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. The Lora Lake Apartments are located at 15001 Des Moines Memorial Drive. For a map, click here.

Following the service, some members of the planning group have expressed a desire to participate in an action of civil disobedience 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.

Parking is available in surrounding neighborhoods.  Please do not park on Des Moines Way So.

As of Thursday, 9 members of SHARE, a housing advocacy group run by local homeless citizens, are being detained in King County jail following their arrest at the Lora Lake facility. 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.

For further information, call the Church Council offices at 206-525-1213 x3037.  Or sign up for the Action Alert by clicking here.