FAN was honored to be in the room yesterday representing decades of work by FAN and our predecessor faith organizations, as Governor Inslee signed SB 5087 removing the death penalty from Washington state law. Sen. Jamie Pederson and Rep. Tina Orwall as co-sponsors of the bill, Attorney General Bob Ferguson, NAACP President Gerald Hankerson, Supreme Court Justice Charles Johnson, and many other legislators and advocates marked this historic signing. This was a jubilant and tearful moment, and there is much work still to be done to ensure other states end the death penalty. We’ll share additional bill signings on social media as the legislative session ends.

Register now for our online Spring Summits on two Sunday afternoons: May 7 and June 4. We want to hear from every corner of our state, so we have opted for virtual meetings. We plan to follow up with smaller, in-person cluster meetings and regional gatherings this summer and fall.

Join us for Spring Summits to hear the legislative session recap and strategize in small groups on the issues you care about. Let us know if you’d like to help facilitate an issue breakout group!

Awaiting the Final Budget

This last week of the legislative session was filled with final budget negotiations, floor actions, and bill signings. We have heard that the final version of the budget will be introduced tomorrow (Saturday), with a final vote to be taken to end the session as scheduled on Sunday. While we wait for the budget, we have updated our Bill Tracker, with the current status of all our bills. We will bring you more updates on the final budget and votes next week. We thank you for your action, engagement, and advocacy this session! Your voice is important in raising awareness of the issues you care about year after year, until legislation is formulated, bills are passed, and laws change. Don’t forget to send thank you notes to your legislators for actions they took that serve your communities. With long-term wins like abolishing the death penalty, we know we stand on the shoulders of all who came before us.

When any community in our network is attacked, we are called to stand together. As you may have heard this week, Temple De Hirsch Sinai in Seattle was vandalized with antisemitic graffiti last Sunday on the eve of Yom HaShoah, Holocaust Remembrance Day. We are saddened and angered by such acts and painfully aware of the ripples it sends through communities. Temple De Hirsch Rabbi Danny Weiner said: “Our tradition’s response to a broken world continues to be a profound faith in a better future.”

Let’s make that future happen. What if, as good neighbors, we knocked on doors surrounding synagogues and Jewish community centers across our state and asked if the residents would display the poster above, created by our partners at Kol HaNeshamah? Can this be a way that we surround our neighbors with public witness and signs of our beloved community? Please send us an email at fan@fanwa.org to let us know where we can send you some signs or the jpg file to print your own.

We have also just learned that, during their service last Sunday, Edmonds United Methodist Church experienced leafletting on congregant cars with flyers that included images that were violent, transphobic, homophobic, racist, and deeply disturbing. Please consider standing with them at their May 2 vigil, “We Side with Love,” to show that goodness and community always win.

We have celebrated so many beautiful events this past month as the holy days of many faiths converged. We will continue to envision interfaith collaboration for a beloved community. We are wishing our Muslim neighbors blessed Eid al-Fitr celebrations this weekend as Ramadan ends. We give thanks for Earth Day celebrations that bring us together to protect our shared home.

Opportunities

The WA Cares Fund is looking for storytellers who provide or receive long-term care for family and loved ones, to help promote this important benefit. They are especially interested in hearing care experiences from:

  • Older adults (65+) who receive part time, in-home care.
  • Younger adults (20-30) who care for an older person.
  • Native Spanish speakers who either receive or give care.

Please contact Kathy Mellstrom at kathym@wearedh.com by the end of April.

Earth Day/Week Events

Friday, April 21, 7:00pm, in person, Prospect Congregational United Church of Christ, 1919 E Prospect Street, Seattle. Earth Week Film Screening: Current Revolution. These 3 short films show the possibility of a just transition to a clean energy economy. Learn more and register here.

Saturday, April 22, 8:30am-5:30pm, in person, Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist, 127 E 12th Avenue, Spokane. Hope for Creation Conference: Care for Water. More information and schedule of events here. Faith Leaders and Leaders of Conscience of Eastern Washington and North Idaho will conclude this event with a vigil for the healing of earth’s waters from 4:30-5:30pm, featuring Chairwoman Evans of the Spokane Tribe, music from the Jewish culture to celebrate water, stories from the experience of living with polluted water in Silver Valley, and blessings from several spiritual practices. Find more information here.

