Wherever you are on your spiritual journey, you are welcome here.
THE VERY REV. STEVEN L. THOMASON
Dean & Rector
MARIA COLDWELL Editor
KEVIN JOHNSON Photography
The Rubric is a publication of Saint Mark’s Cathedral, Seattle, which celebrates who we are as a community—as a parish, as a cathedral for the Diocese of Olympia, as Episcopalians, and as Christians.
GREETINGS from the DEAN
The Spirit blew through us… That beautiful turn of phrase, shared by parishioner Nancy Valaas in her reflection on the recent Celtic Pilgrimage to Ireland (p. 12), is an inspirational image for us all as we make our way in this earthly pilgrimage.
In the windswept fields of Inishmore Island, off the windblown western coast of Ireland, the stone walls are constructed with gaps between the stones to allow the wind to pass through. Inishmore stands as the vanguard of Europe, meeting the relentless Atlantic’s bluster across eons of time. The stone walls often whistle their tunes that have invited countless generations to come and listen and learn by standing on holy ground.
The Spirit blows through us… and we make music in our own time, but always with a sense that there is a symphony of souls who have been and will yet join the music in their own times, and in their own ways. This issue of The Rubric bears witness to this sense of connection to both past and future in this place, where a cathedral has stood for nearly a century now, and by God’s grace, will for centuries to come.
The doors of Thomsen Chapel serve as a signature element of the cathedral’s façade, and their restoration this summer was not a project undertaken in isolation—their restoration is marked by the memorial for two people who were born the year before the construction of this cathedral was begun, and who worshiped in this place for some sixty years. The Spirit blew through them, and we are blessed by their memory, their legacy in this place.
A new bishop begins his tenure in this place, and the future unfolds in new, exciting ways. New cathedral staff take their places in community, the community forms in new ways, and the work of repurposing part of the campus for affordable housing continues. In it all, we trust that the Spirit will blow through those who serve and those who are served in this place, and I trust that greater things are in store for this cathedral community than we could ever ask for or imagine, precisely because the Spirit’s movement is an essential part of the composition.
It is a great spiritual consolation, and a foundational premise of our Christian heritage, that we do not make our way in isolation, but together as community, and always with a sense of the legacy of those who have gone before, and with a clear commitment to steward this place for a time, leaving it to those who will come after us. May the winds of the Spirit pass through us in holy and life-giving ways that resonate with what has been and what will yet be. There is a keen sense of standing on holy ground here and now.
The Very Rev. Steven L. Thomason
Dean & Rector
LITURGICAL SCHEDULE
✴ indicates livestreamed service
sundays
SUNDAYS
8 a.m.
The Holy Eucharist
9 a.m.
The Holy Eucharist
11 a.m.
✴The Holy Eucharist
4:30 p.m.
✴ Choral Evensong
(first Sunday of the month, October–June)
7 p.m.
Contemplative Eucharist
9:30 p.m.
✴ The Office of Compline broadcast on king 98.1 fm, and livestreamed at saintmarks.org and on Facebook & Youtube
WEEKDAYS
weekdays
monday–friday, 6 p.m. Evening Prayer online via Zoom
monday, 6:30 p.m.
Cathedral Yoga in person in the cathedral nave
tuesday, 7 p.m.
Contemplative Prayer in person in the cathedral nave
(A ✴Taizé Service replaces Contemplative Prayer on October 1 & November 19)
wednesday, 6 p.m.
Cathedral Commons in-person community supper followed by a forum or presentation, usually also available online via Zoom
thursday, 7 a.m.
1st/3rd/5th Thursdays: The Holy Eucharist in person in Thomsen Chapel
2nd/4th Thursdays: Morning Prayers via Zoom only
beautiful addition to the cathedral grounds from sculptor Julie Speidel
ON THE COVER: The Women’s Compline Choir of Saint Mark’s chanting the Office of Compline on August 25, 2024, with Sandy Nelson’s art installation Communion of Saints in the foreground (see p. 14).
ABOVE: Artisans from Hurst Custom Woodworking reinstalling the iconic Thomsen Chapel doors after their renovation and refinishing (see p. 19).
AN INTERVIEW with BISHOP L A BELLE
by Maria Coldwell
The Reverend Dr. Philip N. LaBelle was elected to be the ninth Bishop of Olympia on May 18, 2024, by clergy and lay delegates from the almost 100 worshiping communities within the diocese. He will be ordained and consecrated as Bishop at the Meydenbauer Center in Bellevue, WA on September 14, 2024. The Rev. Dr. LaBelle has been serving since January 2011 as the rector of St. Mark’s Episcopal Church in Southborough, Massachusetts; previously, he served churches in Connecticut and Colorado. He holds a Doctor of Ministry degree from Fuller Seminary; a Master of Divinity from Yale, with a diploma in Anglican Studies from Berkeley Divinity School; a Master’s degree in English composition and rhetoric from Northeastern; and a BA from Gordon College.
Maria Coldwell: Thanks for taking the time to talk with us today. I’m wondering what persuaded you to apply for and then accept the call to be Bishop of the Diocese of Olympia?
Bishop LaBelle: First of all, I was not looking to become a Bishop; it’s not anything I ever aspired to be. But last October, I was eating lunch and looking at the Episcopal News Service headlines, and I saw the notice of the profile for this position. Within about 30 seconds of beginning to read the opening prayer in the profile, I could feel something palpably from the Spirit, and as I read on I thought “oh my goodness, what they’re describing could possibly be in alignment with where I might have some gifts,” and I was really feeling the Spirit prompting me on this. I took some time later
in the day and read the entire document and then shared it with my wife, Melissa, and with our two kids, bringing them into the process.
