Work continues on a new addition for the Russian Evangelical Baptist Church on North Road in Westfield. (Photo by chief photographer Frederick Gore)
Contractors continue to work on the new addition of the Russian Evangelical Baptist Church yesterday. (Photo by chief photographer Frederick Gore)
Westfield church thrives
By HOPE E. TREMBLAY
Staff writer
WESTFIELD – While churches are closing and consolidating across the Commonwealth, in Westfield, the Russian Evangelical Baptist Church is thriving.
The congregation is growing so quickly that a 36,000 square-foot addition is being built.
Construction Manager Joseph Timakov said the church began construction at the end of last May and is expected to be complete at the end of next year. Timakov said the construction is moving along, but it is a slow process because most of the workers, like the church staff, are volunteers.
“We only have six full-time construction workers and the rest are volunteers,” he said. “This helps keep costs low.”
The project is being partially financed by Easthampton Savings Bank and the congregation is footing the rest of the bill. Timakov said church is an integral part of the Russian community.
“The church is very active,” he said. “There is something happening here every night. People really get involved.”
Timakov said the church is practically bursting at the seams.
“The membership here right now is over 800 people and with kids and visitors, there are 1,000 people here on Sunday morning,” he said.
Timakov said the church community is expanding because families are expanding.
“There are only Russians here and the families are growing,” he said. “It is not uncommon for Russians to have five kids, and as the kids grow up, they marry young and start their own families and they all go to church.”
“From spring through summer there are weddings here every weekend.”
The church is also home to the Westfield Christian School. The new addition will have some classroom space, which will also be used for Sunday School, as well as a music room for the school.
“I believe the existing church space will be retrofit to make more classrooms,” said Timakov.
The new building will include a 1,200 capacity sanctuary with theater style seating and an organ.
The exterior will match the existing building with stone and woodwork.
Timakov said he also built the original structure.
“I then moved to Virginia where I was a civil engineer and I built churches in North Carolina and Philadelphia,” Timakov sad. “They asked me to come back to build this and you can’t say no when the church asks for help.”
Timakov has lived in the United States since he was five years-old.
“My parents immigrated from Ukraine in 1977 to California and later moved to the east coast,” he said.
Timakov said many Russians living in the United states are citizens now, and many are second generation.
“There once were a lot of Russian immigrants, but there are very few new immigrants coming today,” he said. “There are some families who lived in California or Minnesota and other states that were moving here, but even they are not moving a lot now because of the economy. They cannot sell their homes.”
Timakov said the local Russian American community continues to grow and thrive.