Saturday, April 22, 9:00am-4:00pm, in person, Student Center, Seattle University. 2023 Catholic Earth Day Summit. Hosted by the Intercommunity Peace and Justice Center, the day will include a mass, keynote speakers, and discernment groups to build reciprocity with the earth and take action together for climate justice. Register here.

Saturday, April 22, noon, in person, Seattle City Hall, 600 4th Avenue. Earth Day Rally and March. UNITE HERE Local 8 is teaming up with 350 Seattle to advocate for policies that reduce pollution, create good green jobs, set sustainability standards, and consider equity for the local community. It’s a family-friendly action with theater, dance, and art!

Saturday, April 22, 1:00-4:00pm, in person, ISEED Homestead, 1234 146th Avenue SE, Bellevue. Celebration with Cultural Foods & Seed Exchange in Honor of Earth Day, hosted by Global Social Business Partners. Bring seeds to exchange, enjoy various dishes, and learn to address food insecurity. Register here.

Sunday, April 23, 10:30am, in person and on line, First United Methodist Church, 180 Denny Way, Seattle. Holy Ground/Earth Month worship series. This series will begin with John Cobb, American theologian, philosopher, and environmentalist who led the effort to found the Institute for Ecological Civilization in 2015, the Cobb Institute in 2019, and the Living Earth Movement in 2022. The series will continue on Sunday, May 7, 10:30am, with Sarah Augustine, a Pueblo (Tewa) descendant, author of The Land Is Not Empty: Following Jesus in Dismantling the Doctrine of Discovery, co-founder and executive director of the Dismantling the Doctrine of Discovery Coalition, and co-founder of the Suriname Indigenous Health Fund (SIHF).

Other Events

Saturday, April 22, 1:00-4:00pm, in person, University Congregational UCC, 4515 16th Avenue NE, Seattle. Seattle Convergence: Heart and Soul Nourishment for Anti-Racism and Collective Liberation. This gathering, featuring Rev. Osagyefo Sekou and Chris Crass, is open to all and is designed to encourage and uplift us. It will include music, sharing, learning, and connecting. Register here.

Sunday, April 23, 6:30-8:00pm, in person and on line, Northlake Unitarian Universalist Church, 308 4th Avenue S, Kirkland. What Should be the Relationship between Religion and State? – Interfaith Dialogue. This event, hosted by Fostering Interfaith Relationships on the Eastside (FIRE), will be moderated by Michael Reid Trice, PhD. It will explore the historical tensions shared by those in different faith communities in their relationship to the state. Register here.

Tuesday-Thursday, April 25-27, online. Ecumenical Advocacy Days 2023. Join FAN staff in attending this online conference and meet with our members of Congress. Learn more and register here.

Thursday, April 27, 6:00-8:00pm, online. Center for Ecumenical and Interreligious Engagement Spring Workshop Series – Leading by Centering the Margins, The Narrative of the Lie: White Christian Nationalism and Rage. Join this conversation with Rev. Dr. Troy Lynn Carr and Rev. Dr. Richard W. Rouse, moderated by FAN Board Member Rev. Dr. Edward Donalson III. Register here.

Saturday, April 29, 3:00-6:00pm, in person, Kol Ami, 308 4th Avenue S, Kirkland. Kirkland Together: Recognizing Antisemitism. Join an afternoon of learning, discussion, and connecting with Kirkland neighbors to build greater understanding to help combat antisemitism in your community. Register here.

Tuesday, May 2, 6:00pm, in person, Edmonds United Methodist Church, 828 Caspers Street, Edmonds. Community Vigil: We Stand with Love. Join with this church in their public response to the hateful and deeply disturbing leafletting inflicted on the congregation last Sunday. Find more information here.

Saturday, May 6, 10:00am-noon, in person, Gethsemane Lutheran Church, 911 Stewart Street, Seattle. Farm Worker Ministry Northwest Community Forum, co-sponsored by Faith Action Network. This event features organizers for United Farm Workers, which is supporting the Ostrom Mushroom Farms workers as they continue their struggle for justice. The Ostrom company was sold to Greenwood/Windmill Mushroom Farm, and the workers were all fired and offered different jobs at lower wages, and then forced to sign an arbitration agreement. Management continues to refuse to
recognize the union or respond to workers’ concerns. Learn how you can support them. Contact Farm Worker Ministry at fwm-nw@nfwm.org for more information and to register.