“House of Compassion is a thematic church about compassion and the fight for justice. Building further on the commitment of the Brussels Beguinage community of the past decades, we strive together with our partners for more humanity, a hopeful society and a dignified life for all people, this based on the inspiration of Jesus of Nazareth and the Golden Rule.”
Like Village Mosaïque, House of Compassion gives a new purpose to a historic space while continuing a long history of social concern. As they describe themselves:
House of Compassion is the project that gives the Brussels Beguinage Church a new purpose: from a committed parish to a thematic church about caring for the most precarious in our society. In the spirit of the original Beguines, we respond pro-actively and obstinately, sometimes revolutionary, to the needs of today. Together with our partners, we make the voice of the precarious resound in Europe’s capital: on the way to a warmer society!
House of Compassion’s main objective is to make an essential aspect of Christianity (i.e. everyone counts) resonate in the metropolitan reality. This objective translates into the general values of compassion and the fight for justice, beauty and joy. The experience of beauty elevates everyone in their dignity. We use the power of beauty in the fight against the disdain that people on the fringes of society are often confronted with.
Our work is inspired by the basic values of the Gospel:
In concrete terms, it is based on 4 pillars
Every first Saturday of the month: ‘Encounters of House of Compassion‘ around a current theme with different speakers and testimonies.
Perhaps someday we can organize a group visit to this vibrant and dynamic community!
Erika grew up in Kansas, USA. Trained in music at Prague and Emory University, she earned a Master of Divinity (Yale, 2007) and then a PhD in the history of Christianity (Boston, 2016). After serving in seven Methodist parishes in the United States, she was pastor of the Evangelical Methodist Church in Lausanne (2015-2022), before helping to create Village Mosaïque.
