On Sunday, July 10, members of the Faith Tabernacle church in Seward Park headed out to the parking lot after services to find a stern message stuck on their cars.

"As a courtesy to those who live nearby, please: keep the volume of your service down," read the typed, bullet-pointed note (signed, with slight condescension, "Thanks! Several Neighbors"). "There have been many times when we've been disturbed by either the volume of a service or the socializing after the service (with people yelling greetings to one another, honking horns, etc.)." That note—along with other complaints that the church is disturbing the residential neighborhood's "peace and quiet"—have prompted the pastor to consider relocating.

It's true, Faith Tabernacle's service is anything but quiet. The mostly black parish—led by the genial Pastor Anne Barker, a middle-aged woman who's been a minister for 20 years—opens, closes, and punctuates services with rollicking gospel music, led by a woman in a pantsuit clutching a microphone and backed by a guy on a small green drum kit. At the tall wooden pulpit, in front of two palm fronds, Barker begins her sermons with maternal advice and a bit of humor, and quickly crescendos into a flood of boisterous praise for Jesus. The crowd, fanning themselves, sways and sings from purple-upholstered pews.

"They're loud," ac-knowledges a young woman who lives across the street in this solidly middle-class neighborhood of modest, well-kept homes. "We call them the Holy Rollers." Her mother cuts in: "But I've never complained."

Most neighbors haven't complained about the congregation (which rents the ivy-fringed space, home to a quieter parish that meets on Saturdays, to hold weeknight classes and Sunday services). "Actually, we enjoy the music," says Melissa Maloney, a woman who lives adjacent to the church .

Obviously, a few neighbors—like those who penned the note—disagree, saying the church is disrupting the residential neighborhood, and awakening "our infants and small children." "Sometimes it's really bad," says a woman who lives uphill from the church. "They use loud amplification until late at night."

Barker says one neighbor seems to be heading up the complaints: He has called the police, who stopped by but didn't file a report. He complained in person to Barker and also, she says, made a xenophobic comment: "You don't even live around here." (She corrected him, saying her home was within walking distance of the church.) Barker also says the neighbor stands on the corner sometimes, monitoring services.

Barker says she's scaled back the music, asked members to head straight for their cars after services, and aims to wrap up by 9 pm on weekdays (noise ordinance rules kick in at 10:00 p.m.). But last Friday night, the neighbor confronted her again. "It's gotten to be too much for me," Barker says. "I don't want to make any enemies." The church, which has rented the space for two years now, is currently building a community resource center a few blocks away, and Barker says she's contemplating moving services to the new space as well.

SODO: For years, day laborers have congregated around Home Depot, hoping to connect with customers who need construction or yard help. But following complaints from nearby businesses, including those at the neighboring Starbucks headquarters, the city is cracking down by turning the street into a "No Stop" zone. Home Depot pitched in, removing storage sheds that offered shelter to the laborers. Last weekend, ironically, the laborers avoided the "No Stop" zone, and congregated closer to Starbucks. BALLARD: On Saturday, July 9, a Ballard man decided to visit the all-male strip club Centerfolds. Not long after taking a seat, he was thrown out (only women are allowed ). The man says he was then kicked repeatedly and berated with anti-gay profanities by the bouncer and two men from a neighboring pub. The man fled the scene and called the cops. Centerfolds representatives did not return a call by press time. JUDKINS PARK: Neighbors around a new Caribbean restaurant, Casuelita's Island Soul, are asking the Seattle School District to drop its opposition to a liquor license for the cafe. The restaurant is a block away from Thurgood Marshall Elementary, and the school is leading opposition to the license. —AJ