West Seattle, Washington
29 Friday
Interesting tidbits in the city’s latest sheaf of Land Use Permits/Applications:
-Part of the “greater than the sum of its parts” townhome project across from Gatewood Baptist Church needs an environmental review. We non-experts are guessing that’s why the sudden sign went up. But is it enough for the upset neighbors?
-Speaking of GBC, its new home (formerly Calvary Lutheran) has spawned two applications (here and here); both appear related to its auxiliary child-care enterprise.
-A bit to the north, sign installation appears to be next for the ex-Doxa home of Mars Hill-West Seattle.
Didn’t get around to spotlighting this sooner, but shortly after we noted that one of the recent Mars Hill-West Seattle blog updates on the Doxa remodeling listed a mid-February target date, a reader pointed out that’s been changed to “spring ’07.” If you’re tracking this project (anyone heard yet what they’re going to do about parking near the ex-Doxa? just drive by Chief Sealth some Sunday morning and you’ll see how much they use), here’s the latest post.
If you drive on 35th near the summit, you might have wondered lately what’s up with Mars Hill Church’s takeover of the ex-Doxa church building (MH-West Seattle has been meeting for 3 months at Chief Sealth HS). A new post on the MH-WS blog seems to mention in passing (toward the end) that they’re now shooting for Feb. 18.
You hear claims that Seattle is more “unchurched” than other major U.S. cities. Yet somehow, at least for the major religious celebrations, we Seattleites manage to fill the pews, if we so choose. Example in point, Holy Rosary 4 pm Christmas Eve service tonight, overflow SRO crowd by quarter till. Speaking of HR, its former pastor Father Jeffrey Sarkies continues to blog at least weekly, beautiful musings (as we’ve mentioned before) on faith and humanity, among other things, and we found his Christmas Eve message particularly touching. (Checking links for this post, we learned Fr. Sarkies moved to Arizona last month, after a surprise going-away party here in WS. Godspeed.)
Driving down Cali Ave a short time ago, noticed something unusual, and very un-senior-looking, happening on the sidewalk in front of the Senior Center. Two more drives around the block finally trained our eyes on a sign in the window, as the small crowd picked up its chairs and moved inside: Seems The Skate Church is now meeting Sunday nights at the WSSC.
-Big banners at the Farmers’ Market today reveal that it’s only taking a holiday hiatus — after the Dec. 17 finale-for-the-year, it will return Jan. 7 as the “Winter Farmers’ Market,” 10 am-1 pm.
-The ever-busier section of Harbor Ave near the tow yards, Verge, ActivSpace, etc., is now even busier, as Budget Trucks seems to have set up a rental business there, with many of its offerings parked on the street. Best to avoid driving RVs and Oversize Load Tractor-Trailers through that stretch. Bicyclists may not be safe either.
-Also more-lined-with-parked-cars-than-ever, Thistle between 35th and Delridge, during the Mars Hill services, which apparently won’t move to their new ex-Doxa home before next month. We cruised by just to see if any protesters were there, since the demonstration outside MH-Ballard got called off. Nope. (If you don’t recall why somebody wanted to protest MH in the first place, here’s a refresher, plus the church leader’s latest musings on the subject, and a pointed deconstruction of said musings.)
-Looks like a whole lot of WS folks out buying Christmas trees. If you’re not sure about your options, remember to check the list at the bottom of our Holiday Stuff page.
While the “for (re)sale” sign flaps in the breeze outside Gatewood Baptist Church (on Cali, just before the big hill), the city has just issued a fat set of permits for the multi-family housing that’s going up on what was church property across the street: two “duplex townhouses” at 7200 Cali, two more (plus a demolition permit) at 7202 Cali, two more at 7206 Cali, and last but not least, two more at 7208 Cali. As a meditative scene, if this density disturbs you, ponder this photo of West Seattle housing some decades back.
The folks at Holy Rosary must have a heck of a web team. Even their famous Christmas tree lot (we just added it to our Holiday Stuff page since it’s opening this Saturday!) has its own site.
Looks like Gatewood Baptist Church isn’t just changing locations, it’s changing its name. The sign outside its future new home on 35th is now draped with a banner reading “Life Church Ministries, Coming Early 2007.”
-A comment just posted a ways down the site is worth spotlighting: Some folks who’ve had it with the Mars Hill guy’s misogyny are planning a protest outside MH-Ballard next weekend.
-News on two churches entirely unrelated to MH (so far as I know): Gatewood Baptist Church is moving from Cali & Othello to 35th & Cloverdale. GB has sold its land on both sides of Cali; the land on the east side (sold for $3.2M) will turn into “townhomes” (here’s a story about the company that bought it) — the west side is up for “re-sale” in two chunks, the school/office building along Othello ($800K) and the church itself ($1.8M). Meantime, with at least part of the proceeds, Gatewood is taking over the former Calvary Lutheran Church. Calvary’s signboard already reads “Welcome, Gatewood Baptist” but the person who answered the phone at Gatewood told us they’re not moving till renovation work is complete after the first of the year. As for Calvary’s future, its phone recording says that as of last weekend, it’s holding services at The Kenney.
West Seattle-based “faith meets fashion” fame-gaining Vox Sacra got a network TV spotlight this week, according to this blogpost (with pics).
Couldn’t resist mentioning, the Mars Hill guy’s latest lunacy (our rant is below) is getting national play (Seattleite David Goldstein on the Huffington Post, Atrios, and James Wolcott among others).
