Remembering Rev. Al Damon (HR)

Please keep family and friends of Rev. Al Damon (HR, Seattle Presbytery) in prayer. He died July 9, 2018. 

Remembering Rev. Gordon Schweitzer (HR)

Prayers of condolences and comfort to Thea Schweitzer and her family on the passing of her husband, Rev. Gordon Schweitzer (HR, Seattle Presbytery). Updates on his memorial service will be posted when details are available.

Rev. Melvin R. Lord-Unruh (HR) Memorial

Rev. Melin R. Lord-Unruh (HR) passed away Saturday, July 14, 2018. Please join us in praying for his family and Summit Avenue PC. 

His memorial service is scheduled for August 11, 1:00pm at Summit Avenue Presbyterian Church, 403 S Summit Ave, Bremerton, WA 98312.

Remembering Gordon Siddons

Elder Gordon Siddons (Wedgwood Presbyterian Church) died on Wednesday, June 6, 2018. He previously served as moderator of Seattle Presbytery and on the finance committee. Please join us in praying for his family and congregation at Wedgwood PC.

Gordon's memorial service will be on Sunday, July 1 at 7:00pm at Wedgwood Presbyterian Church, 8008 35th Ave NE, Seattle, WA 98115.

More updates available online.

Remembering Shelley Dahl

Shelley's Dahl's Memorial and Celebration:

Wednesday, September 27, 10:00am

Mercer Island PC, 3605 84th Ave SE, Mercer Island, WA.

Lunch reception immediately following at Women's University Club, 1105 6th Ave, Seattle, WA.

---

August 3, 2017 Update from Shelley's sons:

Dear friends and loved ones,

At 5:50am this morning, our beloved mom finished her journey on this earth.  Her decline was rapid and her death came as a surprise so soon.  We hoped to have more good days with her and time for friends and family to visit and say good bye.  

Hunter and I have agreed to open mom's home for visitors today (August 3) from 8am until 8:30pm (when the funeral home will come to pick up her body this evening).  We welcome any and all visitors today to bring a cutting or two from your garden to place next to her body.  Mom loved gardens and cut flowers so much; so it seems appropriate to surround her with beauty and love as her body is prepared for its final journey.  

I'm at a loss for words right now.  All morning long I've had the lines of David Whyte's poem "FINISTERRE".  May it bring you peace, as it does to me, and may you all know how much you are loved and appreciated by me and our family.  

FINISTERRE

The road in the end taking the path the sun had taken,
into the western sea, and the moon rising behind you
as you stood where ground turned to ocean: no way
to your future now but the way your shadow could take,
walking before you across water, going where shadows go,
no way to make sense of a world that wouldn't let you pass
except to call an end to the way you had come,
to take out each frayed letter you had brought
and light their illumined corners; and to read
them as they drifted on the late western light;
to empty your bags; to sort this and to leave that;
to promise what you needed to promise all along,
and to abandon the shoes that brought you here
right at the water's edge, not because you had given up
but because now, you would find a different way to tread,
and because, through it all, part of you would still walk on,
no matter how, over the waves.

- David Whyte

©2012

I will do my best to write again when we have more information about mom's memorial.

With broken hearts overflowing with love, sadness, and gratitude,

Adam & Hunter

The Presbytery of Seattle grieves with Shelley's family at the loss of our dear friend, colleague and presbyter.  "For if we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord. So then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord’s." (Romans 14:8)

---

Dear Seattle Presbytery Friends,

Please keep Shelley Dahl and her family in your prayers as Shelley moves into Hospice Care this week. As you know, Shelley's cancer diagnosis was met with the grace and fortitude we have seen her possess throughout her life and ministry. She continues to be her authentic, beautiful self and has decided to spend this time with family and close friends under the care of professionals who will keep her comfortable.

Our prayer is that Shelley will have as many "good days" as possible and that she feels the full measure of God's love and presence with her. We pray for her family - that they are all able to spend time together surrounded by God's love and comfort.

While in the hospital last week for a procedure to assist with pain, Shelley received over 700 text messages from friends! She is overwhelmed with gratitude for all of your love and support, but unfortunately she is no longer able to reply. 

If you are a close friend and would like to visit, please contact her son, Adam, at dahladam@hotmail.com. He will let you know when/if she is up for visits. 

All are invited to send notes of encouragement and love to:

Shelley Dahl
c/o Seattle Presbytery
1013  8th Avenue
Seattle, WA  98104

We are both so grateful for the Seattle Presbytery community and the tremendous amount of support and encouragement we share in Jesus Christ. Thank you for your prayers - and thank you for the ways you are loving God's people in the midst of loss and grief.

