Seven

This month is the 7th anniversary of Dinner Church.  In May 2014, we began with a few folks gathered around the table for a meal and holy conversation. These days we are meeting in our own homes using zoom, but while much has changed including the faces around the table, the routines and rituals of our time together, and the color of my hair, the heart of what we started, a gathering of those who wanted a way to worship God in community, remains the same. 

Diner began as a response to the story of Acts, in which the disciples form community in homes and around the table. The depth and simplicity of the gatherings were our inspiration.  Over time we’ve experimented, adding music, communion, and a closing blessing as those around the table brought their own spiritual needs and leadership to the gatherings.

Sellwood Faith Community was created with a desire to be present in our neighborhood and around the table.  To be about slow growth, connection, and sharing a life of faith with one another. We never intended SFC to be its own full time appointment.  We never aspired to own a building or have Sunday morning worship, but here we are now partnered with Trinity United Methodist Church in a creative collaboration called SE Portland Parish.

Dinner Church spawned Snack Church, which celebrated 2 years of gathering in March. Leaders from Dinner and from Trinity joined together to create this community experience of connection and worship. 

What we started all those years ago has grown and changed in beautiful ways I could never have predicted.  As I think about the faces that have been around the table, those who have died, those who moved, those who have grown in directions that called them to something else, and those who are here now I am filled with gratitude for the ways this community has embodied discipleship and love. 

I’m looking forward to what God has in store for the next 7 years!

-Eilidh