SpokaneFāVS
Last year the Spokane Interfaith Council (now a program of SpokaneFāVS) began a house of worship tour throughout Spokane called Meet The Neighbors. They led residents on tours of seven faith communities in the area, and created a how-to video guide so guests can learn the proper way to visit these sacred places.
Season two of Meet the Neighbors will kick off at 6 p.m., Jan. 26 at Bethel AME Church, 645 S Richard Allen Court.
According to the church website over the years Bethel has served as a political and social focal point in Spokane and the Perry District, hosting a variety of events, “Consequently, many of the pioneering black leaders of Spokane emerged from Bethel.”
Bethel AME (African Methodist Episcopal) was organized in 1890. Today the church is led by Rev. Lonnie Mitchell.
Other Meet the Neighbors venues for 2017 include the Spokane Islamic Center, the Spokane Hindu Community and Temple Beth Shalom.
Check back on SpokaneFāVS for future program details. All are invited to Meet The Neighbors events and attendance is free, though donations are encouraged and can be made below.
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.