We’ve now reached the point where we believe the guy who just branched his megachurch into West Seattle is only talking trashily to get attention. And yet, since he wants to fill our neighborhoods with his followers, we feel duty-bound to keep you updated on his utterances. Thanks to Slog for spotlighting the latest: Pastor Preposterous suggests that his colleagues like Colorado’s Mr. “It Was Only a Massage” might sin less, if their wives didn’t “let (themselves) go.” And don’t miss the passage where he recommends employment discrimination against women as another way to stay out of trouble (and reveals he’s afraid of reading e-mail from anyone but his henchpeople, lest temptation lurk between the pixels). Ladies, cover yourselves; that’s coming next. Never mind the $212 jeans; might as well start asking our Junction boutiques to start stocking burqas.
–The Mars Hill-West Seattle blog puts turnout for Official WS Debut at 600 people, 90% adults, 10% kids. Can’t help but wonder how this will affect other evangelical Christian churches in WS, such as Calvary. And is everyone from the taken-over Doxa turning out for MH-WS? (Some interesting past posts from other bloggers with some sort of firsthand involvement: here, and here, and here.) UPDATE (10:17 pm): Tomorrow’s P-I covers the service and includes a mention of about 50 ex-Doxa people present.
–Speaking of assimilation … the Save Seattle Public Schools blog has been trying to unravel new confusion over what will really happen if and when, pending school-board approval, Pathfinder moves into Cooper. Maybe some light will be shone when the next round of public hearings starts this week. Or not.
On the eve of Mars Hill Church‘s official West Seattle debut in the temporary digs at Chief Sealth HS, the mail brought a postcard inviting us (little ol’ US? well, probably you too, since the card’s addressed to the everpopular “resident”) to join them. The postcard bills MH as “the nation’s 15th fastest growing church” and its main preacher Mark Driscoll as “one of the 25 most influential pastors in America” and “one of Seattle’s 25 most powerful people.” (What was that again about, the meek shall inherit the earth?) The MH-WS blog says more than 400 people showed up for last week’s trial run at CSHS. They will of course join an already-vibrant community of churches in West Seattle, such as (random mention here) the UU’s, who meet in the Masonic Temple on 40th SW; here’s what they’re up to.
If you were hoping for a comeback of the Cat’s Eye Cafe just north of Lincoln Park (as we sort of were), closed since a crash last winter, finally there’s proof it’s just not going to happen. The sign’s not up yet as of tonight (though the permit application for it is in), but a Web site proclaims the building’s rebirth as a yoga/spiritual counseling business, the Four Aims Center. The center’s offerings sound intriguing — but the official demise of the Cat’s Eye leaves us a bit misty, as it’s the site of fond family memories from the latter half of the ’90s, when various major life events left us quite dependent on their morning muffins as well as incredible takeout soups and sandwiches. (We remember hearing that the people who ran it back then are the same ones who opened Circa in the late ’90s, but can’t find proof.)
Former Holy Rosary pastor Father Jeffrey Sarkies — ousted this spring — is blogging. He writes beautifully. (His supporters are still blogging sporadically too.)
If you’re curious about what brings Seattle’s best-known fundamentalist church to WS, new Web pages shine some light: It’s the building. (Didn’t realize they’d already shut the whole thing down for renovation & transformation, looking ahead to a fall/winter launch.) I don’t know anyone involved with Doxa or Mars Hill — but even as an outsider, if you read between the lines of the pages on the MHWS site, including this FAQ, it sounds like quite the takeover.
-If you have a small child in the house, something new turned up at the WS Farmers’ Market today … fresh, local, vegetarian food for babies or toddlers.
-For the produce we didn’t find at the Farmers’ Market, we dropped by Tony’s on 35th. Great prices — beautiful apples for 99 cents a pound, mushrooms for $2.50. Kinda fascinating that the guy who runs it is the president of the Burien-area sewer district.
-Further north on 35th, we noticed the “Mars Hill West Seattle, Coming Soon” sign up at Doxa. According to the MH Web site, the dedication was just the other night.
-Also as we cruised northward on 35th, a wildlife sighting … one of our majestic national symbols, being pestered by crows. Common, I know, but always mesmerizing, as the crows are so much smaller than the eagles, yet so brazen about this behavior.
Looks like one of the mega-churches within the Seattle city limits is branching into West Seattle. Doxa on 35th apparently started as a “church plant” from the trendy Mars Hill Church in Ballard; now we’ve read in a few spots that Doxa will be rechristened Mars Hill-West Seattle (and in fact, when we drove through the area earlier this week, the Doxa logo was gone from the sign). We’re all for spiritual diversity; just wish this side of the bay could get a vibrant New Thought church going gangbusters as well …
Taking a break from the Holy Rosary situation … another West Seattle pastor makes it into the news today. Unfortunately, it’s because he seems to be “our” version of noted prejudice-monger Ken Hutcherson (second-to-last paragraph here; at least this story rescues the WS image with a more reasonable quote from Councilguy Dow).
Our friends who attend Holy Rosary are keeping us up to date on the priest situation following the bombshell resignation of the church’s longtime pastor. They say today’s church bulletin said “this weekend, the identity of our new pastor will be revealed, but he won’t arrive until July 1” — however, at least at the service they attended, they didn’t hear an announcement.
The Times picks up today on the flyer that we mentioned on Sunday. Also noteworthy in the story: a link to a remembrance blog. One of the listed contributors traces back here. Seems like something/someone I would have heard about before, so I went off in search of more info about that business — found two stories, here and here. (Not necessarily relevant to the topic at hand here except that it’s yet more proof of the abundant creativity bubbling beneath the WS surface!)
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