West Seattle Blog…

New spiritual leader for St. John the Baptist Episcopal Church

A year and a half after the departure of Rev. Peter DeVeau, West Seattle’s St. John the Baptist Episcopal Church has a new spiritual leader. Here’s the announcement we received today:

Saint John the Baptist Episcopal Church in West Seattle announces the appointment of the Reverend Jerry D. (JD) Godwin as spiritual leader of the parish. Rev. Godwin will serve as Priest-in-Charge beginning April 30, 2013 and deliver his first sermon in that capacity on Sunday, May 5, 2013 during services at 8 and 10:15 am. The appointment was made by the Right Reverend Gregory Rickel, Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Olympia (Province VIII), following selection by the vestry of Saint John the Baptist.

Rev. Godwin has been Rector of the Episcopal Church of the Transfiguration in Dallas, Texas since 2000, where he led a parish of nearly 2,000 members. As Priest-in-Charge, he will provide spiritual leadership for the congregation and prepare the parish for the process of calling a permanent Rector in three to five years. “What an exciting time we have ahead of us as we join hands in ministry – to discover, more and more, how God is calling us, in the power of the Spirit, to carry on the mission of his Son in our world,” says Rev. Godwin.

The community is invited to meet Rev. Godwin at two special welcoming events:

· Sunday May 5, 2013 – Eucharist at 8 and 10:15 am with luncheon reception following 10:15 service
· Sunday May 19, 2013 – Bishop’s visitation at 8 and 10:15 am with luncheon reception following the 10:15 service.

The church is on the northeast corner of California/Hanford in South Admiral.

West Seattle Easter scene: Sunrise service on Alki

(Photo by Nick Adams for WSB)
This Easter Sunday began clear and cool, with early services including the traditional joint sunrise service on the sands of Alki Beach, organized by West Seattle’s three UCC churches – Admiral, Alki, and Fauntleroy.

1 week till Passover, 2 weeks till Easter: Share event info!

With two weeks until Easter (March 31) and one until Passover (starts March 25), we’re working on our annual spring-holiday guide right now, so this is your invitation/reminder to send information about your event, service, etc., if you haven’t already – from egg hunts to seders and beyond. Getting the basics (what, when, where, who, weblink) via e-mail is our preference – editor@westseattleblog.com – just put the information in plain text in the body of your e-mail (no need for attachments, flyers, posters, etc.) and send it … thank you! Soon as it’s ready, you’ll see it in the line of tabs under the sunset photo atop our site; each of those tabs takes you to an inside section.

Interim minister on the way for Fauntleroy Church

Less than two months after longtime Fauntleroy Church minister Rev. David Kratz‘s retirement, an interim minister is on the way. Judy Pickens shares the announcement:

Fauntleroy Church UCC has appointed the Rev. Eric Dale as interim minister, starting on Palm Sunday (March 24).

Ordained in the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in 1981, he has served interim pastorates with the United Church of Christ, the United Methodist Church, and most recently, an Evangelical Lutheran Church in America congregation in Elko, Nevada. He has also served as a campus minister. He received his M.Div. from the Pacific School of Religion in 1980.

Rev. Dale will serve the Fauntleroy congregation for 12-18 months, providing full pastoral care as well as guidance through the process of calling a “settled” minister to replace the Rev. David Kratz, who retired at the end of January.

Rev. Kratz had served at Fauntleroy Church for more than a quarter-century, as reported here during his final week on the job. The church itself is more than a century old, having celebrated its centennial in 2008.

‘We’ve had a great run’: Rev. David Kratz’s final week as Fauntleroy Church’s pastor

(First 3 photos by Ben Ackers)
By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor

The farewell party’s over. The final sermon has been said.

By week’s end, Rev. David Kratz will leave a job he’s had for 27 years – as pastor of Fauntleroy Church.

“We’ve had a great run,” he reflected during a recent sit-down conversation in his office at the church. While he mentions his age – 67 – without being prompted, he adds, “I’m not being forced out by the congregation, I’m not sick, just … it’s time.”

January 15, 1986, was his first day, and January 31, 2013 – tomorrow – is scheduled to be his last.

