July 1st is New Year in the United Methodist Church. It’s common for pastors to post about the new church they are beginning or to remark on the years served in the current place. July 1, 2022 marks the beginning of year 10 on Portland! We moved to the house on Tacoma Street 9 years ago, in July 2013, to plant the Sellwood Faith Community. 5 years ago, in July 2017, SFC and Trinity officially began that collaboration that we call the Southeast Portland Parish.
As I was reflecting back on these years of service and the beginning of this new year I thought about all the people who have come along the way with us. Those early SFC members, the lovely people at Capitol Hill where I served from 2013 through the closure of that church in 2016, and those saints of Trinity we have lovingly returned to God’s arms. I also thought of the 3 associate pastors I have worked with. Amanda was at the Parish from July- October that first year. Jayde joined us for years 2 and 3. Jill was with us from September of 20 through April of 21. Each one of them made invaluable contributions to the Parish. Amanda helped vision and dream of this collaboration and was part of writing the grant to make it happen. Jayde brought joy and energy as well as a vision for ministry for children and families that later we developed into the Steele Street School. Jill updated our website and helped us work on telling our stories.
Amanda left because it turns out as well as we could dream together working together was a different circumstance all together. I guess it’s the same principle of why friends should never be roommates! True sometimes, but not always. Jayde moved on because we could not offer her a full time appointment. And Jill left partially as she dealt with the grief of her mother’s death from Covid, and also because of the awkwardness of ministry in a pandemic. Sometimes I wonder if all of these transitions in such a short time means I am hard to work with! It’s an important point of reflection for me. More importantly for us as a community is the knowledge that no matter why someone moves on we all can remember is that people, no matter how long we journey together leave us with gifts. Perhaps for me that gift might be insight into my working and leadership style. For others of us it may be a sermon preached that struck a chord, a beautifully written card in a moment of need, or an opportunity given in partnering love.
Community and ministry are vibrant and dynamic. I am so excited to still be working with Laura as our minister of worship arts. And while he’s no longer officially part of the parish Jeff is as always my sounding board in all things and a great music leader at dinner church! I know that through out this next year there will be gifts we give each other, ways we grow together, and things we learn. Maybe even from people who haven’t joined the journey yet!
I look forward to years 6 and 10 with hope and anticipation.- Eilidh
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