We’ve been living here in Sellwood for 10 months now. When we arrived I knew that the neighborhood had undergone some pretty big changes in the previous ten years. The student population at the local elementary school has doubled in that time. What was a slightly gritty, if antique store filled, part of town has become more gentrified with developers moving in to tear down 80 year old craftmans to put up the best of modern design. Somehow, despite knowing about these changes, I assumed that the Sellwood I had researched and then discovered by living here was a static entity. Even though I’m not an old hand I know this place and these people.
My first real world inkling that this was not the case was when the Subway down the block closed. Part of me was sad, this was where we had grabbed sandwiches to take to the family in those first awful days at the hospital. Part of me was indifferent as we hadn’t eaten there since. Part of me was excited to see what would take up residence in the spot. Then I started to notice more For Lease signs on closed businesses in the area and a new restaurant moved into the neighborhood. The coffee shop where I hold meetings announced that they were moving down the road to a better location. Our next door neighbor is putting an apartment in his basement. The house across the street cut down large trees, radically changing the way our block looks. A farmer’s market opened up down the street and I found out a shop I love had been in the neighborhood only as long as we had.
Things are changing here. People are moving, businesses are closing and opening, neighbors are remodeling. This is a place that transforms and grows and is messy and moving and real. It is not a place that I can master or control or ever know fully. I can continue to study the demographics and use that research to inform our ministry. I can visit all the shops and restaurants and cafes, but it is hard to pin down something that is constantly vibrating with the pulse of life. All we can do in our ministry is to be present. To be here and now with the people we are partners with in this endeavor. We can continue to show up in our ever changing community and engage with the others we meet.
All of our communities are changing, many at a slower place than Sellwood, but it really doesn’t take long for us to become out of touch with the community when we forget that. I know that I am called to be present in the here and now, and while I may mourn the changes, (especially if the Limelight ever closes), I believe in a God of new life. So I’m striving to embrace that in all it’s messy wonder.
-Eilidh
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| The tree is gone! |
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