Blog

Last month, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America's six Bishops in Region 1—Bishop Shelley Bryan Wee of Northwest Washington Synod, Bishop Rick Jaech of Southwestern Washington Synod, Bishop Meggan Manlove of Northwest Intermountain Synod, Bishop Laurie Larson Caesar of Oregon Synod, Bishop Laurie Jungling of Montana Synod, and Bishop Shelley Wickstrom of Region 1 of Alaska Synod—sent letters to the House and Senate Agriculture Committees leadership, Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez of Washington’s 3rd district, Rep. Lori Chavez Demer of Oregon’s 5th district, and Rep. Andrea Salinas of Oregon’s 6th district, addressing concerns and hope for the passing of a good [...]

Interfaith Harmony Week reflections at Interfaith Advocacy Day 2024 By Dr Jasmit Singh, FAN Board Member, from Khalsa Gurmat Center My friends, brothers and sisters, We gather here today, not bound by the walls of any one faith, but by the shared hope for a better world. We come from different spiritual paths, guided by different traditions, yet we share one common purpose: a yearning for compassion, justice, and peace in this world. Look around you. See all the eyes shining with this shared hope. Hope, that whispers in the face of despair, that ignites the flame of possibility when [...]

Testimony given by ELCA Hunger Advocacy Fellow Tomo Duke at a King County budget hearing 10/25/2023, addressing the crisis of 300+ newly arrived immigrants from Angola and Venezuela, seeking asylum while living in tents and on the church floor at Riverton Park United Methodist Church, Tukwila, WA. Multifaith communities in our network have expressed together concerns and extended physical support for the immigrants at Riverton Park UMC, but we all know that’s not enough and sustainable. The immigrants I met at Riverton Park are kind and constantly expressed their gratitude to me as I was helping them file their asylum [...]

FAN gives thanks for our partnership with Shoreline Unitarian Universalist Church as an Advocating Faith Community in our network.Executive Director Elise DeGooyer was delighted to join the congregation this month to share a message about living into Solidarity as Our Spiritual Power.

FAN was honored to be part of a conversation early in the legislative session that was recently released. While some policies mentioned have received favorable votes, others are not moving forward this 2023 session, yet the foundations for why we choose to work on various policies are discussed. We appreciated the chance to be in dialogue with Jennifer Bereskin, a Paths to Understanding Board Member and advocate for the Washington Future Fund. We offer this video blog that you can use to start conversations in your own community. Gratitude to Paths To Understanding and their wonderful Challenge 2.0 media program, so graciously hosted by [...]

Creator and sustainer of all that is, we give you thanks for this day and for your infinite and unfathomable love. In the midst of all the intensity within and around us, give us a moment of pause to remember why we are here. You have given human beings the responsibility to make laws and allot collective resources so that all that you have created may flourish. Remind us this day that laws are tools to help us carry out your commandment which comes to us through our varied religious traditions – and that is the commandment to love our [...]

Interfaith Prayer Vigil for Gun Violence Victims June 15, 2022 Remarks by Aneelah Afzali, FAN Board Member and Executive Director, American Muslim Empowerment Network In the name of God, Most Merciful, Most Compassionate. Good evening sisters and brothers, family and friends. My name is Aneelah Afzali, and I’m with the Muslim Association of Puget Sound, the Faith Action Network, and the Interfaith Advisory Council for Everytown for Gun Safety. Safety from gun violence is a faith value, and every town deserves such safety! Tonight we remember those in towns deprived of such safety. Uvalde, Buffalo – and the roughly 270 other [...]

Unity Candlelight Vigil Mount Zion Baptist Church Rabbi Jason Levine, Associate Rabbi, Temple Beth Am, Seattle June 15, 2022 Mi Shebeirach Avoteinu v’Imoteinu, the God of our ancestors, we stand here before You, tears in our eyes, our hearts shattered, our souls aching from each beautiful life, each beautiful light that has been snuffed out by more gun violence. We stand here before You offering prayers of lamentation and songs of sorrow. We stand here before You in mourning, and united in love. We once again find ourselves Bamidbar, “in the wilderness.” Just a few weeks ago, Jewish communities around [...]

Spring 2022 Dear friend of FAN, We trust that springtime is greening all around you, especially in our beautiful state where change is seen in the new green growth of evergreens, the melting snows filling the rivers, and purple lupine blooms in the desert. Every year at this time, we at FAN reach out to you with reflection on what we have accomplished, and what our own growing edge is for the year ahead, as we invite your financial support. This spring we celebrate with you the good work of FAN staff, advocates, and coalition partners in passing important bills [...]