Tag Archives: church

Findlay Street Christian Church holding “trial service” on Beacon Hill

This is the proposed Findlay Street Christian Church building on South Bayview Street. However, the project has not been able to move forward.
Findlay Street Christian Church sent us this announcement Tuesday:

Findlay Street Christian Church has desperately wanted to move into the Beacon Hill area for years and this weekend (January 29th), we’ll be holding a trial service at The Garden House (2336 15th Ave. S.) 10:30am to check out the space and to introduce ourselves to the neighborhood. All are welcome—we have been an open and affirming congregation since 1987—and we’d love to meet you!

A bit more about the church, Findlay Street Christian Church sold its property six years ago with hopes of moving into the Beacon Hill area. Three years ago, we purchased property on the corner of Bayview and 14th Ave S, we designed an ambitious, forward looking, mixed use building that included worship space and multi-unit affordable housing. Unfortunately, we have run into a number of unforeseen setbacks and have so far been unable to get the project off the ground.

Despite numerous hurdles regarding this building project, we’re still eager to move into the Beacon Hill neighborhood and so we are excited to worship this Sunday.

For more information about Findlay Street Christian Church, head on over to our website at http://www.findlaystchurch.org/

We look forward to meeting you all!

Beacon Lutheran Church to close

Beacon Lutheran Church under construction in 1947. Photo courtesy of Beacon Lutheran Church archives via John Graham.
The 70-year-old Beacon Lutheran Church (1720 S. Forest St.) will close at the end of this month, with a final worship service and farewell dinner planned for Sunday, October 30. Community members are invited to the closing events.

The church was founded in 1941 by members of Hope Lutheran Church in West Seattle. For the first few years, the group met at the Garden House on 15th Avenue South, then moved into their current building on South Forest Street in 1948.

Membership numbers have been gradually declining since the early 1970s, and so in March of this year, the congregation voted to disband, as the smaller membership could no longer keep the church functioning.

Ownership of the building and its contents will be transferred to the Northwest District of the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod. The Rainier Valley Cooperative Preschool, which currently rents space in the building, will continue to rent there through at least the end of this school year. Long-term plans for the site are unknown.

John Graham sent us this invitation to the community:

You, our Beacon Hill neighbors, are all invited to the closing service and farewell dinner for Beacon Lutheran Church on Sunday, October 30th, 2011. Worship will begin at 10:00 am for the event. Afterwards, about noon-ish, we’ll gather for a potluck dinner and brief program to celebrate 70 years of God’s blessings to our congregation. There will also be photographs on display and hopefully, we can get a reminiscence or two out of our older members. Please come and share in one or both parts of the event. For more info, you can e-mail me at hamburgerclan@yahoo.com.

On behalf of the congregation, I’d like to thank you all for letting us be a part of the community on Beacon Hill. God’s richest blessings to you all in the years to come.

Peace,
John Graham

Here are some photos from the 70-year history of Beacon Lutheran Church.

Music during a worship service at Beacon Lutheran in about 1970. Photo courtesy of Beacon Lutheran Church archives via John Graham.
Beacon Lutheran Church's first confirmation class at the Garden Club House, 1942. Photo courtesy of Beacon Lutheran Church archives via John Graham.
Sunday School, January 2011. Photo courtesy of Beacon Lutheran Church archives via John Graham.

14th and Bayview design guidance meeting notes

Al Terry, member and architect for Findlay Street Christian Church, presenting at Design Review Board meeting. Photo by Melissa Jonas.
by Melissa Jonas

(Melissa attended the design guidance meeting held Tuesday, February 23 at the Wellspring building on 23rd and Rainier. Approximately ten Beacon Hill residents were in attendance, and an additional five people were in the audience from the Findlay Street Christian Church congregation. Findlay Street Christian Church is the property owner and hopes to develop 18 residential units on top of a combination church/community space on the corner of Bayview and 14th.)

Introductions and clarification of process

Michele Wang introduced Board members and Holly Godard (206-615-1524), the DPD staff contact for the project. Godard explained that this was a preliminary design review only and emphasized that this is not the appropriate venue for sharing SEPA concerns—including concerns regarding parking, traffic, etc.