He’s been in Fauntleroy for two-thirds of his 40 years as a minister – a time of changes big and small.

Click to read the rest of ‘We’ve had a great run’: Rev. David Kratz’s final week as Fauntleroy Church’s pastor…

West Seattle holiday scene: Living Nativity/petting zoo at ARK Park

A unique way to help tell the Christmas story to children – twin a Living Nativity with a petting zoo! That’s what happened at ARK Park in Arbor Heights this afternoon – with animals including a donkey and llamas.

This was a presentation of Arbor Heights Community Church – one of the churches listed in our lineup of West Seattle Christmas Eve/Day church services. See the list here – and please let us know if you have an addition or change!

West Seattle holidays: Giving, caroling as Our Lady of Guadalupe tree is lit

That sleigh and its contents represented the true light of last night’s 8th annual Christmas Tree Lighting at Our Lady of Guadalupe Church and School – the spirit of giving, in this case food donations for those in need. (Heidi Ehrenberg designed the sleigh.) Oh, of course there’s a tree too:

OLG is graced with the highest-elevation tree in the city, right across the street from Seattle’s highest point, at Myrtle Reservoir, 512 feet above sea level. Its lighting was celebrated as always with what might be West Seattle’s most festive outdoor public caroling session – highlighted as usual by “Jingle Bells” featuring hundreds of jingling sets of car keys:

Another tradition – local broadcaster/journalist Brian Callanan emceed, festively as ever, from beneath the tree, along with OLG’s pastor, Father Jack Walmesley:

While some in the crowd were decked in antlers or Santa hats (including Santa himself – clip in the works), OLG School’s principal Kristin Dixon chose the angelic look:

After the caroling, it was time to stream inside the OLG Parish Life Center for cookies and cocoa:

The center was dedicated last May. Chair of last night’s event was Tovee Delaliana, as noted on the program, which also listed the OLG Christmas Eve/Day Mass times – we’ll be adding those to the WSB West Seattle Holiday Guide, and invite all local faith communities with celebrations this season to send word of the dates and times too! (editor@westseattleblog.com)

West Seattle holiday help: A gift given 500 times in 1 morning

(Photos by Nick Adams for WSB)
They waited, under the gray Saturday morning sky, down the sidewalk past what last Thanksgiving season was a construction site and this year is a shiny new grocery store. Waiting for them at the head of the line, a free turkey:

And a bag of groceries:

This is the tenth year that Eastridge Church has offered the turkey giveaway, no questions asked. The event in West Seattle is duplicated at their Issaquah campus. And it’s always a bustle of activity:

(Lisa Dela Cruz guides 6-year-old daughter Stephanie in where to place a bag)
Those who come are helped by volunteers of all ages.

(10-year-old volunteer Ryan Shelver)
Even 500 turkeys only go so far. And then, they were gone, as announced by the sign Paul Emmett held:

…gone until next year. Others are helping the hungry in our community too, of course, also with volunteer time and money/food donations; today the White Center Food Bank has a turkey dropoff in Fauntleroy, 11 am.

Reminder: Eastridge Church turkey giveaway tomorrow morning

In case you or someone you know is in need this Thanksgiving … we wanted to mention once more that the annual Eastridge Church 500-turkey giveaway is tomorrow morning, starting at 9 am, at the church (39th and Oregon, across from West Seattle Bowl). They don’t require any proof of need or ID – just show up and they’ll give you a turkey and bag of groceries, as long as the supply lasts.

Happening now: Pie-making marathon at Tibbetts UMC

Thanks to Wendy Hughes-Jelen for the photo from Adams Hall at West Seattle’s Tibbetts United Methodist Church (WSB sponsor), where she is there as part of an apple-pie-making marathon: “184 apple pies for Thanksgiving dinner at Union Gospel Mission, and about 400 more for supporters of the premier handbell ringing group Bells of the Sound, whose holiday Christmas concerts start in December.”