I realized that if I was going to do this, it was going to take some work, because I hadn’t applied for a job or updated my resume in thirteen years. My prayer was, “Spirit, if this is to be, keep the doors open and if not, let there be a clear signal.” But every step along the way, there was a feeling that this was a real possibility. When the election came to be, it felt like an affirmation of the discernment that had gone on for so many months, and by responding and saying “yes”—it felt like it was very much a calling from the Spirit, and then also from the people of the Diocese of Olympia.
You’ve lived your life primarily in the Northeast, most recently in the Boston area, so the move to the Pacific Northwest is a big one. This area is known as one of the leastchurched areas in the country, the home of the “nones.” How do you feel about moving to Seattle and how do you see that challenge or opportunity for your ministry here?
So I grew up in the Midwest, near Detroit, Michigan, but moved east for college and I’ve spent most of my adult life in the Northeast, except for a 3-year stint at a church in Colorado. There are similarities between Boston and Seattle—they’re both coastal, more progressive cities. I think Seattle is #1 on the “nones” list and Boston is #3. I see that as an opportunity here. How does church get defined? How do we live into the Gospel call of bringing Good News and living Good News?
There’s a mainstream media idea out there of Christianity as a more fundamentalist understanding of the Gospel and tied in with politics—and the idea of “white Christian nationalism.” But we need to focus on who
Jesus is and how Jesus lived among us; we need to be much more centered on Jesus’ way of love, engaging with all sorts of different people, on opening up and being more inclusive. We need to give folks a positive experience of church, because so many of them have had only negative experiences in the past.
What are your goals for the first few months or the first year of your ministry here?
Certainly to get to know the diocese, seeing where people are, meeting people—and it’s a chance for people to get to know me. But a lot of work has been done by the Diocesan Council through a listening process to set priorities—including racial justice, congregational development, living as faithful stewards of Creation. Here in the Northwest, there’s a lot of good work being done in reconnecting with indigenous folks and reconnecting with the land itself. So those are my top three priorities to work on with the people of the diocese: 1) Discipleship and congregational development; 2) Becoming “Beloved Community” and seeking racial justice; and 3) Climate justice.
How do you envision your relationship with Saint Mark’s Cathedral? Will you be able to spend much time at the cathedral, given the size and number of parishes in the Diocese of Olympia?
There’s a special relationship between Bishop and Cathedral, because it’s the home of the Bishop’s “cathedra” or chair. But there will be an ongoing relationship, being present at certain times of the year—Christmas, Holy Week and Easter, ordinations, Cathedral Day and confirmations. And the relationship extends to all the people, the community who worship there, and to Dean Steve and his staff. Seeing the work that’s being done at the
cathedral, the visioning and mission, it feels very much in concert with the work that’s being done across the diocese. And I’m looking forward to deepening all those relationships.
I see that you’re offering a workshop at Saint Mark’s on September 25 on “zimzum.” What exactly is that, and how did you get interested in the concept?
This is part of my doctoral work, and it’s based on the work of German theologian Jürgen Moltmann, his work around Creation. In Genesis 1, it talks about the world being a formless void. But if God was omnipotent and omnipresent, nothing else could exist or be co-equal with God. So if God was going to create into the nothingness, God first had to create space for that nothingness to exist. Moltmann found the work of Isaac Luria, a 16th-century Jewish mystic, who had come up with the idea of “zimzum.” This was God’s withdrawal of Godself, creating a space of nothingness from which God could then create.
Moltmann pulls this concept into his Christian theology. It’s significant that God’s first primordial act was withdrawal, a giving of Godself by pulling back, rather than God’s first act being one of power, of speaking out into the void. Moltmann also ties this to Jesus, using the hymn from Philippians 2— Jesus’ emptying himself, the kenosis, coming as a servant. So at God’s core is self-sacrificial love. For me, this is where I take it: We as people created in the image of God are called to make space within our own lives for God and for the natural world. We constantly fill up our physical spaces (all the “stuff” we accumulate) and also our time spaces (our busy calendars). How do we find that space? What does that look like? It’s a call to Sabbath—one day out of seven, stepping back. And I’ll have a lot more to say about that at the workshop….
EVENTS
Ordination & Consecration with Presiding Bishop Michael Curry as Chief Consecrator
Saturday, September 14, 2024
Meydenbauer Center, 11100 NE 6th St, Bellevue, WA 98004
Service & reception, 11 a.m.–3 p.m.
Seating of the Bishop
Sunday, September 15, 2024
Saint Mark’s Episcopal Cathedral 1245 10th Ave E. Seattle, WA 98102
Service & reception, 4:30–6 p.m.
I know that your two children are both starting college this fall so you and your wife will be “empty-nesters” here in Seattle, starting a new chapter in your personal life as well as your professional one. How are you coping with all of this change? And what will your wife be doing now in Seattle?