Bev, a congregation member, shared information about the congregation, focusing on their history, philosophy and goals. She opened with a slideshow. The church is interested in developing 18 units of affordable housing—Bev clarified this was not subsidized or low income housing. The location was chosen in large part because of proximity to light rail and the church hopes to attract professionals (teachers, nurses, etc.) who will use mass transit. The congregation also hopes to create a space the community will use. She mentioned the potential of using the sanctuary as a theater or meeting space. Bev noted that the congregation is currently meeting in Mount Baker and has about 80 regular attendees, with a goal of about 125 maximum. They are intentionally a smaller congregation, not a “big project church.” Findlay Street Church was established in 1906 and has a long history in SE Seattle. When they sold their Hillman City property, they sold the parking area below market rate for use as a P-Patch to promote green space in perpetuity. They are currently meeting in Mount Baker while they develop their new, permanent space.

When questioned further about why the congregation had chosen North Beacon Hill, the response was that the site was available, affordable, and met the needs of the church. The congregation is also attracted to the vibrancy of Beacon Hill and is interested in being part of the community.
Continue reading 14th and Bayview design guidance meeting notes

Crime Notes: Skipping bail; Hello, church burglaries; stripped Honda

The Beacon Hill man charged in the motel shooting death of sound engineer Tom Pfaeffle in Twisp, Kino Gomez, has apparently disappeared and is now in violation of the conditions of his release on $100,000 bail. Okanogan County Sheriff Frank Roberts told the Wenatchee World “We have no idea where he is.” King County Sheriff Sergeant John Urquhart said his department will follow any credible tip from the public. — Seattle Weekly & Seattle Times

Update: Much more from the Weekly.

* * *

One of our newest neighborhood businesses at Hanford and Beacon has now been victim of a burglary:

Hello Bicycle was broken into and robbed last night. We have a rear door that was completely smashed in by tremendous impact that actually ripped the door frame apart. They ran in, grabbed cash, and escaped in such a hurry that they dropped some of the money on their way out. Fortunately no other property was damaged and no bicycles were stolen.

The financial loss is not tremendous but the security concern for the neighborhood is extremely upsetting. We will be installing additional security immediately. This is our second robbery, the first one being a bicycle that was retaken from the thieves down the street.

* * *

Another break-in occurred last night not too far away from Hello Bicycle. SNB reports on the mailing list of a break-in at a church at 16th and Forest:

Last night at 12:55 a.m. we awoke to breaking glass to see a man trying to break into the Beacon Hill First Baptist Church. We called the police then watched the man continue to try and break in. We think there was already another person inside. The man was African-American in his late 30’s/early 40’s wearing black pants, black coat and a black backpack. It seemed to take forever for the police to get there but the police saw him when they arrived but he got away.

* * *

Also on the mailing list, Renata mentions seeing a black Honda Civic HX (plate number 673 TEX) that had been apparently stolen, stripped, and dumped this morning around 10am near top of the hill at 13th Avenue South and South Court Street:

Obviously they had some serious time to strip this particular vehicle because even the tires were all gone, yet they left the car with all spares! (At least they didn’t leave it on cinder blocks!) The taillights are completely missing, the hood was up, and the dashboard/gauge was completely removed…

An hour later, a tow truck was loading it up and taking it away.

What are five things you love about Beacon Hill?

I love that I can get a cappuccino like this only 5 minutes walk from home! Photo by Wendi.
I love that I can get a cappuccino like this only 5 minutes' walk from home! Photo by Wendi.
The Ms. Adventures in Italy blog had a post the other day, “Five Things I Love About San Francisco.” She invited readers to post their own “Five Things I Love About _______” lists on their own blogs. I started thinking about what I love about Seattle, and then thought “hey, why not Beacon Hill?”

So I ask you all, what are the five things you love about Beacon Hill? Please post in the comments. If you have photos, please email them to us or put them in the Beacon Hill Blog photo pool at Flickr.

I’ll get things started with my list. I live in North Beacon so this might be biased toward that area:

  • The light rail that will be serving us in less than a year!
  • The lovely old Craftsman bungalows that haven’t been “remuddled” beyond all recognition
  • The tasty food and drink available on Beacon Avenue these days (particularly El Quetzal and Victrola)
  • The new library: beautiful, and full of the best things in the world: books!
  • The sound of the gospel singing from the Baptist Church across from the Library, echoing through the evening air in summer when the windows are open

So what are your five?

Next week I may ask for the five things you’d like to improve about the Hill, but for now, we’ll stay on the positive side.