Lt. Governor Denny Heck receives applause for his “I stand with Israel” speech. You can view the vigil here on the temple’s Facebook page.
Hundreds filled Temple De Hirsch Sinai Tuesday night in a vigil held at the E Pike house of worship to support Israel and mourn the dead from the Hamas attack and ongoing battles in the region.
Senior Rabbi Daniel Weiner led prayer and song and spoke of the support the Seattle temple is extending to its global family.
“We share your pain. We share your anger. We share your resolve,” Weiner said as he condemned the Hamas attack. Continue reading →
The design proposal for the Safeway project approved earlier this year showed how the new development would wrap around the Aquarian Foundation (Image: Weber Thompson)
The Aquarian Foundation’s Keith Milton Rhinehart in a video demonstrating his spiritual ability to produce gems from his body
A secretive and reclusive Capitol Hill religious organization is speaking out against plans to redevelop its block of 15th Ave E with a new 50,000-square-foot grocery store, new apartments, and a massive underground parking lot on the site of the neighborhood Safeway.
The Aquarian Foundation has filed an appeal with the Seattle Hearing Examiner hoping to bring the major new retail and housing development to a stop as it demands changes including preservation of trees and street parking and a design for the planned “monolithic structure” to better match the neighborhood’s “look and feel.”
“The sheer size and the aesthetics of the monolithic structure does not consider the surrounding topography, adjacent properties and structures, and the look the feel and ambience of Capitol Hill and the 15th Ave E corridor,” the Aquarian Foundation’s appeal filed last week reads.
CHS reported here in February as the project from property owner Safeway and developer Greystar with a design from Weber Thompson passed through the city’s public review process opening the way to start final planning for demolition of the old store and construction of two new five-story buildings including the new grocery, around 330 market rate apartment units, some new, smaller retail spaces, and an underground parking lot for more than 300 cars on the Safeway property at 15th and John. Continue reading →
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A “Pastoral Planning” process will place Catholic parishes in partnership around Puget Sound. The impacts on churches in Capitol Hill and the Central District — two Seattle neighborhoods with long histories shaped by the church — won’t likely be known for another year.
The archdiocese may close the houses of worship — but many other options are possible.
Some of the driving factors behind the effort, however, have not changed.
As with many faith communities in Western Washington and nationally, church attendance is down, and has been trending that way for years. Even though the region’s population has been growing, fewer people are attending church and receiving the sacraments that are an integral part of the Catholic faith.
There is also a labor crunch. Fewer priests are expected to be available in coming years. Earlier this year, the archdiocese noted that currently there are 80 pastors for 174 locations. By 2036, it expects only 66 pastors. Continue reading →
A national trend away from organized religion will be manifesting itself in the Capitol Hill and Central District area as a pair of Catholic churches will close.
The precise timelines are not firm, but the Archdiocese of Seattle has announced that St. Patrick’s and St. Mary’s churches will both close, and their congregations will be merged with other nearby churches.
A survey released by Gallup earlier this year found that 47% of Americans belong to a church, synagogue or mosque, the lowest number ever recorded by the organization, and the first time its dipped below 50%. In 1999, the number was 70%, a number that had been relatively stable since the 1930’s, Gallup found.
The numbers are even more acute in Washington, where a 2018 study found that 47 percent of state residents identified as nonreligious, compared to 33% nationwide. The state ranked as the sixth least religious at that time.
As those trends have filtered to the local level, religious institutions have started closing. Capitol Hill Presbyterian Churchclosed back in 2019. And the Progressive Missionary Baptist Churchclosed back in 2016. Next up are likely to be the pair of Catholic churches.
What happens to the buildings? “It’s part of the process, but it’s way at the end,” said Helen McClenahan, managing director of communications for the Archdiocese of Seattle. Continue reading →
A project to provide housing at 22nd and Union from the Low Income Housing Institute and the Lutheran Church of the Good Shepherd could grow with help from the newly approved legislation
As city leaders gear up a legislative process to re-brand so-called “single family” zoning in Seattle, the Seattle City Council passed new rules Monday that will essentially upzone properties owned by religious institutions in return for building new affordable housing.
