Rural Northwest religious leaders call for calm and healing after the election

Religious leaders east of the Cascades in Washington are calling for calm after the country’s presidential election.

Bishop Joseph Tyson from the Catholic Diocese of Yakima, Wash. said he is trying to encourage people to be mindful of each other.

Bishop Tyson leads about 190,000 people. The Diocese is about 75% Hispanic, he said. The Bishop talked about one of Pope Francis’ writings called “Fratelli Tutti:”

“He uses the word encounter a lot in Spanish as encuentro. And the Spanish is a little bit stronger than English,” Bishop Tyson said. “It’s being able to encounter people who think and feel differently from ourselves.” 

The Bishop said from his conversations with his churchgoers he believes many of his Hispanic followers lean Democrat. While most of his white followers and documented Hispanic followers voted for Trump.

“Certainly people feel sadness if things didn’t go the way that we wanted, but really it’s important for us to move, to acknowledge our loss,” Bishop Tyson said. 

 Bishop Joseph Tyson with youth at their confirmation in White Salmon, Wash. (Photo Courtesy: Bishop Joseph Tyson)

Soothing Richland Protestants 

Rev. Miriam Gentle is the pastor at Northwest United Protestant Church in Richland, Wash. 

“Being a member of a congregation doesn’t mean that you’re apolitical,” Rev. Gentle said.  

She said Jesus was living under an empire, and spoke against it.

“He said, that doesn’t make sense because you’re telling me I should hate someone because of who they are,” Rev. Gentle said. “Or I should, um, disregard someone because of their gender. That doesn’t make sense. So Jesus pushed against, and that was his civic engagement. Therefore, we are not apolitical. We must take the side of love.” 

Rev. Gentle’s church is part of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ). This election day, she posted herself playing the hymn ‘’Blest Be The Tie That Binds” on social media. 

 Holden Village is a remote Lutheran retreat center on Lake Chelan. (Photo Courtesy: Berit Kirkegaard)

Screaming and howling in Holden Village

Fear, worries and rage were present in her community after the election, said Abby d’Ambruoso, who is the pastor at Holden Village on the remote west end of Lake Chelan. It’s a progressive Luthern retreat for people to pray, hike and commune together for deep rest and rejuvenation. 

Pastor d’Ambruoso asked everyone to wear overalls to the nighttime service after the election to signify that they are there to do the work – showing up for democracy, caring about the environment and each other – together within their community. People greeted each other with long hugs and tears.

“People asked me how I was doing and what I thought,” Pastor d’Ambruoso said, “I said, ‘I’m unsurprised yet devastated.’”

She said it’s not the first time people of faith have had to contend with an empire. She said some people wanted to get to work straight away.

“And that’s not wrong, but it also seemed important to me that we had time to lament,” Pastor d’Ambruoso said. “And so last night we gathered as a community and we had time for a primal scream. And we just yelled, and then we kind of took a breath and then someone started howling and we howled. And when it seemed like we were done, we came inside  and we shook it off like the mammals that we are.” 

She said sometimes dogs shake after they’ve been through something really scary. 

“We all shook our bodies and we let out all of the emotions that had been pent up, or at least some of them,” she said.

Everyone who is at the retreat eventually goes back to their own community. 

“All of us will return to lives down the mountain,” Pastor d’Ambruoso said. “When we go, we will carry the truth of lament that we all have … When we go down the mountain to whatever communities we return to,  we will pick up work thinking about the friends and the community that we were part of here.  And it will give us strength.” 

From left, Jodhpal Singh, 16, head priest Jaspal Singh, and Kamaljit Singh Chauhan, 43, stand in front of the under-construction Gurudwara Singh Sabha of Yakima, Wash. The Sikh temple is slated to open in the Spring of 2025. (Credit: Anna King / NWPB)

Constructing a Yakima Sikh temple 

At a 14,000-square foot Sikh temple under construction in Yakima, Wash., workers use staple guns to affix insulation in the rafters. 

Jaspal Singh is the head priest there. He said he is telling his followers – many whom he said are celebrating the victory of Trump – to be kind.

“So, we hope this new government will do good jobs, good things for the country, for, uh, everyone,” said Head Priest Singh “So, our congregation is same. We respect every, every politician or every party.” 

Singh said Sikhs believe in one God that’s universal, hard work and in helping their communities.

“We believe in God, we believe in humanity, and we believe in brotherhood each other,” said Head Priest Singh. “So for us, all parties, same.”

Near the end of the conversation, Priest Singh said he wanted to say one more thing: 

“I would like to give a best wishes for our new President Trump,” he said. “So many, many congratulations, all American, all Republicans … from our community.”