By FāVS News Staff
Seattle ties Portland as least religious metro area in America, new Pew study finds
Seattle has tied with Portland for the highest share of residents with no religious affiliation among the nation’s 34 largest metro areas, according to a new Pew Research Center survey. In the Seattle metro area — which includes King, Pierce and Snohomish counties — 44% of adults identified as Christian and 44% identified as unaffiliated, marking the first time those two groups have been equal in the region.
The findings come from Pew’s 2023-24 Religious Landscape Study, which surveyed roughly 37,000 people nationwide. The shift represents a significant change from 2014, when Christians made up 52% of the Seattle area’s adult population and the unaffiliated stood at 37%. The trend mirrors a national pattern: the share of Americans identifying as Christian fell from 71% in 2014 to 62% in the latest survey, while the unaffiliated grew from 23% to 29%. In the Seattle area, evangelical Protestants and those who identified as “nothing in particular” tied as the largest single groups, each at 21% of adults.
Sravasti Abbey to offer secular compassion training course this month
Sravasti Abbey, the Buddhist monastery in Newport, Washington, will host a four-day Cognitive-Based Compassion Training course April 25-28. Developed at Emory University, CBCT is a secular program open to people of any faith tradition or none, combining ancient Tibetan methods for cultivating compassion with insights from neuroscience, evolutionary psychology and emotion science.
The course is designed for those seeking personal growth, stronger relationships, or practical tools for work in caregiving, education, healthcare or leadership. It will be taught by trained CBCT facilitators Ryder Delaloye and Myriam Martinez in two daily sessions. Residential accommodations and the training itself are offered on a donation basis, with a suggested $100 donation to secure a spot. A CBCT manual is available for $25. Both residential participants and commuters are welcome. Details and registration are available on the events calendar at SravastiAbbey.org.
Catholic leaders to address fossil fuel divestment at free April 13 online talk
Two Catholic scholars will make the case for fossil fuel divestment as a matter of religious mission during a free public presentation April 13 on Zoom. “Divestment as Mission Fidelity: Catholic Fossil Fuel Divestment,” co-sponsored by Gonzaga University’s Office of Mission Integration, begins at 5 p.m. PT and is open to the public, but registration is required.
Daniel DiLeo, director of the Justice and Peace Studies Program at Creighton University, and Erin Lothes, executive director of Bethany Center Hudson Valley, will outline the theological case for divestment, drawing on their work with the Catholic Theological Society of America and other faith-based environmental coalitions. The presentation will also address common misperceptions and offer strategies for those seeking to advocate for divestment at their own institutions. Registration is required.
Author to share father’s letters from Dachau at special Holocaust presentation
Clarice Wilsey, author of “Letters from Dachau: A Father’s Witness of War, a Daughter’s Dream of Peace,” will speak Tuesday, April 14, at a special Holocaust presentation. Wilsey’s father, Dr. David Brown Wilsey, was a physician who treated prisoners at the liberated Dachau concentration camp following World War II. Clarice discovered his story only after her parents’ deaths, when she found a box of letters he had written to her mother during his service.
The presentation begins at noon. A lunch is available beforehand for a suggested $10 donation, starting at 11:15 a.m. — 15 minutes earlier than the usual meeting time. RSVPs for lunch are requested at the Information Center. No RSVP is needed to attend the presentation only. The public is welcome, and attendees are encouraged to bring friends and family.
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