In 2003, before we planted Roosevelt Community Church, we were Cornwall at the Club - a Video Venue planted in the Roosevelt Neighborhood, the highest populated and highest crime area in Bellingham, WA. Five years later, we find that the crime has gone down. Is it the church’s presence that caused this? I think we have a little to do with it, but really I think a bigger part is the fact that they have raised rent on low income housing and chased out a lot of the drug dealers. I rejoice but also lament this fact. I am so glad as crime is being pushed out, but also the marginal and forgotten are pushed out as well.
The above quote and title for this post came from Baron yesterday as he, cameron, and I met over some Yaki Soba on Northwest Rd. across from Yeagers. We talked about how a lot of crime had gone down in the Roosevelt Neighborhood, but simply moved across town and added to the Birchwood Neighborhood. Some people call this area the “Wood Hood”. Part of our language at RCC is the idea that a Neighborhood without a Neighbor is simply a Hood. This is why we are Chasing the Darkness. This is who we are as RCC - this is part of our mission in being In, For and With a Community.
This is common knowledge at RCC, but I am really excited because in October 2008, we will begin a service plant and in the process begin Northwest Community Church (NCC): In, For, and With the Birchwood and Columbia Community. We will meet in St. Paul’s Academy on Northwest Rd, which lies directly on the border of the two neighborhoods. This is very exciting and scary for us, because we just planted RCC last easter. The thing is, we will simply rely on God and continue to chase the darkness.