THE RUBRIC
STORIES OF
SAINT MARK’S EPISCOPAL CATHEDRAL, SEATTLE, WA
FALL 2025, VOL. 82, NO. 2
GREETINGS from the DEAN
Saint Mark ’ s
episcopal cathedral
welcome inspire transform serve
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
GREGORY BLOCH Design
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.
ON THE COVER: The All-Parish Banquet for the Living Stones II Capital Campaign, June 6, 2025. (See p. 4–5)
NEXT PAGE: The Junior and Senior Choristers and the Schola of the Choir School joined together with the Saint Mark’s Singers to sing an anthem at the 9 a.m. service of Holy Eucharist with Baptisms on the Feast of Pentecost, June 8, 2025. (See more on p. 10)
Iam always intrigued how a periodical magazine like The Rubric offers a snapshot in time, bearing witness to specific expressions of our common life in a particular moment— highlighting ways the cathedral community takes shape. This issue offers several glimpses of the cathedral’s vitality. In the ideal, such expressions of ministry are always guided over time by the overarching mission, and we do well to remember that our mission is stated as:
Saint Mark’s Episcopal Cathedral strives to be...
◆ a house of prayer for all people, where we worship God and proclaim the reconciling Gospel of Jesus Christ
◆ a loving, welcoming, inclusive community that nurtures faith, encourages service, and integrates social and environmental justice into our lives;
◆ a sacred gathering place for the Diocese of Olympia and the broader community in times of crisis, sorrow, and celebration.
Some institutions find their mission statements little more than mothballed aspirations from a moment in time when leaders cast that vision, but not much resonates day to day, week by week, or year to year.
social and environmental justice, and a sacred gathering place for the diocese and broader community.
The Rubric is one way we can test that with intention. The pages that follow document ways in which we do strive to be engaged in this important mission, in this important time. I hope you will read on and see firsthand how we are living headlong into our mission, and in doing so, might serve faithfully as a beacon of hope and a stable force of good in a world bewildered by chaos in so many ways. I am grateful to be about this work in this time with YOU!
I am heartened that Saint Mark’s mission statement, developed a decade ago, continues to serve us well… continues to guide us in the engagement to be a house of prayer, a center for The Very Rev. Steven L. Thomason Dean & Rector
WEEKLY 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 ( September–June)
9:30 p.m.
✴ The Office of Compline (also broadcast on king 98.1 fm)
SPRING 2025
weekdays
WEEKDAYS
monday–friday, 7:30 a.m. Morning Prayer online via Zoom
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
✴ Taizé Prayer replaces Contemplative Prayer on the second Tuesday of most months.
wednesdays
In-person Evening Prayer 5:30 p.m. in the cathedral nave Cathedral Commons community supper 6–6:30 p.m. followed by a forum or presentation at 6:45 p.m., usually also available online via Zoom
thursday, 7:30 a.m.
The Holy Eucharist in person in Thomsen Chapel (1st/3rd/5th Thursdays of the month only)
belong... then repeat
a
installation coming to Saint Mark’s
An excerpt from a sermon preached at the funeral of renowned Pacific Northwest sculptor Julie Speidel
A Capital Campaign Update
by Dean Steve Thomason
Cathedrals aren’t built in a day…
This well-worn aphorism holds true for European edifices now approaching their millennial anniversaries, and it is true for Saint Mark’s Cathedral in Seattle, conceived a century ago, and yet never finished. The history of our beloved cathedral is well-known: groundbreaking on the eve of the Great Depression, running out of funds and subsequent foreclosure, used by the U.S. Army in WWII, then reclaimed as a house of worship by a faithful remnant who stoked the embers of the dream that has passed down to us today.
Saint Mark’s now stands as a house of prayer for all people and as a gathering place for the diocese and broader community in times of crisis, sorrow and celebration. More than 100,000 people cross its threshold each year, and sixty non-profits use Saint Mark’s for their meetings, events and fundraisers. The cathedral serves as an incubator for groups working on housing, racial equity, climate action, and LGBTQIA+ advocacy, and the landmark campus is a registered emergency response hub for disaster relief. In short, Saint Mark’s Cathedral is a spiritual, cultural and communal anchor for Seattle and the broader region.
