Our annual Holiday Party will also be a celebration of our 50th year of owning our property.
Everyone is invited and welcome to attend (and bring a favorite holiday food) to the potluck Holiday Party and celebration of the 50th year of Subud Seattle owning our property. Please join the festivities on Sunday, December 10, around noon (after 11AM latihan). There will be 50 mugs available to help commemorate this event. A donation to cover the costs (and contribute to the building costs) is requested.
[From an article that Sebastian Tedrow did with Chuck (now Robert) Cary]
“The history of Subud in Seattle starts in 1959. We were opened by a group of Subud Members from Vancouver BC. Members of the Vancouver group were originally opened by the Von Bissings who I believe were on a world tour to promote Subud and sailed from San Francisco to Vancouver in a yacht.”
The article continued: “Ann and I were opened in what later became the first Subud House in Seattle… Sebastian: The address is 959 Broadway E. It is currently a Bed and Breakfast – ‘The Bacon Mansion.’” Cary continued, “Before it became a Subud House it was leased by an organization called the ‘Center of Integration’”. [To read the full article, click here]
After the group was no longer able to lease the house, it rented a storefront on Belmont and Olive in Seattle. It was in a crime ridden area of the City with heroin sales happening in the area and in the tavern next door, according to an interview that Paul Nelson did with Sebastian and Robert in March of 2022. After doing some fasting for help with finding a suitable building, the group was led to our current location. [To hear the full interview, click here.]
After seeing the building Lawrence Crouse wrote a binding check for $500 for the purchase of the house, He and Roseanna Crouse provided the main part of the loan with Bob and Andrea Maynard and others contributing as well. Sebastian Tedrow agreed to be the chairman and to sign the documents for the loan.
Rachman Cantrell discovered an article that Robert (now Sebastian) Tedrow published in a SUSA article and wrote about it in this post from May 26th of 2021. It included a picture he took of the house in 1973. To read that article click here
One of the first renovations that the house received was in 1976 when Bapak came to visit and what is now the ladies latihan space was converted into his bedroom and the toilet on the first floor was added.
Other renovations have happened since then through the contributions of many current and former members including Evan Padilla, Marston Gregory and Insiah Caspers. It is their efforts that have modernized the house and made it possible for us to continue to worship Almighty God in our own facilities.
It is only through the efforts of those willing to serve our community that we have purchased and been able to maintain our facility. Please consider becoming one of those members that does the hard work of keeping it possible for us to worship in our own facilities by becoming a member of our committee in January of 2024.