Conference Facebook group reports on Occupy Seattle

Tad Anderson, walks behind PNC moderator Brandon Duran and Lauren Cannon, center front, of Plymouth UCC in Seattle.                         Photo by Mike Denton

Conference Minister Mike Denton recently posted a photo of folks from Plymouth UCC who were participating in an Occupy Seattle march organized by the Faith Action Network.  He said he was at Occupy Spokane the week before and plans to be at Spokane’s on Oct. 24.  Spokane clergy have organized their presence for then, as well as for Friday and Saturday, Oct. 14 and 15.

The Seattle event is an encampment, while in Spokane the encampment was closed down.  About 500 people have signed up to rotate their presence at Riverside and Monroe, and their email list is 4,000.  Jim CastroLang at Colville First and Andy CastroLang of Westminster Congregational UCC in Spokane were among an ecumenical group of clergy present on Oct. 15.

Denton said there are also movements in Coeur d’Alene, Yakima and Wenatchee.

Linda Crowe of Veradale UCC joins other clergy at Occupy Spokane on Oct. 14.

“As the strongest and largest movement in 20 years, the ‘Occupy’ movement is taking on the question of greed,” he said.  “Greed is a moral issue for the church given what greed causes in the lives of people.”

While the movement is diffuse, greed is the major topic, he said, considering it part of the movement of the Arab spring that is perhaps the global ‘spring,’ spreading through Europe and the United States. 

“It’s a big deal and it will get bigger,” he said.  “As a movement it’s less about leadership and more about ‘movement-ship”’ spread through digital media.  The media gather and share information, rather than a person or leader.  The church can learn from it.”

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Copyright Pacific Northwest Conference News © October 2011