We will be there.
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The entire community is invited to a Service of Lamentation on Monday, July 23, 4:00 p.m. at the Lora Lake Apartments in Burien. The service will provide an opportunity for sharing of interfaith prayers, hymns, and scripture readings to lament the impending destruction of 162 units of affordable housing by the Port of Seattle and City of Burien. Following the service, some members of the planning group have expressed a desire to participate in a “ceremonial trespass” at the site, designed to bring attention to the destruction of a $30 million housing project while 8,000 King County residents are homeless each night.  As of press time, 9 members of SHARE, a housing advocacy group run by local homeless citizens, are being detained in King County jail following arrests at the Lora Lake facility this morning. City of Burien and Port of Seattle police turned out in force, with over a dozen squad cars, to evict 12 SHARE members who had taken up residence in a vacant apartment. Police broke down an apartment door and led the homeless men and women to waiting cars and then to the King County jail. Click here to read a brief article about the incident in the Seattle Times and here for an article in the Seattle P-I. We urge community-wide prayers All religious leaders and community participants are invited to gather at the Lora Lake site (click here for directions) beginning at 4:00 p.m. on Monday. Religious leaders are invited to wear liturgical garb and bring a prayer, song, scripture passage, or brief meditation to share. The service will be a solemn service of reflection and contemplation, focusing on the tragic implications of governmental and communal insensitivity to the needs of homeless people in our community.
Church Council director, the Rev. Sandy Brown, noted that, “We are so pleased with the many community leaders — Ron Sims, Greg Nickels, Gov. Gregoire and others — who have stepped forward on behalf of the Lora Lake Apartments. We are devastated that two governmental entities – the Port of Seattle and the City of Burien — are indifferent to the need to house the homeless and are destroying a $30 million community housing resource.” Brown noted that both the Seattle Times and Post-Intelligencer editorial boards have also advocated for preservation of the units. Please stay tuned to the Action Alert for more information about the “Service of Lamentation.” And please forward this e-mail to people you think might also want to participate.
info@thechurchcouncil.org 206-525-1213 4 Nickerson #300, Seattle WA 98109 |
