We are in a time of great flow these days at Sellwood Faith Community. We have a solid core group, we’re slowly growing in our participation numbers and giving, and most importantly we’ve had such great gatherings of depth and new life these past few months. There have been times when I have been so aware of the fragility of what we have begun I was afraid the slightest breeze could shatter the whole enterprise. I look at where we are now and what I see is the strength of our faith community.
We’ve arrived here through grace and flexibility. I have lost track of the number of times we have changed what we’re doing and when. Dinners began on Thursdays in May 2014. Since then we’ve launched a second dinner, gone back to one and moved it to Sundays. This week we changed the time of dinner to accommodate the back to school sleep needs of our kids. We’ve modified theology on tap into spiritually thirsty. We decided to keep the meditation hikes going after their initial run due to the immense popularity. This really is an experiment in church. We experiment and try things and then adjust as the results come back.
Our programming isn’t the only thing that has changed over time. We lovingly supported two of our members as they split up, both clear about the profound importance of the community and their friendship. While their relationship changed they remained in relationship with the community and with one another. One of our young families can’t make dinner due to their baby’s sleep schedule. They regularly attend service projects and other events. What it means to belong and be part of this community has to be refined as we account for each person’s journey. We have also had some people leave the community after several months, deciding this wasn’t quite the right fit for them. Through the changes of the people of SFC we’re becoming more clear about who we are and how we function as community. Our core values of hospitality, honesty, and love don’t change as we adjust to new relationships, new patterns, and new learnings.
This thing that we have made together in Christ is a benefit to us all and will continue to adapt and change as our community changes. There are people out there who aren’t here yet and their contributions will continue to shape our community and help it evolve into the next beautiful turn of God’s unending river.
-Eilidh
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