After more than a century, gentrification has forced a west Nashville church to close its doors.
Since 1901, the Sixty-first Avenue United Methodist Church has served as church by the people, for the people. "We are a church of the poor, it's not some who have wealth and some who don't. Our leaders are often living in poverty, we've seen people move in an out of homelessness," Reverend Neelley Hicks said.
For the past 16 years Hicks has served as a church deacon. "Over the last three years we've seen things change dramatically and the changes you see across the street, the $400,000 homes, it was something that we could no longer ignore," she said.
Last week church leaders made the difficult decision to close in June. "It is a loss of their way of life," Hicks said.
It's happening for one simple reason, the people they serve no longer live here. "They've gone anywhere from $130,000 to $479,000. That's a big jump for a three year period," District Councilwoman Mary Carolyn Roberts said.
While she's been on metro council Roberts has watched her district change. "I think this is a crucial time to be smart about what we do because this is as dense as it can get over here in the Nations," she said.
For many years the church has hosted the Last Minute Toy Store, a go to for hundreds of families across Nashville who need a little extra help on Christmas. The toy store will have a new home this year. As for the congregation, their future home has yet to be found.
"It's not the beams of this building that hold us up, it's one another and the spirit of Christ that's among us," said Hicks.