On April 25, 1931 (the Feast of St. Mark), the cathedral was dedicated for worship, incomplete but functional. Each generation has stewarded the cathedral in its own faithful ways; each generation has contributed its resources to the cause of continuing the cathedral’s mission as a “beacon of hope on the hill.” The cathedral’s neo-Byzantine/Brutalist aesthetic has become part of its mystique, but there are challenges, too, and it has fallen to this generation, to our generation, to address
these challenges so that generations to come will have opportunity to engage Saint Mark’s Cathedral.
The Living Stones II—Building a Sound Future capital campaign was launched in February 2025, under the auspices of the cathedral Vestry, a campaign leadership team co-chaired by Eliza Davidson and Randy Urmston, and consultant Marc Rieke of the Enrichment Group, who served with us in the successful Living Stones I campaign a decade ago.
The Living Stones II campaign is guided by three key missional values:
1. Creation Care & Carbon Reduction (to achieve our goal of becoming net carbon emission zero by 2030).
2. Enhancing Worship Experience (with updates to the nave and narthex).
3. Strengthening long-term health and sustainability of cathedral music ministries through endowment growth.
Bishop LaBelle, Dean Thomason, Campaign Co-chairs Randy Urmston & Eliza Davidson, and Campaign Consultant Mark Rieke address the Advance Commitments Gathering, May 17, 2025.
The construction project that arises from the capital campaign will be guided by these missional values and by realities of the cathedral’s infrastructure that require timely attention, as identified in a pre-design process. These include:
1. Nave HVAC system has exceeded its expected lifespan.
2. Electrical System for campus is at capacity and has exceeded its expected lifespan.
3. Cathedral House HVAC system is functioning marginally and has exceeded its expected lifespan.
4. Dated narthex and bathrooms (from the 1960s, with no functional heat, eroding floors creating a slip hazard, and dimly lighted spaces).
5. Crumbling of nave floor (which is a safety hazard).
The total cost of this project is estimated to be in the $9–10 million range, and the Vestry authorized a campaign goal of $9 million, based on a feasibility study conducted in Fall 2024. The parish phase of the campaign was the initial effort, concluding in June 2025 with an Ingathering Celebration on the Feast of Pentecost when it was announced that $7.4 million in pledges and gifts had been raised. Across the summer, a two-pronged second phase of the campaign now orients the efforts
to (1) Continuation phase within the cathedral parish, and (2) Diocesan and broader community phase. It is a concentric circle model, starting with the base of those who claim the cathedral as their spiritual home, and then moving outward to others who have connections to the cathedral in myriad ways. The response has been remarkably generous, attesting to the special place Saint Mark’s Cathedral holds in the diocese, the broader community, and across the Episcopal Church.
As of September 1, 2025, we have raised $7,771,677. Additionally, we have accepted the gift of a new organ from organ builder Paul Fritts, valued at approximately $1.5 million.
We are stewards of this cathedral at a remarkable time in human history and in the history of this cathedral.
“Like living stones, let yourselves be built into a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.”
(1 Peter 2:5)
Together we are the living stones in this generation, laying down a sure foundation in our own right, so that generations to come may experience this sacred cathedral and all it offers to the world in Christ’s name. ◆
The All-Parish Banquet in the cathedral nave, June 6, 2025
AFFORDABLE HOUSING UPDATES
by John Hoerster, Chair of the Affordable Housing Committee
t a special Cathedral Commons forum on May 21, 2025 we were delighted to announce a Memorandum of Agreement with Redwood Housing to serve as Saint Mark’s development partner on the St. Nicholas affordable housing project. We are not yet near the finish line, but this is a major and exciting step forward.
BRIEF BACKGROUND ON THE PROJECT AND DEVELOPMENT PARTNER SELECTION
The Vestry formed our committee in November 2022 to explore and, if feasible, pursue an affordable housing project on the Cathedral’s St. Nicholas site. Working with highly experienced professional advisors, we undertook a detailed year-long feasibility study at the end of which we concluded that (a) affordable housing is the highest and best missional use of the St. Nicholas site, (b) the preferred project is a multi-generational housing
development with about 130 rental units supporting tenants whose incomes are no more than 60% of area median income, and (c) with public financing and a wellestablished development partner, it is feasible to develop a project meeting our goals.
