The Fig Tree Celebrates 40th Anniversary with Spring Events
Family-run publication began as adventure of faith, emphasizes diverse stories
News Story by Emma Ledbetter | FāVS News
The Fig Tree, a Spokane-based ecumenical newspaper, is celebrating its 40th anniversary this spring with a slate of events including a lunch, breakfast-time benefit and gala dinner.
Organizers hope to raise $42,000 from the events to fund the publication and its resource directory, website and a new podcast. They are also planning to create more opportunities for networking and connecting people on an immediate basis, such as an email listserv, said founding editor Mary Stamp.
‘An adventure of faith’
The Spokane Christian Coalition — later the Spokane Council of Ecumenical Ministries — approached Stamp about starting The Fig Tree in 1983 after hearing about her work with InterChurch, a bi-monthly publication with Fresno Metropolitan Ministry.
“It was an adventure of faith and an adventure of operating on enough,” Stamp said. “We didn’t have any major grants [to start The Fig Tree] … We just had enough to get going.”
First published in May 1984, the publication gained status as an independent non-profit in 2000, Stamp said.
Stamp co-founded The Fig Tree with Sister Bernadine Casey, who worked until she died at 91 years old. Now a 17-member board and hundreds of volunteers support it.
A family business
Stamp’s children, Malcolm Haworth and Marijke Fakasiieiki, are also on the staff of The Fig Tree — which Stamp said she never expected to happen.
Haworth, the resource directory editor and ecumenical coordinator, began working for the publication through AmeriCorps in 2006.
Fakasiieiki said her involvement in The Fig Tree “developed through osmosis.” She joined as the development and editorial associate in 2020.
“My brother and I got the ‘ecumenical bug’ going to the World Council of Churches assembly in Vancouver,” she said. “In the back of my mind I always thought it would be nice if I could come back [to Eastern Washington] and help my mother extend her legacy.”
Diverse voices and stories
It was difficult finding work as a woman in journalism in the 1970s and 80s, Stamp said.
“I didn’t realize that it was part of a whole pattern,” she said. “Women were not seen as sources of news.”
In addition to featuring women of all ages, with an emphasis on elders and wisdom-givers, Stamp said the publication tries to draw attention to the vibrant multicultural community in the Spokane area.
The Inland Northwest had a reputation for white supremacy in the 1980s and 90s. This drew attention from major media outlets. The Fig Tree showcased all the people working to counter that, including a powerful human rights community, Stamp said.
Events will commemorate The Fig Tree’s history
The first of the spring events is a lunch buffet from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. on March 8 at Cataldo Hall at Gonzaga University. The lunch, which will also be livestreamed, will have four short talks and a video of The Fig Tree’s story.
The breakfast-time benefit is from 7:30-9 a.m. on March 13 via Zoom.
The gala celebration will conclude the spring events from 5-8 p.m. on April 28 at the Cathedral of St. John, 127 E. 12th Ave. Tickets are $50.
Karen Georgia Thompson, president and general minister of the United Church of Christ, will speak at the gala. She is the first woman and the first Black woman to hold her role within the UCC.
Participants must register for the events in advance on The Fig Tree’s website.
