Many find silence uncomfortable, but the people of the Spokane Quaker Worship Group embrace it. When they meet at 8:30 AM on Sundays, they gather as an unprogrammed Quaker meeting which means they wait together in silence until someone is moved to speak. Some days a few will speak, but on many days the hour will pass in silence. Quakers, though, aren’t intimidated by the quiet gathering. They are shaped by the experience of being together in the silence and hearing, when something is shared, what they believe to be the inner light that resides in each person. Three members of the Spokane Quaker Worship Group, Alan Binnie, Claire Cushman, and Brian Martin, joined the Religion Desk Podcast to share about their group and their experiences as Quakers.

The Spokane Quaker Worship Group meets at 8:30 AM on Sundays on the lower level of the Spokane Friends Meeting at 1612 W Dalke Ave, Spokane, Washington. You can find out more at spokanequakers.org.

As churches change, how they use their buildings change, too, and many times churches are left with more physical space than they need. North Hill Christian Church in Spokane, Washington has a space in their church building that, decades ago, was a children’s Sunday School room and since then has been used for storage. They’re partnering with Jewels Helping Hands, a non-profit that serves the unhoused population in Spokane, to make the unused space in the church into a shelter space to house LGBTQ+ individuals who are experiencing homelessness. Rev. Chris Snow, North Hill’s pastor, and Bill Jennison, a leader in the church, joined the podcast along with Samantha Merryman and Kylie Mahakam from Jewels Helping Hands, to explain the process of the church space becoming a shelter site.

The community of Spokane, Washington gathered at the Spokane Convention Center for the annual Martin Luther King, Jr. Day Rally and March on January 19, 2026. Here are some of the sounds of the day.