Blessings,

Eliana Maxim and Becki Barrett

Prayers for John Hackett

Please pray for former Seattle Presbytery moderator John Hackett, who has suffered a major stroke.  

Rev. Harry MacDonald (HR) Memorial

Rev. Harry MacDonald's Celebration of Life Service will be Sunday, August 13 at 3:00 PM, with a reception following. 

John Knox PC, 109 SW Normandy Road, Normandy Park, WA 98166

Prayers for Tim and Cote Soerens

Please pray for Tim and Cote Soerens, who are hospitalized with serious injuries they suffered during a car accident in Mexico.  

Read more (KOMO news story)

Remembering Rev. George Gilmour (HR)

Rev. George Gilmour (HR) passed away on May 8, 2017. A celebration of his life will be held in mid-July; details will follow. 

Rev. Dennis Hughes (HR) Memorial

Seattle Presbytery received word today that the Rev. Dennis Hughes passed away very early Easter Sunday morning, April 16.

Northminster Presbyterian Church will host a service of witness to the resurrection on May 20, 2017 at 2:00 PM.

The family requests that in lieu of flowers, donations be made to the Presbyterian Church (USA) Office of Public Witness; Compassion, Peace and Justice Program. Please make checks payable to The Presbyterian Church Office of Public Witness and mailed to Northwest Coast Presbytery at 1010 E. Casino Road, Everett, WA. 98203.

We join Dennis' wife Ann and the Hughes family in their grief and yet rejoice that our friend and colleague has now joined the church triumphant and completed his baptism.

Rev. Henry Littlejohn (HR) Memorial

Rev. Dr. Henry Littlejohn passed away January 8, 2017 in Shoreline, WA. He was preceded in death by parents, Henry Sr. and Grace Littlejohn, wife, Dorothy Littlejohn, and sister, Alice Pattison. He is survived by three daughters, Chris Wheeler, Carol Johnson, and Marilyn Littlejohn, as well as two grandsons, Kevin and Krister Johnson.

Having served in the merchant marine during WW II, Henry attained the rank of 2nd Mate. He was buried in the Tahoma National Cemetery.

Henry served s a missionary (UPUSA) to the National Synod of Syria and Lebanon from 1953-1969. He subsequently pastored the community churches of Dupont/Tillicum, WA (1969-74), The United Church of the Upper Hood River Valley, Parkdale, OR (1974-82), and the Presbyterian Church of Craig, Alaska (1982-86). Post-retirement, he served as the Stated Supply Pastor of the Duwamish Presbyterian Church, Seattle, WA. 

Henry was born January 20, 1924 in Seattle, WA. He graduated from Queen Anne High School and Seattle Pacific College.

A life-long scholar, Henry earned three MA's (Cal Berkeley, San Francisco Theological Seminary, Princeton Theological Seminary) and a PhD (William Carey International University). He served as an adjunct professor at William Carey Int'l University and Seattle Pacific University, lecturing on Islamic Civilization and Theology of Mission from 1970 to the early 1990's. His magnum opus was a translation of The Book of Patience and Thankfulness by Islamic philosopher, Al-Ghazali. He also mentored PhD students studying Arabic.

Henry's memorial will be at Trinity Presbyterian Church, Shoreline, WA. Sunday, April 30th at 2 pm. In lieu of flowers, memorial gifts may be made to Venture International, PO Box 1582, Mesa, AZ 85211 to benefit relief work in the Middle East (designate Littlejohn memorial). Donations online at ventureint.org/refugee relief.

Prayers for Rev. Dennis Hughes (HR)

Rev. Dennis Hughes (HR)

Dear Friends, 

The other day Rev. Dennis Hughes, former Stated Clerk and former Pastor of Northminster (Newport, Kent, Magnolia) Presbyterian Church, called to inform the presbytery that he has stage four pancreatic cancer. 

As some of you know, Dennis has successfully battled bladder cancer for many years, but recently after many mysterious physical symptoms (rapid weight loss and debilitating back pain) an x-ray revealed a metastasized cancerous growth on his pancreas. Dennis has informed me that he is choosing quality of life over quantity for the next six months, or for however long our Lord gives. 

Dennis has been a generous, loving, and faithful witness to Christ in his ministry and a wonderful colleague in Seattle Presbytery and the larger church, so it is no surprise that even in the light of this news, he would assure us that he is not afraid to die. The morning after his diagnosis, Dennis was comforted by the words of Julian of Norwich who in the midst of a life threatening illness reportedly saw the Lord at the foot of her bed saying: "If I could love thee more, I would love thee more." 

