Ethnicity 2: Assimilation
Although religion served as a means of providing a sense of identity and community for new immigrants, conversely, it also provided a way to assimilate, and seamlessly welcome "outsiders" into a new country. It is enlightening to read designer Robert Marquis' notes about the design for the Filipino American United Church of Christ wherein he wonders if a certain type of roof looks "too indigenous?" Likewise, both examples of Armenian churches, one from 1908, one from 1978, give no indication of the ethnicity of their congregations in their architectural styles. Only from examining photographs of the celebrants at the ground-blessing ceremony, and some of the literature from the project does one learn that Marquis' church and community center is for a specific ethnic group. The Greene & Greene drawings do not indicate even that; only the name of the church indicates the congregation's ethnicity.