West Seattle Torah Learning Center plans Mezuzah Day next Sunday

One week from today, on Sunday, November 11th, the rabbi who leads the West Seattle Torah Learning Center is planning a busy day – installing a mezuzah at the home/apartment of any Jewish West Seattleite who doesn’t have one but would like one. Here’s the TLC’s announcement:

No Jewish home should have an empty doorpost. Rabbi Yehuda Greer [photo at left], the newest rabbi to serve as spiritual leader of West Seattle’s Torah Learning Center, is available on Sunday, November 11, to make a “house call” and provide Jewish West Seattleites with an authentic, “kosher” mezuzah scroll (which contains essential texts from the Bible handwritten in tiny Hebrew calligraphy). He’ll also provide guidance in reciting the appropriate blessings and assistance in putting the mezuzah up at the entrance to the home or apartment. This Mezuzah Day is a great opportunity to meet Rabbi Greer and others in West Seattle’s Jewish Community and to get a free mezuzah!

This event is sponsored by the The West Seattle Torah Learning Center (TLC) which draws participants from a wide variety of Jewish backgrounds and affiliations to its Shabbat and holiday celebrations, classes and social events. TLC is a project of The Seattle Kollel. For more information about the West Seattle TLC or to reserve a time slot on Mezuzah Day, contact Rabbi Yehuda Greer at rabbigreer@gmail.com or 732.534.2284 as soon as possible.

Blessing of the Animals 2012: When faith meets fur

(Photos by Nick Adams for WSB)
It’s an autumn tradition – Blessing of the Animals events/services around the feast day of the patron saint of animals, Saint Francis of Assisi. For the past several years, the lone outdoor public event in West Seattle has been offered by St. John the Baptist Episcopal Church, in the adjacent West Seattle High School parking lot, WSB contributing photojournalist Nick Adams was there as St. John’s Rev. Greg Peters carried on the tradition:

Click to read the rest of Blessing of the Animals 2012: When faith meets fur…

Blessing of the Animals at Alki UCC, St. John the Baptist

(WSB photo: Alki UCC’s Rev. Diane Darling at “Blessing of the Animals” service in 2009)
Early October means time for the Blessing of the Animals in honor of the feast day of St. Francis of Assisi, patron saint of animals, and the local congregations that have been offering this service in recent years are doing it again this Sunday.

INTERDENOMINATIONAL SERVICE AT ALKI UCC: This Sunday at 10 am, you’re invited to a “Blessing of the Animals” service. The church‘s announcement says, “This year Pastor Diane Darling, Rabbi Zari Weiss, and Rev. Ann Holmes Redding (Christian, Jew, and Episcopal/Muslim) will bless the animals you bring to worship. Dogs on leashes and critters in carriers, please! You also may want to bring a blanket or cushion to sit on.” 6115 SW Hinds.

ST. JOHN THE BAPTIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH: St. John’s says its interim priest Reverend Greg Peters “will be blessing animals at both worship services, 8:00 am and 10:15 am, and also at noon in the West Seattle High School Parking Lot,” which is at 3000 California SW, immediately north of the church.

West Seattle scene: Religious demonstration at 35th/Fauntleroy

Sometimes WSB commenters, usually referring to quality-of-life issues, wonder aloud if West Seattle is going to hell. It is, literally, said one of the demonstrators who took up positions this afternoon by the 35th SW entrance to/exit from the bridge. We passed by a little while ago and heard the man on the southwest corner using a megaphone to amplify a monologue about his opposition to abortion. Then we got a note from Krista, who sent the above photo and says the shouting was quite audible in nearby businesses, including a nearby martial-arts studio: “This obnoxious man plus 2 others are using the corner of 35th/Fauntleroy to shout anti-abortion and other prosthelytizing rants while my son and other children are trying to do martial arts class at SIMA. He’s been using a loudspeaker and it’s attracting quite a disgusted audience.” She says they called police, who said the amplification would be illegal (obviously otherwise, freedom of speech should apply) so they would send someone by to check it out. The people on other corners appeared to be quietly holding signs, including a woman on the northeast corner with one about choosing between Jesus and the devil. We didn’t see any mention of a particular church or denomination affiliation.

5:36 PM: As of about 10 minutes ago, Krista says, they’re gone.

