NORTHWEST WASHINGTON — One Slavic church plant transitioned itself from speaking Russian to speaking American, then “hived” itself into two churches.

A third plant grew organically.

“We have vision to switch from Russian to English,” Vitaly Kunda said about starting that new Slavic church with Dmitry Shuller in 2015 named Living Word Bible Church, a Southern Baptist congregation.

At that time the now-former hobby beekeeper had been youth/families pastor for three years, and for another three years he was lead pastor of Slavic Gospel Church in Bellingham, 95 miles north of Seattle. This was a church that ministered to Slavics who had immigrated in the years after 1991, when the Soviet Union splintered into 15 republics.

“Slavic” refers to people from eastern and central Europe.

Even though the immigrants learned English for work and school, “Russian was their spiritual language, biblical language, religious language like for prayers,” Kunda told Baptist Press. “We thought by having good teaching and standing on the shoulders of a good church (Slavic Gospel) with good values we could reach the community, but because of language were not able to.”

Thus began a five-year move away from Russian — the language spoken by many Slavics — to English. Kunda had also realized another, deeper problem.

“During the Soviet Union, all the Christians would learn how to withstand persecution,” Kunda said. “It was survival-form Christianity.

“When the church moved to the U.S., in the beginning they weren’t able to withstand materialism. I think many parents, they got lost, even though they had great background” in Christianity.

“The second generation had to relearn what the church is all about, without fear of persecution or Bibles forbidden,” Kunda continued. “Now, the second generation has no emotional connection with the old country. And refugees who come now are totally different. They have Ukrainian culture.”

Kunda said he realized for Living Word and its members to thrive and be obedient to God’s Word in America, speaking English was a necessity.

At the same time, he began nurturing young men called to the gospel ministry, leading several to take courses online at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, so they could continue to help grow Living Word, which was meeting Sunday afternoons at Good Shepherd Baptist Church in Ferndale, 15 miles northwest of Bellingham.

“We started slow, one sermon a month in English,” Kunda said. “Then younger pastors began preaching twice a month in English, and we incorporated English worship songs.” The goal was to embrace multicultural ministry while remaining attentive to the needs of Russian-speaking members, recognizing the importance of allowing time for adjustment. Monthly fellowships helped too.

“Training up the next generations is in our DNA,” Kunda said. “As iron sharpens iron, so do we sharpen each other for the glory of God.”

God continued to bless the growing congregation with new converts. With the help of local partners — including those at Good Shepherd Bible Church and Mt. Baker Southern Baptist Association churches — Living Word saved enough money by 2020 to purchase a former Jehovah’s Witnesses building in Ferndale and renovate it.

“It was very spacious for us, five acres and a decent-sized church,” Kunda said. “We were blessed abundantly. We raised so many leaders, young men eager to serve and minister, and we began to think maybe we can help other churches. We started praying about it.”

As attendance grew, Living Word considered holding two services to address the lack of space. But the nearly 250 members said they didn’t want to be separated into Russian-speaking and American congregations.

“The things that grew our church were preaching from God’s Word, constant prayer for God’s mercy over us, developing a strong leader base and following God’s leading,” Victor Kuksenko told Baptist Press. Today he is teaching pastor at Living Word in Ferndale.

In apparent answer to leaders’ prayers, Baker Creek Bible Church in Bellingham — a small, elderly, English-speaking congregation without a pastor — invited Living Word pastors to begin preaching there.

After six months of supply preaching, the 12 to 15 remaining members of Baker Creek Bible Church entrusted their spacious building and ministry to Living Word, asking them to carry forward the church’s legacy. Suddenly, Living Word had two campuses, two pastoral teams and an abundance of other leaders also ready to serve.

Kunda, who formerly had kept nine beehives, and Living Word’s other leaders determined the best way to utilize the church’s two properties and minister in its communities was to let the congregation frame its new “hive.”

A beehive consists of healthy worker bees and their leader, with room to grow and welcome newcomers to join the work.

Living Word leaders led the congregation to embrace sacrifice. Members needed to form new small groups, make new friends and decide with which church building and community they would align, Bellingham or Ferndale.

Kunda as shepherding/counseling pastor with seminary-trained Victor Kuksenko as teaching pastor were to stay in Ferndale as Living Word Bible Church. Aleksey Khizhnyak as shepherding/counseling pastor and seminary-trained Andrey Bulanov as teaching pastor would be at the former Baker Street site, now named Redemption Church in Bellingham. Both congregations preach in English.

“It was a whole church decision to go this way and to not separate the congregation into two cultures,” Kunda said, referring to those with ties to Russia and/or Ukraine and those without. “We wanted the church to use English language to invite other people to hear and see what we have.”

About 70% of the congregation went to Redemption at the former Baker Street site. Living Word officially became a “replant” with Kuksenko as a North American Mission Board-approved planter.

“When we started praying about this, certain things gave us confidence,” Kuksenko said. “We started going through the book of Acts. We as the church were never thinking about doing a church plant. We spent 10 years loving each other. It’s definitely the work of God here. This was not on our radar. The way God led us, we’re following the Spirit.”

In November 2024, Living Word Bible Church gathered for one final communion service as a united body before launching into its new chapter now as two “international” congregations reaching people from many cultures.

“Redemption Church and Living Word Church are becoming a model for planting a new church — hive — in a way that gives an optimal opportunity for succeeding,” Gerald “Jerry” Lanford told Baptist Press. Lanford is associational mission strategist for the Mt. Baker Southern Baptist Association. 

“This model includes an incredible amount of prayer, not to be ignored, plus the sending of pastoral leadership in the form of two pastors, and a critical mass of support — those families committed to go and become a new church, or hive.”

Living Word has grown to about 100 in Sunday morning worship. Redemption to about 225. A third congregation — All Saints Congregation in Linden, Wash. — is being planted by Andrew Park after Park had been a Living Word member for two years.

“We want to be a church with doors open to everyone,” Redemption Teaching Pastor Andrey Bulanov told Baptist Press. “Our openness to grow and change has created a church culture that is warm and friendly. It is my hope that we as a community can preserve the culture of plurality and growth. I think that will be a blessing to Whatcom County.”

(EDITOR’S NOTE — Karen L. Willoughby is a national correspondent for Baptist Press.)