West Central Abbey is a lot of things — a church that Reverend Katy Shedlock describes as, “a scrappy, compassionate, wildly creative congregation.” It’s also a venue for dance parties, local music and book launches and a community hub that provides free meals, Narcan kits and produce grown in its garden.
But it’s also old. West Central Abbey was built as the Holy Trinity Episcopal Church in 1895. The siding is starting to rot, there are holes in the floors and the only available bathroom is in a separate building about 50 feet away from the chapel.
It needs repairs and restorations — meaning it needs money. The abbey received a $50,000 capital gains grant in 2024 from the National Fund for Sacred Spaces, Shedlock said, but it must raise another $50,000 to match it.
As part of that effort, the abbey hosted a Writers for West Central fundraiser earlier this month. Local authors and Spokane residents Jess Walter, Thom Caraway and Leyna Krow gave readings of their work that tie into the West Central neighborhood, followed by a question and answer session for the audience.
“We need a lot more money to fix these problems, so I called some writers. I did not call the writers for their money — everyone knows that writers have none,” Shedlock joked at the February 6 fundraiser. “I called them because writers help us love our places. And these writers … love West Central in some deep and powerful ways.”
Caraway, who serves as Spokane’s poet laureate, read poems based on his experiences living in West Central from his book “What the Sky Lacks.” Krow read from her latest book of short stories, “Sinkhole, and Other Inexplicable Voices.” And former Spokesman journalist Walter read from his new book “So Far Gone.”
That book briefly features the abbey, as protagonist Rhys Kinnick drops his grandson Asher off there for a chess tournament. When Asher tells his grandfather he has to go to the bathroom and Kinnick replies, “I’m sure they have one in there.”
The irony of Walter doing a reading in a church from his latest book where the antagonists are Christian nationalists was not lost on him.
“I’m not a religious person, but I sought out the abbey for spiritual reasons,” Walter said. “Once you’re here, you get to know the people and that becomes a community. The people in this book that uphold the values of white supremacy have the same take, except it’s something that is very twisted and fear-based and obviously that’s something that’s still very prevalent and on display in our country right now.
“That’s why I think places like the abbey are so important, because you don’t have to be a church-goer to see the value in places that build that sense of togetherness on shared joys and humanity instead of condemnation. Writing and places of faith are examples of where we can go to find comfort and companionship and to share with other human beings.”
While the Abbey is still a long way from its goal, — as of this week, it has raised $16,191 — the writers’ fundraiser served as a meta reminder of its integral role in the community.
“For about a decade, I lived only three blocks from here,” Caraway said. “If you know West Central, then you know it’s a collection of characters. So largely, this is a bunch of poems inspired by those characters and the uniqueness of this neighborhood.”
According to the city of Spokane’s website, the West Central neighborhood is one of the city's oldest, dating back to its platting in 1887. Most of West Central’s residential area was established between 1900 and 1912.
Some of the short stories in Krow’s latest book take place in a not-too-far-off future in a somewhat climate dystopian version of Spokane, where the West Central neighborhood has been renamed “Little Seattle.” In one such story titled “Egret,” a restless young woman named Ruby, recently graduated from college and back at home in Spokane during the summer, goes around the neighborhood with her brother — a character who seems to have magical abilities — as they attempt to resurrect a neighbor’s dog she accidentally killed.
“Pretty much anything that you could imagine in the scope of Spokane human experience, it is occurring in West Central at any given time,” Krow said. “We're all living through a sort of ongoing experiment: Can you gentrify a neighborhood while keeping those qualities that made it unique and made it affordable? Can we keep the heart of the neighborhood?"
Renovations on the abbey are expected to start in April, Shedlock said. Monetary donations will continue to be accepted during construction on the abbey’s website. Another fundraiser, Chords for The Chapel, a concert featuring Floating Crowbar, Caridwen and Greg Spatz and Candace Zari will be held Friday, March 20, 7 pm at West Central Abbey. Tickets are $25 and can be purchased online.