Marriage-equality film, forum planned @ St. John’s in West Seattle

The trailer is for its PBS premiere this fall … but you can see the award-winning film “Love Free or Die” in West Seattle next week. St. John the Baptist Episcopal Church plans a screening, followed by a community forum on marriage equality, at 6:30 pm Thursday, August 9th. Read on for the invitation: Click to read the rest of Marriage-equality film, forum planned @ St. John’s in West Seattle…

Retired Archbishop helps Our Lady of Guadalupe bless new building

Faith and sports are both in the mix at Our Lady of Guadalupe‘s new building – which is why you see a soccer ball, basketball, and volleyball in that photo, as retired Seattle Archbishop Alex Brunett blessed OLG’s new gym, which is named after him, and Parish Center, both formally dedicated as part of an expanded 11 am Mass today.

Parishioners walked across SW Myrtle to the new 10,000-square-foot complex, led by OLG’s pastor, Father Jack Walmesley:

There, Archbishop Brunett gave a blessing at the doors:

Inside, the celebration continued:

This comes two weeks shy of a year after the groundbreaking, during which the pastor didn’t just wield a ceremonial shovel, but actually operated the construction equipment to dig right in (WSB coverage, with video, here).

West Seattle churches: ‘Resurrection Icon’ visiting St. John’s

(Photo courtesy St. John the Baptist Episcopal Church)
St. John the Baptist Episcopal Church in West Seattle is playing host to a special “visitor” this weekend and invites you to come see it tomorrow:

St. John the Baptist Episcopal Church (3050 California Ave SW) will be blessed by the presence of a Resurrection Icon which is making a tour of churches of the Episcopal Diocese of Olympia. St. John’s is fortunate to be one of only 7 or 8 churches to welcome it. The icon was commissioned for the St. Petersburg Seattle Sister Church Program, was “written” by Russian iconographer Yakov Prokofiev, blessed by Metropolitan Vladimir, and brought to Seattle in August, 2011, by an Orthodox seminarian. The Icon represents Jesus standing over the broken gates of Hell, lifting Adam and Eve out of their graves with kings and prophets and patriarchs looking on. Jesus has bridged the boundary of time and space. God’s home is among mortals and nothing will keep God out of our presence or separate us from the love of God through Christ Jesus. It is a deep privilege to be able to spend some time with this icon, a window into the heart of God, especially on the Day of Pentecost. All are welcome to attend services (8 and 10:15 am) or to view the icon between services 9 – 10 or from 11:30 am – 12:30 pm.

Happening now, continuing tomorrow: Tibbetts, WSPC sales

Garage/rummage-sale fans converged on West Seattle’s two mega-sales as soon as the doors opened at nine this morning. Above, the wide view of just one of the rooms full of stuff on sale at Tibbetts United Methodist Church (WSB sponsor), 3940 41st SW – you’ll also find items like sports gear and furniture outside, including this eye-catching chair:

Tibbetts’ sale continues till 4 pm today, and will run again 9 am-3 pm tomorrow. (If you like to plan ahead, check out the Christmas-decorations table by the stage!)

Just a few blocks away, at 3601 California SW, West Side Presbyterian Church is in full sale swing too:

Theirs also spans multiple rooms – you will be offered a map as you step inside. And as is always the case with rummage/garage sales, you can find “they don’t make ‘em like that” type finds – reel-to-reel, anyone?

WSPC’s sale continues till 5 today, and runs 9 am-2 pm tomorrow (it even has its own Facebook page). Be sure to look for the extensive bake-sale area inside the north side of the church.

Side note: Registration for this year’s West Seattle Community Garage Sale Day, presented and coordinated again this year by WSB, will start Monday, April 2nd … more to come. WS Garage Sale Day itself is Saturday, May 12th, 9 am-3 pm.

