FāVS News News and Commentary about Religion and Ethics in Eastern Washington and North Idaho
“We bid your spirit to come down on those who rule with their money and power, and we ask that you stir their hearts with compassion for the lost and the least,” prayed Rev. Kris Christensen of Holy Trinity Episcopal Church. The group, called Spokane Protest Chaplains, joined clergy from across the country today in marching with the Occupy movement. Rev. Deb Conklin, pastor of Liberty Park and St. Paul’s United Methodist Churches, said spiritual leaders have an obligation to speak out about the financial injustices plaguing America. “We’re here today because we believe that … the gap between the rich and the poor has gotten to be immoral, unjust,” she said. “The church needs to talk about what it means for the middle class to be constantly losing ground.” The Occupy movement recently spread to Colville, which had its first protest over the weekend. For information on how local clergy are getting involved, visit the Spokane Protest Chaplains Facebook page. View photos of today’s march on our Flickr page here.
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.
