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I’ve visited a few churches in my lifetime, from London’s Westminster Abbey to Edmonds’ Westgate Chapel, from Marysville’s Turning Point Community Church to Portugal’s Monasterio de Batalha. I’ve lit candles and explored hidden spaces in cathedrals in Oxford, Edinburgh, York, and Salamanca.

But only one church, one local church with a history so intertwined with my own that I barely know where its ends and mine begins, has three hidden spaces of its own that I have yet to see anywhere else. That church is this church, Bethany Presbyterian in Seattle, and those hidden rooms are a children’s library, a darkroom, and a prayer room.

Abbie Berry created the Bethany darkroom ten years ago, under former Bethany pastor Bruce Murphy’s leadership. Her vision transformed a former men’s bathroom (and later a storage room) into a photographer’s heaven, as she enlisted Paul Steenstra to help with lumber and shelving, and Gary Kyle for pro bono electrical work. The two men quickly became her “helpmates” as the darkroom project began to take shape. Donations came in after an announcement was published in the bulletin, and soon Berry was able to offer periodic classes on darkroom techniques and developing film and prints in the summer. Berry says, “Paul and Gary were instrumental, as were the people in authority that let me do things” to get the darkroom up and running.

Though interest dwindled after the darkroom was finished, Berry plans to reopen it and offer some summer classes this year. She is especially proud of the darkroom, as it was her first architectural design opportunity – she is currently going to school to study architecture.

About six years ago, an anonymous donor gave Bethany a sum of money for the express purpose of creating a children’s library, located just off the upstairs bathrooms. Jill Bell had the “delightful job” of finding books, music, and movies to supply families with media and literature “that couldn’t be found elsewhere, [particularly things with] a faith emphasis,” she says. Bell worked with Delene Deforest-Dale to clean and paint the room, and Deforest-Dale donated furniture to help make the new library more welcoming. A screen was also set in place to protect the furnace from little hands.

The library now sees a wide variety of people pass through its doors, whether it be the half-dozen challenged children with their Buddies, Children’s Ministries volunteers with little ones in need of quiet space, parents, parents-to-be, and even grandparents with their grandchildren. Middle-school students are also known to come and read, or simply enjoy the many resources available. A wide range of fiction and non-fiction books, parenting resources, and children’s movies (including Veggie Tales and the Donut Man series) are available to be checked out on an honor system or enjoyed in-house.