Religion News Roundup: Spokane Church Mourns 3, Standing Against Hate and Feeding Hungry
News Story by Tracy Simmons | FāVS News
The big religion headline from our region this week is a sad one. Three Spokanites are dead following a van rollover in Wallace County, Kansas.
Kansas Highway Patrol identified the victims as 70-year-old Likbar Amanu, 37-year-old Darlene A. Manene, and 24-year-old Leilani Manene, all members of Spokane Lighthouse Pentecostal Church who were traveling to PEAK 2023 for the National Bible Quiz Tournament.
The pastor, Mathias Manene lost his wife, sister and mother-in-law in the accident and remains in the ICU. The church has organized a GoFundMe to pay for funeral expenses.
Standing Against Hate
The Spokesman-Review reported this week that Spokane’s LGBT community has come together after white supremacists tied to Northwest Nationalist Network tried to crash Pride in Perry earlier this summer. The network also targeted a half dozen smaller Pride events in the Northwest.
The network is made up of active clubs and nationalist groups that formed into a coalition earlier this year. The network includes the Evergreen Active Club, Big Sky Active Club, White Lives Matter Montana, Vinland Rebels, Rainforest Active Club and Active Club Portland, although other nationalist groups appear to have come and gone, according to the 3N Telegram channel.
But organizers said they didn’t let this group stop them and stood their ground this Pride.
“There’s nothing better than a group of protesters going to a place like a Pride event and seeing everyone having a good time. That’s the best retaliation you can give them,” said Luke Emerson, board member of the North Idaho Pride Alliance.
Charges Brought
Two weeks ago we reported on a molestation that occurred at Our Lady of Lourdes Cathedral. Lenny Luck, 65, has now been arrested and charged for the crime, reports KREM.
He’s facing first-degree sexual assault charges after he allegedly lingered near a church bathroom for nearly two hours before molesting a 4-year-old boy in that bathroom. He, is a five-time felon, and pleaded not guilty to the charges. He is set to go to trial in September.
Feeding the Hungry
Over on the Palouse, St. James Episcopal Church has received two grants from different organizations to combat food insecurity.
Senior warden Mary Flores told The Daily Evergreen that both grants will help the church continue its backpack food program, which provides weekend food bags to children enrolled in the Community Child Care Center. The funding, for more than $5,000, was provided by the Innovia Foundation and The ADDIUM -METER Foundation.