West Seattle churches’ Christmas Eve/Day 2011 services

(Photo courtesy Alki UCC)
Alki United Church of Christ sent that photo along with an announcement of its “semi-spontaneous all-church Christmas pageant” 10 am tomorrow at 6115 SW Hinds: “Come as you are, or come dressed as an angel, shepherd or magi. Or grab something from the church costume racks when you arrive (though kids get first dibs!).” That’s one of the announcements we received after posting requests for church info; we also combed the Web, and here’s the result – a list of services tonight/tomorrow at West Seattle churches. For some of these churches, we have even more information on the WSB Holidays page, but here are the basics, in alphabetical order:

ADMIRAL UNITED CHURCH OF CHRIST (California/Hill):
Christmas Eve candlelight worship service with carols, 9 pm
Christmas Day, 10:30 am

ALKI UCC CHURCH (6112 SW Hinds):
Christmas Eve: 5 pm “designed for families with young children,” 10 pm candlelight service
Christmas Day: 10 am (as mentioned above)

ARBOR HEIGHTS COMMUNITY CHURCH (41st/102nd):
Christmas Day: 10 am

BETHANY COMMUNITY CHURCH-WEST SEATTLE (meets at High Point Community Center, 6920 34th SW; WSB sponsor)
Christmas Eve “family celebration”: 4 PM

EASTRIDGE CHURCH-WEST SEATTLE (39th/Oregon):
Christmas Eve: 5:30 pm
Christmas Day: 11 am

FAUNTLEROY UNITED CHURCH OF CHRIST (9140 California SW):
Christmas Eve: 4 pm children’s service, 7 pm all ages, 11 pm Communion service
Christmas Day: 10 am

FIRST LUTHERAN CHURCH OF WEST SEATTLE (4105 California SW):
Christmas Eve: 11 pm, Liturgy of Lessons, Carols, and Holy Eucharist
Christmas Day: 10:30 am, Festival Liturgy and Holy Eucharist in the nave

HILLCREST PRESBYTERIAN (10404 34th SW):
Christmas Day – 11 am

HOLY FAMILY CATHOLIC CHURCH (20th/Roxbury):
Christmas Eve: Mass at 5 (English), 6:30 (Spanish), 9 pm (Tagalog)
Christmas Day: 8 & 11 am (English), 9:30 & 12:30 (Spanish), 6 pm (Tagalog)

HOLY ROSARY CATHOLIC CHURCH: (42nd/Genesee)
Christmas Eve: 4 pm, 7.30 pm, 10 pm
Christmas Day: 8 and 9.30 am

HOPE LUTHERAN CHURCH (42nd/Oregon):
Christmas Eve: 5 pm family service, 7 pm contemporary, 11 pm candlelight Communion
Christmas Day: 10:30 am

LIFE CHURCH (35th/Cloverdale):
Christmas Eve: 6:30 pm

MARS HILL CHURCH-WEST SEATTLE (7551 35th SW):
Christmas Day: 10:30 am

NEW APOSTOLIC CHURCH (3210 SW 106th):
Christmas Day: 10:30 am

OUR LADY OF GUADALUPE CATHOLIC CHURCH (35th/Myrtle):
Christmas Eve: 4 pm Family Mass, 10 pm Mass with choir
Christmas Day: 10 am morning Mass

PEACE LUTHERAN CHURCH (39th/Thistle):
Christmas Eve: 5 pm family, 10 pm candlelight
Christmas Day: 10:30 am

ST. JOHN THE BAPTIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH (3050 California SW):
Christmas Eve: 5 pm Children’s Pageant/Eucharist, 10 pm Festival Eucharist
Christmas Day: 10 am Holy Eucharist

TIBBETTS UNITED METHODIST CHURCH (3940 41st SW; WSB sponsor):
Celtic Christmas Eve Service at 8 pm: Poems and carols from Ireland, Scotland and Wales. “The bagpipes will be playing, the candles glowing and the Christ Child will be carried through the congregation during the Christmas Hail.”
Christmas Day: 10 am

WEST SEATTLE BAPTIST CHURCH (4157 California SW):
Christmas Eve: 6:30 pm candle-lighting service

WEST SEATTLE CHRISTIAN CHURCH (42nd between Oregon and Genesee):
Christmas Eve: 6 pm in the activity center
Christmas Day: 9 am