In light of these conclusions, last year the Vestry approved moving to the stage of selecting an affordable housing development partner that would bring expertise, credibility, and financial strength to the project while being aligned with our mission and project criteria.
The selection process took a year longer than expected due to systemic issues affecting affordable housing developers, but in March of this year the Vestry selected Redwood Housing as the Cathedral’s development partner and in early May Redwood and Saint Mark’s entered into a Memorandum of Agreement outlining goals for the project, roles and responsibilities, and timelines and milestones.
REDWOOD HOUSING
Redwood Housing has a national portfolio of affordable housing projects, but they are based in Seattle and have a significant and growing presence on Capitol Hill. To
1. Current Committee members are Karen Maeda Allman, Maria Do, Stone Fennell, Greg Hamm, John Hoerster, Bryan Pansing, Bethany Hoy, Re Knack, Scott Kovacs, and Dean Steve Thomason.
drone
photo by Brian Smale
date they have sponsored more than $2 billion of impact development/investment with a particular focus on the preservation and rehabilitation of affordable housing communities. They are highly experienced, share our vision, have experience in adaptive reuse of historic buildings, and have been excellent to work with so far. In making the decision to recommend Redwood Housing to the Vestry, our Committee considered the following factors: ability to communicate; clarity of vision; alignment with Saint Mark’s vision; relevant experience of the firm; relevant experience of the team; financial strength; organizational capacity and depth; history of working in partnership with mission-driven organizations or religious institutions; and cultural fit. We evaluated Redwood Housing very positively across all of these factors.
MEMORANDUM OF AGREEMENT
The Memorandum of Agreement provides for negotiation of a true partnership in good faith and with open books based on both Redwood and Saint Mark’s receiving a fair and reasonable return during the life of the project for their contributions. Importantly, the Agreement gives Saint Mark’s approval rights for the design, sustainability, and affordability of the project and provides assurance that the St. Nicholas property will permanently further the mission of Saint Mark’s.
The Memorandum of Agreement also sets important goals for the project, including:
◆ Focusing on independent rental housing for members of communities that have been harmed by the history of housing discrimination on Capitol Hill and throughout Greater Seattle.
◆ Creating a “third place” on site that provides opportunities for residents, parishioners, and community members to interact as part of daily life.
◆ Working with BIPOC-led Community-Based Organizations to (a) ensure that BIPOC communities harmed are represented in the development, (b) learn the needs of the communities harmed and how the project design and “third place” can best serve those needs, and (c) work toward significantly reducing housing disparities and advancing housing justice.
◆ Preserving the historic St. Nicholas building.
◆ Designing the project so it fits architecturally with the rest of the campus.
◆ Meeting “Core Green Building” standards of the International Living Future Institute and using building materials, construction methods, and operational
systems that contribute positively toward the Saint Mark’s campus becoming carbon neutral by 2030.
◆ Preserving tree canopy and greenspace and incorporating green passageways into the architectural design.
NEXT STEPS TO IMPLEMENT THE MEMORANDUM OF AGREEMENT
The Memorandum of Agreement includes a timeline that calls for reaching agreement on financial terms and entering into a Development Agreement this September, launching the Master Use Permitting process in the fourth quarter of 2025, applying for public funding in the third quarter of 2026, beginning construction in early 2028, and completing the project in the third quarter of 2029. (This is the best case scenario and there are likely to be some hiccups along the way.) While still working out the partnership arrangements, Redwood and Saint Mark’s have been full speed ahead to meet the timeline for launching the permitting process, including selecting the project’s architects, general contractor, and community engagement consultants.
CONCLUSION
We have reached a major milestone with the selection of Redwood Housing as our development partner. Thanks to all who have made this possible, including past and present members of the Vestry and the Affordable Housing Committee, former co-chair Emily Meeks, our professional advisors and especially Tory Laughlin Taylor, and all of the parishioners who have provided input as we have explored the possibilities.