Dennis will not be at our presbytery meeting tomorrow, but please join me in praying for Dennis, Anne, and his family, and if you would like to reach out to Dennis personally, please use dennisjhughes@comcast.net. 

Peace be with you, 

Scott Lumsden

10/30: Rev. Ron Snelling (HR, Olympia Presbytery)

Rev. Ron Snelling, Honorably Retired (Olympia Presbytery) died peacefully Sunday afternoon at the age of 90 at his home in Bremerton. His son, Rev. Nick Krantz, is pastor of the Foster Tukwila Presbyterian Church. A memorial service will be held Friday, 11/11/16, at 11:00 am at the Faith Covenant Church in Sumner (the last church he served in Olympia Presbytery). The church is located at 1915 Washington St, Sumner, WA 98390. 

Remembering Rose Lovell Bouck

Remembering a Pioneering Woman Ruling Elder Rose Lovell Bouck

By The Rev. Robert D. Nicholson,
Presbytery of Seattle

Lovell was an active elder, who with her late husband Roger, served in congregations in Lake Forest Park and Mulkiteo and in the Presbytery of North Puget Sound (now Presbytery of the NW Coast). She served General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church(USA) as a reader and grader of Standard Ordination Examinations for candidates for ministry.

Her pilgrimage began October 30, 1925 in Hermiston, Oregon and ended in her death, September 14, 2016. Memorial Services were conducted, September 17, 2016 at Ida Culver Broadview Retirement Community, Seattle where she lived, by her son the Rev. Ray D. Moore, HR and chaplain at Park Shore Retirement Community, Seattle. 

Her early education was in Westminster and Avenal, California where she was both an athlete and musician(marching band, baseball and track)

Wherever you found Lovell there was a person who was faithful in congregation life, serving on the session, singing in the choir,  graciously accepting others and always on the cutting edge open to new ideas.

What a legacy of love and leadership! She fulfilled that ordination vow as she always “ served with energy, intelligence, imagination and love.”

Remembering Rev. Dr. Donald Buteyn

Rev. Dr. Donald P. Buteyn, of Holland died Monday, November 30, 2015. He served in 1969 as Executive of the Seattle Presbytery & Synod of Alaska-Northwest. 

Read more.

Helen Hamilton Memorial Service

Helen Hamilton died on August 29, 2016.  Her memorial service will be Wednesday, September 14 at 7:00 PM at Wedgwood Presbyterian Church, 8008 35th Ave NE, Seattle.  

From Karen Breckenridge (TE, Wedgwood):

Helen was a very active member of the PCUSA. She was an early advocate and guiding light in the peace and justice movement where she served on both a national and a local level. Throughout much of her time in Seattle, Helen was a member of Kent First PC, but when she moved to Seattle, she joined Wedgwood PC. Throughout her time in Seattle presbytery, she was very active in peacemaking work. She was also very active in PW and served in leadership there for many years.

7/19: Rev. Donna Frey DeCou Memorial Service

Rev. Donna Frey DeCou (Seattle Presbytery/HR) passed away this morning, July 19. Please join friends and family for a memorial service on Saturday, July 30 at 1:30 PM to celebrate Donna's life and witness to the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Location: Wallingford Presbyterian Church, 1414 N 42nd St, Seattle, WA 98103 (42nd & Ashworth).

Eulogy by Rev. Tiare Mathison

5/21: Rev. Donna Frey DeCou (HR)

Rev. Donna Frey DeCou's brain cancer has returned and she is currently at home after being under hospice care. She is unable to receive any visitors. Please join us in praying for Donna during this time.  

Rev. Tiare Mathison, Pastor at Wallingford PC: "Donna was a pioneer Clergywoman, who paved the way for many of us, with dignity, grace and a deep, abiding faith in the goodness and mercy of God.  Her story will last for a very long time."

If you'd like to share your stories and messages, please comment below or email SeaPres communications.

5/22: Rev. Gary Schwab Died

Rev. Gary Schwab (HR) passed away on Sunday, May 22, 2016. Prayers for his wife Judy and family are greatly appreciated during this time.

The memorial service will be held on Saturday, June 11 at 2:00 at Newport Presbyterian Church.

5/1: Rev. Donna Whitmore Died

Rev. Donna Whitmore, a former member of Seattle Presbytery, passed away on May 1.  She was residing in Pennsylvania.