Yes, our son Noah will be starting at Princeton University, after spending a gap year in Senegal. And our daughter Olivia will be running track at Williams College (she’s a hurdler) and studying biology. My wife Melissa is an Assistant Professor of Education at Bridgewater State University in Massachusetts. She’s a teacher of teachers. She’ll continue that work in Seattle as an Adjunct Professor, teaching remote courses. She has a background as a French teacher and her doctoral work has to do with language and literacy development—how it is that people learn languages. So over the next few weeks we’ll be helping our kids move into their respective colleges and then move ourselves to Seattle by September 1. It’s a lot! Thanks so much—we’re excited to begin this new ministry with you in the Diocese of Olympia. ◆
AFFORDABLE HOUSING UPDATES
by John Hoerster, Chair, Affordable Housing Committee
In March 2023 the Vestry confirmed its strong interest in using the Cathedral’s St. Nicholas site for affordable housing and authorized our Affordable Housing Committee to launch a detailed feasibility phase. While the year-long feasibility study revealed some site development challenges, no critical stumbling blocks were unearthed. Accordingly, in March of this year, our committee recommended, and the Vestry approved, moving forward to the stage of selecting a development partner that would bring expertise, credibility, and financial strength to the project while being aligned missionally with Saint Mark’s and being supportive of the project criteria we have outlined.
This April we launched this new phase by seeking expressions of interest from potential development partners meeting our criteria. At that stage, though, we learned of a “perfect storm” of systemic and economic challenges facing affordable housing developers that discourage them from taking on additional projects in the short term. Our current assessment is that it will take two to three years for this storm to pass. Despite this timeline extension, the Vestry has directed our committee to con-
tinue exploring affordable housing on the St. Nicholas site. I think this is because, despite the perfect storm:
◆ There is still a long-term, critical need for affordable housing in Seattle.
◆ Affordable housing is still the highest and best mission-related use of the St. Nicholas site.
◆ St. Nicholas is still a highly compelling site for affordable housing.
◆ It is still critically important to help rectify the history of housing discrimination on Capitol Hill.
Our committee has very important work to do while the market challenges settle. A key focus will be to expand and deepen a robust engagement with the community, including intentional engagement with communities most impacted by housing insecurity in the region. We are in the process of finalizing a Community Engagement Roadmap for 2024–2025 focusing on three groups: the parish; neighbors; and the communities from which the housing residents will be drawn.
drone photo by Brian Smale
parish communication
The draft Community Engagement Roadmap sets objectives to (1) address housing justice issues as gospel-oriented and as an expression of Christ’s charge; (2) expand engagement on the interrelated issues of housing, income inequality, and poverty; (3) deepen our knowledge of housing inequities and the responsibility of faith communities to respond in just ways; and (4) build awareness that affordable housing is just one part of Saint Mark’s commitment to address a spectrum of housing needs.
We are considering several specific programs to engage the parish:
◆ Partner with the Restorative Justice Council and other Cathedral housing ministries (see sidebar) to host a “Housing Summit” in 2025.
◆ Host a Wednesday Forum periodically on housing with community partners such as Operation Nightwatch.
◆ Host a parish-wide study of two books by Matthew Desmond: Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City and Poverty, by America. (Copies of the books are available through a National Book Fund grant.)
◆ Create an intergenerational reading list of books on housing justice with potential to check out books from the library at Saint Mark’s.
◆ Maintain and enhance the Housing Ministry website content.
◆ Explore with Visual Arts Ministry an art exhibit that has ties to redlining or housing justice issues.
◆ Explore opportunities for further collaboration with the Diocese of Olympia’s Multicultural Ministries and Circles of Color and with Sacred Ground groups. Consider hosting an affordable housing workshop at Diocesan Convention (potentially in collaboration with St. Luke’s, Ballard).
communication with neighbors
Our communication objectives are to (1) cultivate a network of support by neighbors for the plan to develop affordable housing on campus; (2) provide ongoing transparent communications; (3) meet any public process requirements; and (4) continue to invite engagement at Saint Mark’s (for example, cathedral lawn, labyrinth, Greenbelt, Leffler Garden, and Music Series; we also want to welcome participation by neighbors in the parish communications activities discussed above). Overall, we want to cultivate the sense of a welcoming shared space for affordable housing residents, neighbors, and parishioners.
communication with the communities that will be served
We seek to work with BIPOC organizations whose members have been harmed by housing discrimination on Capitol Hill. Our communication objectives are to (1) identify the existing networks and entities within the impacted communities; (2) build relationships to listen and learn; (3) identify potential long-term partners; and (4) lay the groundwork for later engagement on design and operating decisions to assure that the St. Nicholas project feels welcoming and safe. As a very first step, our Affordable Housing Committee and the Vestry will be participating in Intercultural Competency Engagement work; we will then be reaching out to community organizations for their input and advice as we seek to meet the goal for the affordable housing project to best serve those whose communities have been harmed by housing discrimination on Capitol Hill. We will be reporting on our progress in the Winter 2024 Rubric.
and finally...
A heartfelt thanks to Emily Meeks for her extraordinary service as co-chair of the Affordable Housing Committee. We look forward to Emily’s return to the Diocese of Olympia upon graduation from seminary and will work hard to make her proud.
We welcome and would greatly appreciate your feedback, your questions, and your possible interest in volunteering, especially to help with one of the programs discussed above in the parish communications section. Please email: affordablehousing@saintmarks.org ◆
HOUSING MINISTRIES AT SAINT MARK’S:
Meals Ministry
The Threshold Fund
Affordable Housing Committee
Saint Mark’s Habitat for Humanity Team
Operation Night Watch
Lowell Elementary (over 25% of Lowell students are unhoused) Tent City 3
(Saint Mark’s has hosted Tent City for 17 years)
For more information please vist: saintmarks.org/housing
Stewardship as a Spiritual Practice
by Peter Snyder
For many of us the concept of stewardship may be more or less synonymous with the “commitment campaign” that the church sponsors every fall. Without doubt, this campaign is vital to the life of the community. It provides the bulk of the funding needed to support the many good things that are happening at Saint Mark’s Cathedral, including uplifting worship and music, meals provided to the unhoused, and infrastructure improvements that are reducing our carbon footprint, to name only a few. Furthermore, planning and executing the campaign consumes a considerable amount of the attention and energy of the Stewardship Ministry team. But important as the fall campaign may be, stewardship does not begin and end there.
