Search The Fig Tree site for stories of people and communities making a difference in the Inland Northwest:

December 2007

• New dean of the Cathedral of St. John sees path to peace
• Heart to Heart Art inspires children to develop resilience as they become artists
• Spokane Alliance listens to 1,000 stories to hear about pressures affecting people
• Hunger numbers in region equal Bloomsday numbers
• Refugees from Rwanda help Africans and other people in Spokane
• Volunteer Chore Service volunteers give generously of their time and caring
• Yakima church 'plants' peace pole, thoughts and prayers in its front yard
• Pastor in St. Maries chose long-term ministry there 26 years ago
• Interfaith dialogue at Unity Church promotes peace
• Catholic Relief Services urges dialogue in the Middle East
• Ecumenist finds these times exciting for ecumenical movement
• Directory online is expanded to include Central and Southeast Washington, more of Idaho and more agencies

November 2007

• Bazaars require people power
• Translator conveys truth of faith and life experienced by Julia Esquivel in Guatemala
• Interfaith Council hosts multifaith services
• Everyone knowing everyone has plusses and minuses for Family Resource Center in Davenport
• Mexican speaker for Witness for Peace defines migration issues
• At Women's Hearth, poetry and art heal woman who experienced abuse
• Corporate food production affects right of some to food, says David Andrews
• Faith leaders seek farm policy reform through Church World Service
• Buddhist monastic community near Newport relies on generosity

October 2007

• Construction of church restroom builds community on Nez Perce reservation
• Methodists resettle refugees from Burundi
• Guatemalan shares life from exile to reconciliation
• AmeriCorps instills volunteerism, says staff coordinator
• Millwood Presbyterian Church engages in community through farmers' market, youth center
• Open doors bring diversity to Central United Methodist Church through Shalom Ministries
• Sojourners editor applauds bridge building by Co-exist group at Gonzaga University
• Washington Association of Churches explores options for future
• Disaster response seeks new state umbrella agency

September 2007

• Dialogue among Christians, Muslims and African traditional spirituality can quell conflicts
• Directory of Congregations and community resources connects faiths-nonprofits
• Hillyard churches led joint service during Hillyard Festival in July
• Honduran missionary, Ruth Palnick, becomes urban missionary in Spokane
• Jeanne Kilbourne reports how media literacy stirs awareness of manipulation
• Project HOPE's Jobs Not Jails counters gangs
• eMinistry uses teleclasses to train lay leaders
• Julia Esquivel speaks Oct 11-21 in Spokane
• Our Place celebrates its 20th anniversary

June 2007

• Fig Tree associate editor Sister Bernadine Casey, SNJM, blessed many lives
• Orofino church becomes accessible by adding ramp and elevator
• KYRS offers varied voices on low power radio
• Episcopal Diocese of Spokane keeps greening
• Art complements therapy at Morning Star Boys Ranch
• Church gives voice to Voiceles, a choir of homeless families
• Balance can seem unbalanced in environmental issues

May 2007

• Lessons in green living saves money for low income families
• Misuse of mainstream media supplants cultural values, says Gonzaga journalism professor John Caputo
• Melissa Cilley's experience teaching led her to becaome a lawyer and serve victims of crimes at Lutheran Community Services of the Northwest
• Students share in ministry of relationships with people who come to City Gate
• Telling stories of black Catholics makes their invisible lives more visible, said Bob Bartlett in his dissertation on African-American Catholics
• African peacemaker, Betty Bigome, persists in efforts to bring peace in her with with the U.S. Institute for Peace
• Civil rights action during his seminary years beame a model for Chicago Theological Semnary
• Goodwill Industries' Mentoring Children of Promise builds resilliency in children of prisoners

April 2007

• Awareness of people who experience genocide—such as in Rwanda and Sudan—can curb genocide
• Indigenous traditions teach sustainability
• Missionaries instilled global vision in three Lutheran women who recently visited their companion diocese in Tanzania
• Walkers turn steps to food in CROP Hunger Walk
• Center for Organizational Reform can help congregations heal pain from clergy misconduct
• Town Orchard Project feeds poor in Pullman and Moscow
• Varied media diet helps future journalists, so Whitworth journalism professor instills interest in students
• Peace and Justice Action League of Spokane promotes living wage
• Peace rally challenges war
• Step It Up organizes Climate Day

March 2007

• Dances of Universal Peace integrate traditions of many faiths
• Exhibit on Nazi bookburning ignites awareness
• Potlatch Lutheran and Presbyterian churches share one pastor, one worship service
• U.S. Peace Institute educators lead workshop
• Diversity strengthens formation and spirituality at the Ministry Institute
• Teen attends global youth gathering in South Africa
• Newport woman aids in African relief and development

February 2007

• Volunteers bring hope to New Orleans in long-term disaster response
• Lay ministries director connects teams with task
• WSU students return to help with recovery for spring break
• Despite disability, woman finds niche to help
• Episcopal churches adopt churches in Gulf area
• Textile artist finds talking as important as building
• In massive devastation, people need mercy and love
• Yakima opens emergency wiinter shelter in church
• Sacred Heart Catholic Church's social justice ministry uses 'two feet'
• Michael Tate urges community to support young people to pursue education
• Martin Luther King Day speakers urge rekindling the light
• Bishop William Skylstad spurs prophetic witness
• Stories invigorate walkers in CROP Hunger Walks

January 2007

• Stories connect people through Urban Plunge experiences through House of Charities
• Organizers plan Martin Luther King Day march, rally
• Fig Tree publishes 23 years of Jo Hendricks' editorials in book
• Sheila Morley discusses proposals for ending homelessness
• Family's mission bug takes them to Ethiopia for Christmas 2006
• Church backs Anuak Meer Ministry to help children and widows
• Anuak Justice Council works for human rights
• Catholic Charities helps resettle hurricane evacuees in region
• John Olson, former director of Spokane Council of Ecumenical Ministries and a leader who helped bend history in the region, died Dec. 3