There is much more information to share, not only about the affordable housing project but also about the Cathedral’s multi-faceted engagement in issues of housing justice, but this update focuses on Redwood Housing and implementation of the Memorandum of Agreement. Our committee looks forward to providing ongoing updates and holding additional forums to introduce the key players, keep parishioners informed of our progress, and obtain further input. In the meantime, we encourage you to visit the affordable housing page on the Saint Mark’s website, chat with members of the Affordable Housing Committee, and email affordablehousing@saintmarks.org with any questions, suggestions, or concerns. ◆
Find more information and updates from the Affordable Housing Committee at: saintmarks.org/affordable-housing
Addressing Housing Injustices in Creative New Ways
by Dean Steve Thomason
Saint Mark’s Cathedral is located in a neighborhood that, during the early and midtwenthieth century, was subject to redlining by lenders and restrictive deed covenants on real estate ownership that enforced racial and ethnic discrimination. Disparities in housing access and generational wealth persist in our city and in the neighborhood where the cathedral was built nearly a century ago. In its Affordable Housing project on the St. Nicholas property just north of the main cathedral building, Saint Mark’s has a unique opportunity to go beyond words and repent and repair the harm and injustice of housing disparities. The Washington State Housing Finance Commission, which administers bonds and tax credits that largely fund affordable housing projects, encourages CommunityBased Organizations (CBO) to guide culturally responsive engagement with communities that have been harmed by such housing injustices. Saint Mark’s has long been committed to the work of restorative justice and now seeks to establish Saint Mark’s CBO, which will guide a range of efforts in our housing and hunger ministries while also collaborating more intentionally with BIPOC and other communities harmed by historic injustices and by the Church’s complicity in them. This new 501(c)(3) community-based organization is envisioned as guiding Saint Mark’s by:
◆ Encouraging truth telling and acknowledging historic traumas related to housing injustices through engagement, education, and advocacy with CBO Board of Directors, Vestry, cathedral parish, Diocese of Olympia, neighborhood, civic leaders, and the broader PNW community.
“SAINT MARK’S HAS A UNIQUE OPPORTUNITY TO GO BEYOND WORDS AND REPENT AND REPAIR THE HARM AND INJUSTICE OF HOUSING DISPARITIES.”
◆ Guiding the portfolio of Housing and Hunger Ministries at Saint Mark’s Cathedral in a holistic, collaborative and synergistic fashion.
◆ Designing and developing a “third place” in the affordable housing project and administering/ overseeing the operational features of that space to ensure fruitful interactions among constituencies (communities harmed, cathedral, neighborhood, etc.).
◆ Deepening the partnership with nearby Lowell Elementary School staff, teachers and families (Lowell’s student body is 25% unhoused, and 30 languages are spoken in the school).
◆ Cultivating new leadership—a CBO Executive Director and a new CBO board, a majority of which is comprised of members from communities most impacted.
Saint Mark’s hope is that the cathedral’s affordable housing project can become a hub of community support, resources and stability for more than 100 households, including families with children. The housing community is designed to be intergenerational with at least 35% two-and three-bedroom apartments to accommodate families with school-aged children. Moreover, it is believed that this CBO model may be replicated in other congregations across the nation seeking to address housing disparities in restorative and reparative ways. ◆
Staff Updates
by Maria Coldwell
Our new Curate, Adam Conley, is no stranger to Saint Mark’s. From 2018 to 2022, Adam was on staff at the cathedral, serving as Seattle Service Corps Director and later taking on additional roles supporting 20s/30s ministries and editing The Rubric. Adam left the staff in June of 2022 to attend seminary at the University of the South in Sewanee, Tennessee. On May 9, 2025, Adam graduated from Sewanee’s School of Theology, having earned his Master of Divinity degree with honors. He was ordained to the priesthood on June 14, 2025, and began his curacy at Saint Mark’s on July 15, 2025. Two other Saint Mark’s folks were also ordained to the priesthood on June 14: Lynne Markova, who is now serving as Priest-in-Charge at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Port Townsend, and Kelly Moody, who is serving as parttime Curate at the Parish of St. Mark and St. Paul in Sewanee, Tennessee as she begins coursework for an advanced degree at the School of Theology.