To gain a broader view of stewardship, look at our 2024 Strategic Plan, which identifies Stewarding Our Resources as one of six focus areas. The plan describes this as follows: “We give generously of our time, talent, finances, and property, and care for the Earth as we respond to the world’s needs.” From this statement, it is clear that stewardship is about choices we make every day. Stewardship informs how we utilize our time, talent, and treasure, recognizing that all we have, and all we are, comes from God. In response to God’s generosity, we are called to give back with an intention to care for one another and the world in which we live. When viewed in this light, stewardship is a spiritual practice.
The first epistle of Peter encourages us to be stewards in just this way: “Like
good stewards of the manifold grace of God, serve one another with whatever gift each of you has received” (1 Peter 4:10). In the Greek, the words for “grace” (charis) and “gift” (charisma) have the same root. So the gifts we are given are expressions of God’s graciousness to us. According to Peter, these gracious gifts are “manifold”; each of us is given different gifts. Yet, in the midst of this diversity, there is a common theme: God’s gifts are given so that we can “serve one another”—they are given so that they can be given away. Interestingly, the word translated “manifold” (poikilos) can carry the sense of “multi-colored.” So, in the exercise of our gifts, we can imagine ourselves as forming a vast, multi-colored tapestry, where each person’s contribution weaves part of the beautiful pattern of our life together.
Now if stewardship is a spiritual practice, then, like all spiritual practices, it must be nurtured. One way that the church has nurtured stewardship throughout its history is through the practice of proportional giving. Proportional giving means that we give back in proportion to what has been given to us. After prayerful discernment, we set aside a specified portion of our income and our time to be used in the ministry of the church. Then, as our income grows or we are gifted with more time at our disposal, what we give to the church grows as well. Proportional giving does not mean that the time and money we give to the church belongs to God, and the rest belongs to us. That would go against the whole tenor of stewardship as a spiritual practice. As our Strategic Plan tells us, “All we have
been given is from God and we hold it lightly and with consideration of our neighbor.” Proportional giving is simply a tangible expression of this reality.
If proportional giving is a new concept for you, here is one way to begin implementing it in your stewardship practice. Start by giving one hour per week of your wages to the church and spending one hour per week of your time (outside of worship) in a ministry that speaks to you. Over time you may develop the desire and the ability to give a larger share; but everyone’s situation is different, and the important thing is to start somewhere.
As we endeavor to be faithful stewards of God’s gracious gifts, may we be knit together in the common life of the Spirit! ◆
Special All-Parish Gratitude Dinner
saturday, september 28, 2024 6–8 p.m., in bloedel hall
In a special celebration of community, a catered meal will be shared in gratitude for you and your presence at Saint Mark’s. The brief program will include a guest speaker sharing about the power of Gift, and Dean Thomason and select staff offering a post-dessert “off-Broadway” act designed to evoke laughter and good cheer. A show not to be missed! Childcare provided.
Moveable Feasts
by Heather Millar
Icame to Christianity, and to the Episcopal Church, as an adult. My family of origin was not just non-religious, but anti-religious. I tiptoed toward faith over more than five years, in my 30s. The first place I attended church regularly was a beautiful little redwood church with Tiffany windows, St. Mary’s-by-the-Sea, in Pacific Grove, California. The first church-y thing I did at St. Mary’s was a series of dinner meetings, called a foyer group.
At this point, I still wasn’t taking communion. I felt that I should really mean it, and know what it meant, before taking that step. But I went to these foyer group dinners. There, I met fellow parishioners, formed friendships with most, and deep bonds with some. When I had a terribly hard pregnancy, when my ex-husband had very serious work drama, these people stepped up to help. I began to see the face of God in that community. I began to take communion.
That was 25 years ago now. I’ve moved around since then: Brooklyn, New York; San Francisco, California and now Seattle. In each place, I’ve been involved with church dinner groups and have learned and laughed and loved with many people over meals. Some of these people have become dear friends. All of them have been a gift in some way.
When I moved to Seattle in February 2022 and joined the Saint Mark’s community, I noticed that there wasn’t a foyer group program, and made a note to myself that I should suggest one.
Foyer groups are a very particular Anglican tradition with their roots in post-World War II England, very much focused on traditional dinner parties in people’s homes. Working with Emily Meeks, we re-imagined the program to respond to modern Seattle realities: differing amounts of living space, different schedules, differing capacities to host. We also wanted to recognize that the Saint
Mark’s congregation draws from a huge geographical area.
We’ve just launched a foyer-group-inspired program we’re calling “Moveable Feast.” We’re starting in five pilot ZIP code regions, to make it easier for people to gather with those who live nearby. More than 100 people have signed up to participate, committing to meet with their group over food three times between now and the Thanksgiving holiday.
Not everyone needs to host. The gatherings can range from brunch to a picnic to a dinner party, to a group meal at a restaurant, or anything else the groups might care to dream up. The main point is to gather over food, to get to know each other, to build community. My hope is that these groups will not only be fun, but will also deepen our ties to each other, and to God.