WEST SEATTLE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH: (3601 California SW):
Christmas Eve: 5 pm family-friendly, 11 pm Communion
Christmas Day: 11 am

WESTSIDE UNITARIAN UNIVERSALIST CONGREGATION (7141 California SW):
Christmas Eve: 5 pm “family-friendly” service including “Christmas in the Barn” pageant (you can participate if you choose) and candy-cane communion; 8 pm reception; 9 pm candlelight service
Christmas Day: 10:30 am

(Your church missing? That means no one e-mailed us AND we couldn’t find info online – but we’ll be happy to add it; please e-mail address, time/s, link if available, ASAP, to editor@westseattleblog.com)

Video: Hundreds cheer Our Lady of Guadalupe tree lighting

That’s our first video clip from tonight’s Our Lady of Guadalupe tree lighting in Sunrise Heights – first the countdown by emcee Brian Callanan (an OLG parishioner and longtime local TV newsperson who’s now with Seattle Channel), then “O Christmas Tree/O Tannenbaum,” featuring not just the hundreds-strong crowd and OLG choir members caroling, but also Engine 37 roaring north on 35th to a call, and a brightly lit pickup truck turning up in the lower part of the frame.

Something new is largely unseen (given the time of night) off to the left of the frame – the new Parish Life Center that has almost fully taken shape north of the church. As Brian noted – sharing the impromptu under-the-tree stage with OLG’s Father Jack Walmesley – next year, the post-tree-lighting cocoa and chatting will happen inside the new center, instead of the school building. Here’s more from tonight’s event – two of the songs that preceded the actual lighting:

If you love Christmas caroling, make a note to be at this event next year – the crowd went through all the classics (with a program featuring lyrics, in case you’ve forgotten them), including the ever-popular “Jingle Bells” accompanied by car keys.

Video: Holy Rosary Tree Lot opens, 4 beneficiaries this year

It’s the only Christmas tree lot in West Seattle where the trees get blessed. A few hours after the Holy Rosary School Tree Lot opened for the season this afternoon, we were there as Father John Madigan (with an assist by young Sam Lee) presided over the annual Blessing of the Trees:

In addition to supporting the school, 15 percent of the tree lot’s proceeds go toward four beneficiaries this year: West Seattle Food Bank, the Salvation Army‘s Hickman House domestic-violence shelter, and West Seattle Helpline, as usual, plus the Ed Kingston Memorial Fund. This is the lot’s second year on school property next to the playground (41st/Dakota); you can see the hours, and the merchandise, here. (A full roster of West Seattle tree sellers is on the WSB West Seattle Holiday Events and Info page.)

West Seattle holidays: Eastridge turkey giveaway November 19th

(WSB photo from Eastridge turkey giveaway, November 2009)
Two weeks till Thanksgiving – and here’s one of many local examples of the “giving” part of the holiday: Eastridge Church has announced its annual turkey/groceries giveaway. It’s donating 1,000 turkeys and bags of groceries, split between its two campuses here in West Seattle and in Issaquah. The giveaway has drawn long lines the past few years and will start at 9 am Saturday, November 19th, at the 39th/Oregon campus.

West Seattle churches: Rev. Peter DeVeau leaving St. John’s

By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor

After almost 15 years, Rev. Peter DeVeau will deliver his last sermon to West Seattle’s St. John the Baptist Episcopal Church tomorrow.

His departure is entwined with a return – he is going to lead the Grace and Holy Trinity Cathedral congregation in Kansas City, where he served for more than 6 years earlier in his career.

Sunday night, community members are invited to a farewell celebration at St. John’s. We caught up with him late Friday for a look back, and ahead.

