One Church Building, Two Congregations: South Sudanese Refugees Found a Spiritual Home in Syracuse

• Emmanuel Episcopal Church in East Syracuse hosts two congregations every Sunday
• An American parish of 25 meets early; a South Sudanese chapel meets in the afternoon
• The Diangdit Episcopal Chapel has worshipped there for three years, in the Dinka language
• The local diocese helped the refugee congregation secure the space

On the corner of East Avenue and West Yates Street in East Syracuse, New York, stands Emmanuel Episcopal Church, white with cherry-red doors. It is home to two congregations. A report carried by the Jamaica Observer said a small American parish of about 25 people worships there early on Sunday mornings. In the mid-afternoon the building fills with a different congregation, the Diangdit Episcopal Chapel, made up of South Sudanese refugees who pray in their native Dinka.

The chapel had been worshipping at Emmanuel for three years. The Episcopal Diocese of Central New York, working with a local interfaith resettlement agency, helped it get established and secure the space.

Many of the congregants have lived in East Syracuse for more than 20 years. They were among the Lost Boys of Sudan, more than 20,000 boys who fled war on foot to neighbouring countries. In 2001 many were resettled in the United States under a United Nations refugee programme. They first met on Sunday afternoons at University United Methodist Church to sing and pray in Dinka. Garang Achiek, the chapel’s senior warden, said the men “didn’t have any family here,” so “they decided to get together and come up with a church.”

South Sudan has a strong Episcopal tradition. The report said the Episcopal Church is the country’s second-largest denomination after the Catholic Church.

The arrangement is a practical answer to a common property problem: a shrinking congregation with a building larger than it needs, and a growing one with no building at all. Many Caribbean congregations abroad have gone the same way, starting in borrowed or rented church space before buying their own. For older congregations in Jamaica and the diaspora, sharing a sanctuary with another group can bring in income or goodwill and keep a building in use. The arrangement works best when a denomination or diocese sets the terms in writing, covering schedules, costs, repairs and how long the arrangement will last.

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