We’ll have another round of groups in the new year, and hopefully, we’ll be able to expand to more ZIP codes. ◆
Photo Roundup: Special Moments in the Life of the Cathedral Community
cathedral day ◆ april 27, 2024
ordinations to the priesthood ◆ june 15, 2024 the women’s compline choir august 4–18, 2024
electing convention ◆ may 18, 2024 compline choir u.k. pilgrimage juneteenth june 22, 2024 funeral of bishop vincent warner july 13, 2024
pridefest & parade ◆ june 29–30
A New Ministry Launches... CENTER FOR SPIRITUALITY AND ACTION
This fall, Saint Mark’s Cathedral will launch a new ministry—an intentional Christian community for individuals who seek to order their lives through a contemplative spirituality and regular gatherings for prayer, formation, retreats, spiritual direction and service. The Center for Spirituality and Action (CSA) is designed to enrich relationships with God, self, others and creation, guided by ancient monastic practices of “prayer and work.” The Center seeks to gather and equip individuals who have the courage to embrace Spiritual Renewal, a Rule of Life (including daily contemplative prayer and regular study of the Christian mystical tradition), Mutual Accountability, and Prophetic Witness through compassionate action.
The Center’s curricular design will forge intentional community, foster contemplative practices, and host spiritual formation offerings through the Wisdom School. Leffler House will serve as a center for this community, a gathering point for service in God’s name, and an urban retreat house for community members. Applications to participate in the community were due on August 12, and the first cohort of 14 persons will form in September, with a commitment from September 2024 through June 2025. An enrollment fee of $495 includes admission to all Wisdom School events in the 2024–25 program year, speakers’ and retreat leaders’ fees, a silent retreat in the Leffler Retreat House, and resource materials for the community’s gatherings. Partial scholarships are available.
The Center seeks to equip participants for service in the world as a vocation of loving action. The work of justice and renewal arises from inner spiritual work, discerned within the context of intentional community. It engages unjust realities with contemplative spirit and prophetic zeal, not by “fixing” others or forcing them into a prescribed identity. While the suffering and complexity of the world are acknowledged, the community will be dedicated to cultivating joy and wonder in their daily experiences together. ◆
THE WISDOM SCHOOL
UPCOMING EVENTS
wednesday, september 18, 6:45–8:15 p.m., in bloedel hall or via zoom
opening plenary: A Spirituality of Hope & Healing
led by the Very Rev. Steven L. Thomason
wednesday, september 25, 6:45–8:15 p.m., in bloedel hall or via zoom
Meeting God in Our Busy Lives: The Theology & Practice of Zimzum
led by Bishop Phil LaBelle
saturday, november 9, 9:30 a.m.–12:30 p.m. , in bloedel hall or via zoom
Walking the Emmaus Road: A Journey from Lament to Hope
led by the Rev. Debie Thomas registration required (fee: $25)
the spirit blew through us: A Celtic Pilgrimage
by Nancy Valaas
ate in the afternoon of July 25, 2024, a band of Saint Mark’s pilgrims stepped off the ferry from Rossaveal in County Galway to the pier on Inishmore Island to begin a journey into the heart of Celtic Christianity. What did we do on this pilgrimage?
We withdrew from the world to re-center ourselves in the Everlasting. The journey took us to remote islands, down narrow lanes, to ruined churches, holy wells and astounding cliffs. We left the persistent demands of 21st-century life to visit places remote in time and space.
Our shepherds, Dean Steve Thomason, Eric Doss, and Kathy Thomason, led us gently and wisely, and former cathedral canon and fellow pilgrim Nancy Ross also joined us on the journey.
We walked in the footsteps of the faithful through the ages. At Clonmacnoise Abbey, at St. Kiernan’s church on Inishmore, in the Cathedral at Glendalough, at Bridget’s Well, and at the great abbey church on Iona, we stepped on holy stones. We worshipped God in ancient Celtic churches, on the sandy beach of Inishmore, beside the quiet lower lake at Glendalough and even in the moving coach on Irish lanes. Traveling by sea to the holy islands of Inishmore and Iona, we rested beneath the upright crosses that welcomed the pilgrims to the holy sites. Although we knew some of the buildings were “merely medieval,” there was a sense that this was holy ground back into the mists of time. In awe we stepped into the procession of the faithful.
The Spirit blew through us. As we sat praying on a patio near an Irish beach, a sacred breeze touched our faces. Salt spray splashed us on a turbulent ferry crossing. We were storm tossed by a squall on Iona. The walls of the
Aran Islands are built with gaps between the stones to allow the wind to pass through and not destroy them. Like the walls, we opened ourselves to the presence of God. We stretched our arms wide to the sacred beauty of Nature. We found God’s gentleness and strength in wildflowers growing in the crannies of ruined churches; we found cosmic power in Atlantic waves crashing against majestic cliffs; we climbed rocks and mountains to take in the grandeur of the landscape. On Iona we trod the paths and trails of this wild and windswept and holy island. The vast landscape of beach and ocean and sky brought awe. Our hearts sang to the beauty of God’s Creation.
We opened our hearts and minds to the joy and wisdom of Celtic Christianity and its sense of the holiness of the divine Creation, the sacred spark within us all and our calling to be peacemakers. The docents at the Solas Bhride Center told us of St. Bridget, renowned for her hospitality, her feeding of the hungry, and her commitment to reconciliation. We then were blessed with water from the well.