Gerald Boler
Grounds Specialist, has a diverse pro fessional back ground includ ing experience in commercial building main tenance, marine and agricultural machinery parts fabrication, resto ration and repair, as well as a variety of textile endeavors including up holstery. He enjoys doing volunteer work for the theater, performance art groups, and independent radio. He began his full-time position at Saint Mark’s on June 2, 2025, replacing our beloved Chris Brown, who resigned in early May as Buildings and Grounds and A/V Ministry Coordinator to focus on his health.
Our new Senior Accountant Barbara Kelley began work at Saint Mark’s on May 19, 2025, having previously served 17 years in non-profit organizations, including Seattle Girls’ School and Boyer Children’s Clinic. Barbara has lived in Seattle for 40 years, has three grown children, and enjoys spending time with family and in the outdoors. She replaces Stephen Eddy, who changed roles earlier this year, from Bookkeeper and Scheduler to Buildings & Grounds Specialist.
Priestly Ordinations on June 14, 2025, including the Rev. Kelly Moody (center), the Rev. Lynne Markova (second from right) and the Rev. Adam Conley (far right).
Cathedral Sacristan and Head Verger Michael Seewer resigned at the end of July to begin a new position as Executive Assistant to Bishop LaBelle. In the interim, liturgical support will be provided by David Poortinga (Sunday morning support), Hannah Hochkeppel (weddings and funerals), and Michael Perera (sound board).
Elizabeth Antley has resigned as Climate Justice Coordinator and Cathedral Grant Writer, but she will continue as the Early Childhood Music Teacher for the new Joyful Noise early childhood music program at Saint Mark’s (see p. 17). Solarc Energy Group, which has served as our carbon reduction consultant since 2020, will continue supporting our Clean Building initiatives in enhanced ways. Our seminarian (and former Cathedral Grant Writer) Emily Meeks has agreed to work remotely on a contract basis guiding the cathedral’s grant applications.
Joshua Judd-Herzfeldt is now serving as part-time Communications Assistant, working on special projects, website updates, and general support for the robust array of communications at Saint Mark’s. And Jim Van Horn has taken on the role of Cathedral Scheduler in addition to his work as Music Librarian. ◆
Photo Roundup: Special Moments in the Life of the Cathedral Community
funeral of the rev. canon pat taylor april 4, 2025
cathedral day ◆ may 5, 2025
easter sunday ◆ april 20, 2025
pentecost ◆ june 8, 2025
photo by Greg Hester
capitol hill pridefest booth ◆ june 28, 2025
choir camp ◆ july 14–20, 2025
the women ’ s compline choir ◆ august 24, 2025
juneteenth liturgy ◆ june 21, 2025
Cathedral Yoga
by Christopher Breunig
ith an opening click of the narthex doors at 6 p.m. on this summer Monday evening, a dozen students walk in to drop their mats at the edge of the altar platform. They turn and start moving the cathedral chair rows back to clear the nave floor for the yoga practitioners who will join Cathedral Yoga tonight. Sunlight streams in through the windows, filling the space with the pale pink, yellow and blues of the windows. As the nave center chairs and side chairs give way to colorful yoga mats, quiet conversation stops and all are welcomed by a volunteer and then a yoga teacher. At 6:30 p.m., Cathedral Yoga Cathedral Yoga at Saint Mark’s begins.
Started in fall 2013 as a volunteer-led yoga class by certified teachers and
parishioners Brenna Kramer and Wendy Townsend, later joined by Irene Solomon and others, Cathedral Yoga was initially attended predominantly by Saint Mark’s members. Greg Bloch, Director of Communications, took on the support of Cathedral Yoga and shepherded it as it resumed following the covid-19 pandemic. Under Greg’s leadership, social media postings, yoga mailing list and warm hospitality increased student numbers from a couple dozen to about 100 each week.
Today the total number of weekly participants can sometimes exceed 170, and the overwhelming majority of students are not members of Saint Mark’s but are drawn by the opportunity to practice in such stunning and unique surroundings. Experiments
of pairing yoga with organ meditation, rotating yoga teachers, and sound bath performances have led to a unique yoga practice within the sacred space of the cathedral.
