Briefs: County Library District offers free business workshops

The Spokane County Library District offers free online business workshops each month.

The workshops are held the third Thursday of the month from noon to 1:30 p.m. Some classes are conducted in Spanish.

Upcoming online workshop topics are:

Oct. 21 – How to write a business plan, which will be presented in Spanish.

Nov. 18 – Tips for pricing and sales.

Dec. 16 – Smart goals for small business.

The Spokane County Library District partnered with SCORE Spokane to have business mentors and experts lead the workshops.

For more information on SCLD branches and programs, visit scld.org or call (509) 893-8200.

Health fair planned at Southside center

A health fair will be held at Southside Community Center on Saturday from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.. The center is at 3151 E. 27th Ave. on Spokane’s South Hill.

The fair will have more than 40 vendors with information on medical and health resources, fitness, insurance and legal assistance, and living and future planning options.

People also can get a flu shot between 9-11 a.m., and Washington State University nurses will perform health vitals screenings. There also will be a raffle to win cash prizes of $150, $85 or $50.

The fair is sponsored by Amerigroup, CHAS Medical Clinic, Family Resource Home Care, Hennessey Funeral Home, STCU, United Health Care and Fieldstone Memory Care.

For more information, call event chair Claudia Craven at (509) 701-5964.

FaVS to tackle ‘spiritual abuse’

Spokane FāVS Virtual Coffee Talk, which holds regular discussions online, will next focus on the topic “Overcoming Spiritual Abuse.”

The online conversation will be Saturday from 10 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.

The topic is a result of a story published in FāVS about Gerette Buglion, the author of personal memoir “An Everyday Cult,” in which she details how she broke ties with a cult. FaVS said in a news release that the story resonated with some readers.

The panelists are:

FāVS Editor Tracy Simmons, who has been a religion reporter for about 20 years. She grew up in a cult in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and has written about her experience in the Wall Street Journal and regularly writes about it on SpokaneFāVS and in The Spokesman-Review. In 2020, she also delivered a TedX Spokane talk, “Have You Heard of the Cult Next Door?“

FāVS Columnist and FāVS Center Manager Cassy Benefield, who is an Evangelical columnist for SpokaneFāVS.com. When she dedicated her life to her faith in Jesus in her 20s, it happened to be in the cultish and at times spiritually abusive sect of Christianity known as Independent Fundamental Baptist, she said. Today she still considers herself a Bible-believing Christian .

Jan Shannon, who has done pastoral work in three denominations, was fired from clergy positions twice, and yet she said she has hung on to her faith. She is a Christian leader with the Spokane queer community.

James Ellis, who graduated from Gonzaga University with a master’s degree in clinical mental health counseling, is an independently licensed mental health counselor, a national certified counselor, and a child mental health specialist.

He completed his clinical training at the regional sexual assault and family trauma response center.

The event will be moderated by FāVS Board Member Ben Backstrom.

To attend the discussion, follow the link spokanefavs.com/october-coffee-talk-to-be-on-overcoming-spiritual-abuse-will-be-held-virtually/.

For more information, contact Simmons at tracysimmons@spokanefavs.com or (509) 240-1830.