The Fig Tree

Editorial Reflections In Spokane and Spokane Valley, 19 faith leaders joined 29 others in Washington State to send a letter prepared by the Friends Committee on National Legislation to Senator Patty Murray, urging her to protect Congress's authority over federal spending and ensure the budget reflects shared moral values by funding peacebuilding, humanitarian aid and human dignity.

Work team unloads solar panels to install them at Tumaini. The Northwest Intermountain Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America has pledged to provide the funding for a new solar electrified cooking system at the Tumaini Lutheran Seminary, a secondary school in Malinyi, Tanzania, overseen by the Ulanga-Kilombero Diocese.

Ali Norris finds niche for loving service at Mission Community Outreach Center. Mission Community Outreach Center (MCOC) served 2,644 children during the two pickup days of its annual shoe giveaway in August, up from 2,485 in one day last year, said Ali Norris, executive director. She attributes the increase to listening to people in 2025 and learning that with just one day, people had to wait in line, and some left to go to work or errands without picking up shoes.

Bobbi and Don Dunn bring awareness of world. When Ephrata United Methodist Church (UMC) was extensively damaged by fire on Palm Sunday in April 2021, its carillon was silenced. Although members began worshiping there in December 2024 and the building reconstruction was completed in November 2025, the carillon music was not restored until Spring 2026. After the fire, community members asked the UMC to restore the carillon.

Three of five Building Bridges: Healing Divides team leaders: David Gortner, Kristin Keyes and David Owren. Photo courtesy of St. Luke's By Kaye Hult In June 2024, St. Luke's Episcopal Church in Coeur d'Alene began a journey with six other churches in the Episcopal Diocese of Spokane as part of the first cohort for their "Building Bridges: Healing Divides" five-year grant under the Thriving Congregations Initiative of Lilly Endowment, Inc.

Satish Shrestha speaks. While Nepal is far away, many Spokane people have personal connections there. At a Sept. 3 fundraiser in the Community Building foyer, about 50 supporters of fair trade and Conscious Connections Foundation (CCF) heard updates on Nepal after the glacial flooding Aug. 26 from Tibet through the Trishuli River watershed.

One of over 100 data centers in WA - this one along Columbia River By Catherine Ferguson SNJM Putting a data center in the Spokane area is causing controversy, so the Spokane City Council issued a year moratorium on accepting, processing, reviewing or approving building permits for new computer data centers, and the Spokane County Commissioners passed a similar ordinance but for only a four-month moratorium that ends on Dec. 15.

Lament is universal. In a world where minute by minute, we are continually and constantly aware of overwhelming global catastrophes and horrors, our bodies sometimes shut down. Compassion fatigue settles in. It's too much. It's too hard. It's too painful. We've had huge challenges of our own to struggle through. The devastation of the August 26 flash floods in Nepal staggers me out of my self-protective numbness. Entire villages buried in mud. Over 1,300 known dead, and over 5,000 people still missing.

Editorial Reflections "This Was Our Home" by Megan Martens Haworth In August, we saw natural habitat for wildlife turn into ash as wildfires raged through North Central Washington, the Cascades, near the Yakama Reservation, within the Colville Confederated Reservation, near the Spokane Reservation, and through northern Spokane areas.

The Fig Tree 2026-27 Resource Directory enters its 53rd year as the go-to guide, a much-used comprehensive compilation of congregations, ecumenical and interfaith ministries, human services, children-and-family, health care, senior, justice multicultural, environmental, arts and culture, and civic resources. Selected resources were included in a short-term PDF guide after the Spokane Complex at https://www.thefigtree.org/2026Short-TermFireResponse.pdf.