Cathedral Yoga is offered as a spiritual practice, designed to improve health, release tension and deepen spirituality. It is a gentle, restorative, and contemplative practice, and the teachers guide the group in ways that welcome newcomers and experienced practitioners alike. A weekly newsletter shares instructor bios, special events and news to a list of 970 individuals. Since 2023, a nine-member volunteer committee has kept Cathedral Yoga running smoothly. Committee members unlock the church, set up the space, and provide leadership for moving chairs out and into position so that the large number of students can practice together. Each week a different yoga instructor leads class. Styles range from hatha yoga (a foundation-
al practice that emphasizes breath control and holding poses) to vinyasa yoga (often referred to as “flow” yoga, a dynamic style that links movement and breath, creating a seamless flow between poses) to yin yoga (which targets the connective tissues, such as the ligaments, bones, and even the joints of the body) and the various styles sometimes include breathwork. Once a month, yoga is followed by a “tea social” that encourages connection and community around tea, snacks and conversation. The gentle yoga practice attracts students across generations from teens to octogenarians.
list provides insight into how Cathedral Yoga helps individuals form community and enhance well-being. Most respondents attend Cathedral Yoga two to four times per month
“STUDENTS COMMENT THAT BEING IN THE VAST AND SACRED SPACE CALMS ANXIETY, QUIETS THE MIND AND EVEN HEALS PAST RELIGIOUS TRAUMA.”
their own, and the class is offered on a pay-what-you-can basis.
Cathedral Yoga is one way Saint Mark’s lives up to its Strategic Plan goal to “…welcome all and serve as a gathering place for the Diocese of Olympia, the Seattle community, and interfaith and mission-related organizations.” A recent survey of the 970-person Cathedral Yoga mailing
and Cathedral Yoga is the only event or program at Saint Mark’s that they attend. Some students recount that they have attended the New Year’s Labyrinth walk, election vigils, and Compline. Students linger in conversation and look at art in the Nave and McCaw Chapel. Accessibility is important. Yoga mats and blocks are available for those who do not have
The cathedral nave is a unique space for a yoga class—students comment that being in the vast and sacred space calms anxiety, quiets the mind and even heals past religious trauma. One person appreciated that the space is welcoming, safe, inclusive, and transformative for yoga practice. Comments of “Thank you for offering your space for such a wonderful community event” and “a highlight of my month” capture the gratitude felt for Cathedral Yoga.
The experience of up to 170 persons practicing yoga together in an energetic and peaceful community cannot be found elsewhere and is clearly a blessing to the larger community. ◆
Learn more about Cathedral Yoga at: saintmarks.org/yoga
CENTER FOR SPIRITUALITY AND ACTION
News
aunched in 2024, the Center for Spirituality and Action (CSA) is a ministry grounded in the Christian monastic tradition of ora et labora “prayer and work.” Based in Leffler House, the Center fosters an intentional community for those who desire to root their daily lives in contemplative practice, shared learning, service, and spiritual formation.
At the heart of the Center’s offerings are yearlong cohorts—small, intentional groups that gather regularly for prayer, study, mutual support, retreats, and service. This September, two new nine-person cohorts are beginning their year-long journey at the Center. They will be working under the leadership of a new Director for the CSA: Carol Westpfahl. Carol is no stranger to Saint Mark’s—she was ordained as an Episcopal priest in 2001, sponsored by Saint Mark’s Cathedral. She holds a Master of Divinity from Church Divinity School of the Pacific, a Master of Arts in Christian Spirituality from Graduate Theological Union, and a Master of Business Administration from University of Washington. She has served churches in Connecticut and Tennessee, and is currently serving as Vicar of Trinity Church, Gatlinburg, TN. Carol helped establish the Seattle Chapter of Fr. Thomas Keating’s Contemplative Outreach and she is a trained Spiritual Director. Carol began her work with the CSA community at its opening retreat in early September, and she will work with the cohorts at other times during the fall, before relocating to Seattle in early 2026.
apartment intended to serve individuals making spiritual retreat on the cathedral close. This is a peaceful space that has been set aside for the sole purpose of spiritual and physical rest. It is not a guest house for tourists and visitors. It is a “thin place” of prayer. Prayer materials and retreat guides are available in the apartment, and a 60-minute spiritual direction session is included in each retreat.
