Spiritual abuse is far too common, but we don’t talk about it. In fact, I had a counselor here on the Palouse once tell me she didn’t have the training to work with a spiritually abused client, and couldn’t think of a single person in the area she could refer me to. I get it. Things in the religious realm are unnerving. Some people won’t go near it. Others, though, will take advantage.

This year the annual Eastern Washington Legislative Conference will take place Jan. 21, at Spokane Valley United Methodist Church, 115 N. Raymond and will also be available online.

The new endeavor, announced Nov. 30, will make $75 million available to help Christian pastors, “strengthen their abilities to proclaim the Gospel in more engaging and effective ways.”

I can’t help but think about tradition this time of year, which makes me think of impermanence. Tradition is often thought of as something timeless and unchanging, passed down from a previous generation. It reminds me of the lyric from “Fiddler on the Roof.” You may ask, how did this tradition start? ... I'll tell you - I don't know. But it's a tradition …”

In its first year participating in a “friendly but spirited competition,” Gonzaga Preparatory School has won the Great Ignatian Challenge – a nationwide food drive contest among Jesuit high schools – by bringing in the most pounds of food per student.

Between 2010-2020 the nondenominational church has expanded by 2 million attendees and 9,000 congregations in the U.S., according to the 2020 U.S. Religion Census, which was released last week. The USRC is released every 10 years by the Association of Statisticians of American Religious Bodies.