Throughout the pilgrimage, we worshiped with the inclusive and expansive liturgy of the Iona Community and the Corrymeela Community. Deirdre Ní Chinnéide on Inishmore stood in the wind-swept cemetery and explained the joyful communion the islanders feel with their Celtic forebears.
We bathed in the warmth and acceptance of the pilgrim community. We told our stories and listened to the stories of others. We pulled each other’s suitcases over rocky terrain; we reached out to the strangers we met along the way (and cared for an injured bicyclist). We laughed and we cried together. Breaking bread around the breakfast table, chatting in the back of the bus, encouraging those stranded with missed connections or lost phones, we
cared for our fellow pilgrims. We held each other in love. We trod sacred sites in Ireland that predated the arrival of Christianity. The neolithic burial mound at Fourknocks showed us the ancient reverence for the dead and a human passion for decoration and beauty. Walking the expansive Hill of Tara and looking out over much of central Ireland, we were touched by the innate human search for meaning. Standing on the Hill of Slane we admired St. Patrick’s courage as he lit the Easter fire and challenged the High King of Ireland.
We confronted hatred and violence. In Belfast we walked the Shankill Road with a bitter Loyalist and then the Falls Road with a former IRA member who had spent years in prison for procuring arms. We touched the “Peace Wall” which was hard, impenetrable and left no space for reconciliation. It just nursed anger at the other. Encountering the passionate, naked hatred challenged us to come to terms with the darkness in our world.
To help us process the Troubles, we met Pádraig Ó Tuama in conversation, and then we listened as he read his poetry to us over lunch. We spent the following day at the Corrymeela Community on the Antrim coast. There Seán Ó Baoill spoke of the calling to bring peace and reconciliation to a broken world… and he shared some of his skills with us. We were reminded of the importance of truly listening to the other and the danger of dismissing the humanity of the other. Some of us recognized the anger within ourselves and all of us agreed that love was the way forward. The passage from St. Paul on love was offered as a way of embracing two sides of the conflict. Sitting in a circle that afternoon, we spoke to each other honestly and passionately about our own calling to respond to conflict in our world.
And then we returned. May our pilgrimage bear fruit in our lives and the life of this community. ◆
by Wendy Claire Barrie
This year, Saint Mark’s Cathedral was the recipient of a generous grant from the Calvin Institute of Christian Worship which allowed us to imagine and expand upon the theme of “Cathedral as Pilgrimage.” From Cathedral Day on April 17, 2024, through January 2025, we have created different paths for people—long-time parishioners and curious passers-by—to discover sacred spaces here through the embodied experience of spiritual journey.
At Cathedral Day, representatives of parishes from all over western Washington poured water from their local watersheds into the baptismal font just before Bishop Melissa Skelton led the congregation in renewing their baptismal vows, and before more than 150 people were either confirmed, received into the Episcopal Church, or reaffirmed in their faith. We felt the cool drops on our faces from juniper branches dipped in the holy water
and flung joyously toward us with the invitation to remember our baptisms.
Three tours of Saint Mark’s—virtual, self-guided, and docent-led— launched on Cathedral Day. From July 8 through August 18, the cathedral hosted open hours on Sunday afternoons, Monday evenings (in conjunction with Cathedral Yoga), and Wednesday during the day, with tours, music recitals, and opportunities for prayer and quiet contemplation.
Throughout the summer, we welcomed current and former members of Saint Mark’s, first-time visitors, neighbors, children from Amistad School, residents of Tent City, joggers, and even sailors who noticed the cathedral from Lake Union. The heart of the summer program was a dynamic visual arts component, three installations designed by Sandy Nelson and created with the help of many Saint Mark’s parishioners: Communion of Saints, Waters of Baptism, and Hands of Pilgrimage.
Communion of Saints is a multimedia assemblage of gold plates with simple faces painted on them, three clear glass goblets filled with wine-red coiled cord, three baskets of bread made of painted sponges, and screen-printed napkins with the words “Body of Christ, Bread of Heaven” set on three
tables covered with gold embroidery. We are reminded that there’s room for everyone at God’s table, food enough for all, and a “great cloud of witnesses” join us there.
At least thirty different people painted the 150 wooden squares that make up the mural Waters of Baptism. Four different shades of blue paint — royal blue, teal, light blue, and aqua — form an image of flowing water, through which a stripe of gold, symbolizing the presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives, dips and swirls.
Several hundred cotton art handler’s gloves dyed green and strung on wire with gold safety pins swoop from the cathedral’s soaring ceiling in Hands of Pilgrimage. Inspired by the bishop’s laying-on of hands at Cathedral Day as well as hands held open in love and service, each glove has been shaped by a human hand and holds a folded
piece of paper, many with the single word “eternity” written in pencil; others with words left by visitors this summer, all of them extending over us in blessing.
Other Sacred Spaces offerings will take place this fall. September’s event is “Remember Your Baptism!” Dean Thomason was inspired by a similar event in England to host this intergenerational pilgrimage to the cathedral. It’s an opportunity to celebrate and reconnect with godparents, parents, sponsors, and those who are remembering their baptisms and to creatively explore the promises we make to follow in the way of Jesus.
In October, we’re expanding the invitation of our annual Blessing of the Animals on the Feast of St. Francis to the broader community including animal shelters and veterinarians’ offices and local dogwalkers. A pet photographer will be on hand to commemorate the occasion.