Monday’s vote could be especially meaningful for the Central District and Capitol Hill where there are dozens of potential sites owned by churches and religious communities. CHS reported here on one example at 22nd and Union where the Low Income Housing Institute and the Lutheran Church of the Good Shepherd are planning Good Shepherd Housing, an affordable housing development with 75 of its 100 units reserved for homeless residents. Continue reading →
The St. Nicholas building, north of the cathedral (Image: St. Mark’s)
By Jethro Swain
A major gift is helping an important Capitol Hill spiritual community shape the future of its 10th Ave E home.
This fall, Capitol Hill’s St. Mark’s Episcopal Cathedral was donated full ownership of the St. Nicholas school building by the Laura Ellen and Robert Muglia Family Foundation. The property is worth $8.4 million according to the latest county appraisal.
The St. Nicholas building, adjacent the church and purchased from the Cornish College of Arts in an LLC partnership by Saint Mark’s and the Muglia Foundation in 2003, is primarily used by two independent schools, the Bright Water Waldorf School and Gage Academy of Arts, but is also a hub for a variety of nonprofits in the community. Continue reading →
The St. Nicholas building (Image: The Bright Water School)
There could someday be more than housing for more than the Maker at St. Mark’s Cathedral but any possible changes are still years off as the congregation of Saint Mark’s is beginning considerations of what to do with a signature part of its 10th Ave E campus, the St. Nicholas building. A consultant has recommended changing the building into a multi-family residential development.
The building at 1501 10th Ave E, just north of the cathedral proper, is home to the Gage Academy of Art and the Bright Water Waldorf School. Both of these schools have leases that run through 2023, and the church is in the early phases of deciding what to do with the building when those leases run out.
Even though the consultants have made a recommendation, the Very Rev. Steven Thomason, dean and rector of St. Mark’s stressed that the church is still weighing its options, and that nothing is happening in the immediate future.
“We are not making any decision, any time soon, about what to do with the building,” he said.
The church’s involvement in the property stretches back to 2003. At the time, St. Mark’s and a group called the Willow Trust purchased the building from then-owner Cornish with an eye toward converting it into a parish life center. The church wasn’t ready to move forward with the life center at the time, and so they began renting it out (technically subleasing it, since the building is officially owned by an LLC made up of the church and the trust and then leased to the church) to Gage and Bright Water.
Now the members of the Willow Trust, who have thus far remained anonymous, are granting full ownership of the building to the church. So, the church is beginning consideration of what it will do with the property. Continue reading →
“There is power in love, Don’t underestimate it. Don’t even oversentimentalize it,” the Most Rev. Michael Bruce Curry said as he made international headlines with his 13-minute long sermon at last month’s royal wedding of Prince Harry and Duchess Meghan Markle. “There is power, power in love.”
The Episcopal rock star is now on tour and will be visiting Washington this month with a planned Evensong service at Capitol Hill’s Saint Mark’s Cathedral on Thursday, June 14th at 7 PM: Continue reading →
A sidewalk baptism on Harvard Ave (Image: Capitol Hill Presbyterian Church)
It’s not the typical Capitol Hill landlord and tenant situation we’re used to reporting here on CHS.
The Presbyterian church that has stood at the corner of Harvard and Howell for 95 years will soon be in search of a new congregation.
The Capitol Hill Presbyterian Church announced Wednesday morning that it is ending its congregation and will hold final services on Harvard Ave on June 24th and 9:45 AM. Continue reading →
Alleluia! Work on the Same Love Garden at All Pilgrims Christian Church should be moving forward soon.
Pastor Greg Turk said he hoped to finalize paperwork with the city and set construction dates any day now.
“If that’s the case, then they can start breaking ground soon,” he said. If the weather cooperates, that could happen sometime this month. The project is expected to take about two weeks to complete Continue reading →
