the COVID pandemic, and Lakepoint was no exception. After losing nearly half of her congregation since 2019, she said she’s enjoying being permanently planted and beginning to grow, once again.
“We’ve been meeting online and in small groups for quite a while,” she said.
After two years of that, the congregation needed a home, so she reached out to the Shekina Fellowship pastor, Freddy Martinez, who promptly invited Lakepoint to join them on Sundays.
“Our first Sunday at the new location was Aug. 7,” she said. “It has a big sign on the front that says Shekina Fellowhip, but we put our own sign out on Sunday mornings.”
Lakepoint Community will hold a single service for all ages at 9 a.m., and Shekina will meet at their normal 11 a.m. time. The Shekina Fellowship location is at 2765 Broadway St. NE in Salem.