On Friday, November 15 at 7 p.m., the young and the young at heart are invited to come to the cathedral in their pajamas for a special service called Cozy Compline. Milk and cookies will be served, the children’s picture book Candle Walk will be read, then the lights will dim and the Schola of
Saint Mark’s Choir School will offer Compline, the Church’s ancient bedtime prayers.
Sunday, January 19 will bring one more opportunity to widen the circle of community at Saint Mark’s with lunch and an afternoon of service with several of our ministry partners as we commemorate the birthday of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. The golden thread woven through these different events and experiences is that spaces become sacred because of what happens in them: we strengthen and deepen our connections to the Holy and each other, in formal worship and informal gath-
erings, through art and music and play and silence. We feel the echoes of people at prayer in this place for nearly one hundred years and those prayers embolden us for the work of being God’s people in the world. ◆
staff updates
The Rev. Emily Griffin has accepted the call to become Canon Vicar of Saint Mark’s Cathedral beginning on October 1, 2024. Emily was formerly the Senior Associate Rector at St. Alban’s Episcopal Church in Washington, D.C., where she has served since 2015. She was ordained in 2003 and is a graduate of General Seminary (Anglican Studies, 2003), Rutgers University (MSW, 2002) and Princeton Theological Seminary (M.Div., 2001).
Emily is currently President of the Board of the Godly Play Foundation. She and her husband Mike will make their way to Seattle in late September after attending an international Godly Play conference in Edinburgh, Scotland. As “Canon Vicar” Emily will exercise parish community leadership in the Dean’s absence as well as representing the Dean and Saint Mark’s in the broader community when the Dean is otherwise engaged.
The Rev. Rich Weyls will now serve as Saint Mark’s Canon for Community Life & Senior Associate Rector, drawing upon his skills in pastoral care, preaching and teaching, and encouraging lay ministry. In this role, he will continue supporting several ministries, and additionally, as the new Center for Spirituality and Action launches this fall, he will provide key
leadership in designing the spiritual direction program (offered by certified spiritual directors in the broader community) to any in the parish who would like to avail themselves of such a resource.
Marc Aubertin became Subdean of Saint Mark’s Cathedral on July 1. The role of subdean has deep roots in the Anglican tradition, and several cathedrals across the Episcopal Church and Church of England have subdeans today who guide the operational details of the cathedral while also interfacing with the broader community including vendors, contractors, and consultants. Marc’s scope of work will encompass facilities, finance, IT, purchasing, and project management for the cathedral’s plans to meet the 2030 goal to become carbon neutral. He will also guide other capital projects on the horizon, and he will serve as a member of the senior leadership team.
Elizabeth Antley started work as Saint Mark’s Climate Justice Coordinator & Cathedral Grant Writer in mid-August. In this part-time role, she will engage special projects pertaining to the cathedral’s carbon reduction initiatives, strategic objectives, and missional and ministry goals, guided by our commitments
to environmental stewardship, intergenerational community, and restorative justice. She will also serve as lead writer for grant applications that align with the cathedral’s current and prospective climate justice efforts as well as a range of intersectional missional goals.
Elizabeth holds a Professional Certificate in Technical Writing from the University of Washington, specializing in grant writing, infographics, and brand strategies for charities and nonprofits. She has a BA from McGill University and an MA in Political Science (Human Rights) from University College London.
Saint Mark’s Canon for Cathedral Music Michael Kleinschmidt was recently elected to serve as an officer of Association of Anglican Musicians (AAM), the professional organization for church musicians in the Episcopal Church. He will serve as Vice-president for a year, then as President for two years, and then as immediate Past President for a year—a 4-year commitment. ◆
The Rev. Emily Griffin
The Rev. Canon Rich Weyls
Marc Aubertin Elizabeth Antley
Sculpture Gifted to Saint Mark’s
by Dean Steve Thomason
Perched on the western edge of Capitol Hill, Saint Mark’s sits atop glacial till, churned out some 15,000 years ago when glaciers cut their swath through the region. Glacial erratics punctuate the landscape of the Puget Sound, bearing geological witness to an era gone-by. That they came to rest on sites like Capitol Hill, far removed from their places of origin, communicates movement and change across geological time and invites consideration of the long view of creation, an unfolding cosmos into which we live and move and have our being.
So when Pacific Northwest artist Julie Speidel was closing down her Vashon Island-based studios and offered to gift to Saint Mark’s Cathedral one the sculptures in her “glacial erratic” series, it made perfect sense to situate the three-piece sculpture on the front lawn of the cathedral, atop the glacial till there. Its position may appear random on the lawn, but as a piece of public art on a campus that serves countless souls every day as an urban haven of rest and recreation, the sculpture sits along a line of site between the center entrance from the street and the Space Needle to the west and the saltwater beyond it, drawing connections with the waters that backfilled the ancient glacier’s receding path.
Speidel named the stainless steel piece Otemma 3, a reference to a similar glacial geology in Switzerland, that served as inspiration for a series of sculptures she did about a decade ago. Several can be seen in places such as Bloedel Reserve and the Amazon campus in South Lake Union. Julie says the series is “simultaneously referring to the local culture and natural history, inviting the viewer to contemplate the prehistoric past, while experiencing it in the here and now.”
Julie Speidel’s long and distinguished career in her native Pacific Northwest has often drawn inspiration from local culture. In 2018 she was commissioned to design the new baptismal font at Saint Mark’s, now a signature element in the cathedral nave, sized for the space with angles reflecting the nave’s unique architecture, and positioned at the entrance with flowing water and an immersion basin that has changed how we experience baptism as a community. The font was made possible by a gift from the True family in memory of Ruth True’s grandparents who were founding members of Saint Mark’s. (See the Winter 2019 issue of The Rubric.)