Click to read the rest of West Seattle churches: Rev. Peter DeVeau leaving St. John’s…

See West Seattle Christian Church’s 100 years of history today

(WSCC history highlight – an all-church photo before its new Activity Center was completed)
Several West Seattle churches have celebrated centennials in the past few years – and this year, it’s West Seattle Christian Church‘s turn. Today, WSCC’s Pastor Dan Jacobs says, you are welcome to visit the main building (42nd/Genesee) any time during the day to see a display of the church’s past 100 years of history, an “interactive walkthrough.” Tonight, the church community gathers for a sold-out celebration banquet in the WSCC Activity Center. And next weekend, Dan says, instead of Sunday morning worship services, WSCC will spend the weekend in “Don’t Go To Church, Be The Church” mode: “We will be in teams serving all over the community that we’ve been privileged to be part of for the past 100 years. We will be at the White Center Food Bank, Roxhill Elementary, cleaning / weeding Junction Plaza Park, cleaning up the Junction area alleys, bringing breakfast to area Fire Stations and the Police Precinct, as well as doing some onsite preparation of hygiene packs for area homeless shelters. We have been honored that God has allowed us to be part of the West Seattle Community for these past 100 years and wanted to launch the next 100 in an appropriate manner.”

West Seattle pets blessed in three events this weekend

“Blessing of the Animals” events are a tradition for the weekend closest to the Feast Day of St. Francis of Assisi, patron saint of animals – and again this year, West Seattle had three of them. We dropped by the third and final, and only outdoor, blessing event, presented by St. John the Baptist Episcopal Church in the West Seattle High School parking lot next door. Order of St. Francis Brother Kris Wilder (above left) and St. John’s Rev. Peter DeVeau (above center, and below) offered the blessings;

Here’s video as everybody – people and pets – circled around:

(This weekend’s other two West Seattle “Blessings of the Animals” were at Providence Mount St. Vincent on Saturday morning and Alki UCC earlier today.) Side note: If Brother Wilder looks familiar … it may not be just because he has been featured in our previous years’ coverage of this event. He was also on WSB recently in a different kind of robe: The one he wears as a karate instructor, and author of self-defense books.

Another West Seattle 1st anniversary: All Souls Church

Tomorrow, All Souls Church of Seattle (WSB sponsor) celebrates one year of weekly public worship in West Seattle, and Pastor Andy Pelander (at left in the church-provided photo above) has an invitation, and status report.

All are invited to participate in our service, which will include ‘community stories’ from folks who’ve been part of this exciting, growing new worshipping community over the past year. Of course, we’ll also have birthday cake! Join us Sundays at 10 a.m. at Madison Middle School.

All Souls began humbly in autumn 2009 with a handful of families in a living room in Admiral, dreaming and praying about what a brand new church would be like in our neighborhood, for our neighborhood. We imagined a community where we could worship, love one another in authentic relationship, and seek the welfare of our city. A year later, on Oct. 3, 2010, having gathered many more local families, we began meeting weekly for public worship.

To get a church off the ground this past year has been more hardworking than anyone involved could have imagined(!) and, yet, so much more rewarding than we could have hoped. Plenty of blood and sweat, and our share of tears…

And we’ve seen a dynamic, multi-generational community take shape that wasn’t here before we began–in our beloved West Seattle neighborhood. All Souls is now a church family into which folks are welcomed no matter what, are becoming known and being served, are encountering the character of God and his gospel of grace, and are being changed by it. We’ve celebrated faith at All Souls, both new and renewed!

A thousand thank you’s to all who’ve given of themselves so greatly to this remarkable project. We’re seeing buds on our little tree.

Every Sunday is a good Sunday to visit All Souls for the first time.

They’re online at allsoulsseattle.org, and you can check out their Facebook page for some of their outside-the-service activities.

Blessing of the Animals: 2 in West Seattle this weekend

(WSB photo from St. John’s 2010 “Blessing of the Animals”)
This weekend is the closest one to the feast day of St. Francis of Assisi – patron saint of animals – so it’s time for West Seattle’s traditional “Blessing of the Animals” events. On Saturday, you’re invited to the lobby of Providence Mount St. Vincent at 10:30 am. Then on Sunday, St. John the Baptist Episcopal Church will offer blessings in the West Seattle High School parking lot next door (3000 California SW) at noon. As The Mount’s announcement put it, it’s simply an occasion “to give thanks for all creatures great and small.” (And that means even the smallest of pets, if someone brings ‘em – check out the guinea pigs in our report on St. John’s event last year.)