FāVS Religion News Roundup: Aug. 17, 2023
This week’s post highlights locals helping Maui, a Spokane Buddhist Temple being robbed, Mary’s Place historic home to be demolished on the Sacred Heart campus, St. John’s Cathedral and a successful Backpacks for Kids drive.
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News Story by Tracy Simmons | FāVS News
Locals Step Up to Help Maui
All eyes are on Hawaii right now after the island was devastated by the Maui wildfires. Many churches are taking up donations to help. This week Shawn Vestal of The Spokesman-Review reported on how some locals are stepping up.
KREM also reported on how local business Veda Lux is helping.
Buddhist Temple Robbed
On Aug. 14 the Buddhist Institute of Universal Compassion at 728 E. Rich Ave. in Spokane reported that it was broken into. Thieves got away with cash and gold. FāVS reported the story last night.
Historic Home to Be Demolished
KHQ is reporting that Mary’s Place, a historic home on Providence Sacred Heart Medical Center’s campus, could soon be demolished and turned into a parking lot. Mary Gianetsas bought the home for $19,000 in the early 1900s. Now the city has a permit for demolition.
St. John’s Cathedral Ranked High in Blog List
In happier news, this week A-Z Animals, which just like it sounds, is a website about animals around the globe, featured a random blog post about the “Most Beautiful and Awe-Inspiring Churches and Cathedrals in Washington.”
No. 5 on the list is St. John’s Cathedral in Spokane. The article gives some history of the iconic building, “The architectural firm responsible for its construction was Whitehouse and Price. It was begun in 1929 but it wasn’t completed until 1954. It represents the English Gothic style of architecture, and it’s made of cut stone. However, there is no structural steel or wood used anywhere. The exterior is made of sandstone sourced near Tacoma, Washington, but the interior is mainly Idahoan sandstone. There is some limestone from Indiana used inside the cathedral as well. The bell tower is named the Bishop Cross Tower which contains 49 bells controlled by a carillon. There is a fully functioning organ inside with 4039 pipes which was renovated in 2000 CE and is still in use.”
Backpacks for Kids
Also in uplifting news, The Salvation Army Spokane was able to collect 3,262 backpacks for 1,212 local families at their Backpacks for Kids drive on Aug. 16. That number is up from last year, when 3,079 backpacks were distributed.