The True Family Trust, patrons of public art in the region, also made a gift underwriting the move and installation of Otemma 3 on the cathedral lawn. ◆
Infant Crema I n s La I d to r e st
by Christy Close Erskine
In November 2023, Jim DeLucia with the “Missing in America Project” contacted Sacristan Michael Seewer at Saint Mark’s Cathedral in an attempt to reunite the remains of two of my grandparents’ infant daughters with their parents, whose ashes are in the cathedral’s Chapel of the Resurrection. The infant cremains had been in storage in a Seattle funeral home for 88 years. Since my sister Marilyn and I were listed as the next of kin for my grandparents, Michael put us in touch with Jim.
This was quite a surprise for us! We knew about my baby aunt Jean, who was 14 months old when she toddled down to the lake from my grandparents’ home on Mercer Island and drowned in 1934. But we didn’t know that my grandmother Marian had gotten pregnant again in 1935 and given birth to a 9-pound baby girl who lived only eight hours. I can’t even begin to imagine the grief my grandparents, Clarence and Marian, must have felt at that time.
My sister Cathy has all of my grandmother’s journals and is in the process of transcribing them. She looked through the 1935 journal and found one sentence. “I gave birth to my beautiful baby girl and she died in my arms 8 hours later.” Marilyn and Cathy asked me to handle the details in Seattle, so I contacted the funeral home to see what the process would be to get the infant cremains out of storage.
I also remembered that when my brother-in-law died in 1977, my dad purchased six niches at Saint Mark’s columbarium. I remember that it seemed ridiculous to me then as a 20-something that my dad had bought six spots. But I asked Michael Seewer about those spaces and was told that there were two remaining. Since Grammy and Grandad were there, along with Mom and Dad as well as my aunt, Marian Poirier, and we still had two unused niches, it seemed to me that Saint Mark’s was the place for the babies’ cremains. That way they
are with their parents and two of their siblings.
My mom’s youngest brother, my uncle Howie, is still alive and living in Gig Harbor. I talked to him about the situation, and he agreed that this was a good plan. I also followed up with the funeral home and their legal team wrote up a letter (signed by my uncle) giving permission to release the babies’ cremains to me. I picked them up and brought them to Saint Mark’s in April 2024.
This is an unusual situation for us in that there is really no grief at this time… only gratitude that we discovered what had happened and have the space at Saint Mark’s to reunite the babies with their family. The other unusual aspect is that my husband Jack and I are both priests and members of Saint Mark’s. We had the babies inurned and said the committal in April.
This all feels like a resurrection story to me in many ways. Not only did I learn that I had another aunt, but there also just happened to be a spot waiting for both babies with their parents and two of their siblings in the Chapel of the Resurrection. That is pretty amazing and wonderful if you ask me! ◆
Christy Close Erskine is a retired priest who lives in Bend, Oregon, but is a member of Saint Mark’s, and attends worship virtually or in person when she and her husband Jack are in the Seattle area.
Thomsen Chapel Doors Restored
by Dean Steve Thomason
In 1931, Thomsen Memorial Chapel was dedicated and opened as the only part of the cathedral that would be completed as designed. A neo-gothic chapel reminiscent of small chapels in England, its construction was funded by Mr. and Mrs. Moritz Thomsen in memory of their daughter Wilhemina who died in the early 1920s of tuberculosis. The chapel has served for nearly a century now for worship and prayer, weddings and funerals, and a host of concerts.
The entry doors with their signature metal ironwork and notched oak became a prominent element of the cathedral’s façade, but decades of weather took their toll. So this spring, the doors were removed and taken to the woodshop of artisan Jonathan Hurst where they were rebuilt and restored. The
ironwork was also cleaned and restored. It was important to retain the familiar character of the doors while adding subtle improvements such as a kickplate, weather stripping and a specially designed plate on the bottom of the doors to prevent the wood from wicking up water at the base. The doors were re-installed at the cathedral on July 15.
The project was made possible by a memorial gift made jointly by the five sons of the late Dr. Don and Alice Jean Lewis, long-time members of Saint Mark’s who worshipped in Thomsen Chapel each Sunday morning for some six decades. They died within months of each other in 2022. Additionally, the Lewis brothers gifted the cathedral with two brass flower vases for use in the chapel, honoring their mother whose love of flowers was legendary.
The doors and the vases were blessed and dedicated in a service on Sunday, August 25. ◆
1245 10th Ave East Seattle, WA 98102
THE SAINT MARK’S MUSIC SERIES PRESENTS
Shaker Harmonies:
Celebrating 250 Years of the Shakers in America
SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 10, 3 P.M.
In August of 1774, a small group of religious renegades, led by a charismatic woman preacher that they regarded as a prophet, landed on the shores of North America. The communities they founded would becomes famous as “the Shakers,” known for their communal living and radical simplicity, their ecstatic dancing, and their unique, extraordinary music.
At this Sunday afternoon concert in the cathedral nave, The Tudor Choir, directed by Doug Fullington, and Saint Mark’s Women’s Compline Choir, directed by Rebekah Gilmore, will present Shaker hymns spanning the last 250 years arranged by composer Kevin Siegfried, in a celebration of their music and their continuing peaceful, artistic, and all-welcoming movement. Find the link to purchase tickets at: saintmarks.org/concerts
