FāVS News News and Commentary about Religion and Ethics in Eastern Washington and North Idaho
Jan Shannon is the part-time assistant pastor at Westminster UCC, a full-time student at Eastern Washington University and hopes to attain ordination before the age of 60. When she isn’t studying you can find her at Westminster sharing preaching and worship duties with Pastor Andy CastroLang, leading a book study, new member class, or sharing leadership with her partner, Deb, in the Middle-High Youth Group.
Shannon is a joyous optimist, with articles that can be humorous while at other times emphasizing the seriousness of personal piety.
Tracy Simmons is an award-winning journalist specializing in religion reporting and digital entrepreneurship. In her approximate 20 years on the religion beat, Simmons has tucked a notepad in her pocket and found some of her favorite stories aboard cargo ships in New Jersey, on a police chase in Albuquerque, in dusty Texas church bell towers, on the streets of New York and in tent cities in Haiti. Simmons has worked as a multimedia journalist for newspapers across New Mexico, Texas, Connecticut and Washington. She is the executive director of SpokaneFāVS.com, a digital journalism start-up covering religion news and commentary in Spokane, Washington. She also writes for The Spokesman-Review and national publications. She is a Scholarly Assistant Professor of Journalism at Washington State University.