Amenities include a single twin bed; writing area, couch, full bath, blow-dryer, towels, soap, shampoo, drip coffee maker, furnished kitchen, dishwasher, oven/ stove, microwave, refrigerator, dining area. Meals are not included. No pets or additional guests allowed. The space is located on the third floor of Leffler House, which is accessed via stairs.
Two- to five-night reservations are offered; due to cleaning costs, one-night stays are not offered. The Center for Spirituality and Action Director will assist in designing the retreat that is right for each person— email her at: CSAdirector@saintmarks.org. More information including a fee schedule is available at: saintmarks.org/leffler-retreat-house
CLERGY WELLNESS PROGRAM
LEFFLER RETREAT HOUSE
Leffler House’s main floors serve as a meeting center for ministry groups to gather. But a private residence upstairs now serves as Leffler Retreat House, a studio
A potential dimension of the Center for Spirituality and Action that is under consideration involves establishing a clergy wellness program, for diocesan clergy and others in the region, who would like to engage in intentional community groups, spiritual direction, guided retreats on the cathedral campus, and other resourcing aimed at clergy wellness, encouragement in ministry, and grounding in prayer practices. Watch for more information in the future. ◆
The Rev. Carol Westpfahl
Leffler House
WISDOM SCHOOL OFFERINGS FOR FALL 2025
OPENING PLENARY
c r ossing thresholds
Crossing Thresholds as Sacred Journey
Wednesday, September 17, 2025, 6:45–8:15 p.m. PST, in person in Bloedel Hall and online via Zoom
WITH THE VERY REV. STEVEN L. THOMASON
In the practice of medicine, the liminal point marks the bounds of perception—below it, one does not experience a discernible physiological or psychological response. In mythology, the crossing of a threshold marks the protagonist’s journey from routine (unaware) to sacred (new awareness). The ancient tradition of religious pilgrimage takes similar shape. The “in-between” space is often marked by uncertainty or a sense of suspension; one must muster courage, vulnerability, and a willingness to let go of what was in order to embrace the new beginning. Sacred rituals and practices help us orient to these transformative moments so that, even in the routine, we see the sacred.
Program is free; optional community dinner at 6 p.m.
($8/adult; $25/family max.)
Naming Our Thresholds
Wednesday, October 8, 2025, 6:45–8:15 p.m. PST, in person in Bloedel Hall and online via Zoom FACILITATED BY THE REV. CANON EMILY GRIFFIN
Thresholds are places for entering and leaving—for moving from one kind of space or time to another. We make these kinds of transitions throughout our lives but often don’t know how to prepare for them, mark them, or discern the shape of our lives in light of them. In this session, we will share tools for narrating our own life stories and explore how our shared story as Christians helps us make meaning of our endings that are also new beginnings.
Program is free; optional community dinner at 6 p.m. ($8/adult; $25/family max.)
The Somatic Enneagram— Listening to the Wisdom of the Body
Friday, November 7, 2025, 6:30–8:30 p.m. and Saturday, November 8, 2025, 9:30 a.m.–2:30 p.m. in person in Bloedel Hall and online via Zoom
FACILITATED BY ALICIA DIVERS
This two-day workshop invites participants to explore the Enneagram not only as a tool for understanding personality but as a pathway to deeper spiritual awareness through the body. Through gentle practices, reflection, and shared inquiry, we’ll consider how our habitual patterns live within us physically—and how tuning into the body can open us to healing, presence, and the sacred. No prior experience with the Enneagram or somatic work is needed—just a willingness to slow down and listen.
Registration required. Fee: $65, includes materials, snacks, light breakfast, and lunch.
AN ADVENT Q UIET MORNING Between
Two Worlds— Thresholds of Expectant Hope in Advent
Saturday, December 6, 2025, 9 a.m.-12:30 p.m. in person in Bloedel Hall and online via Zoom
WITH THE VERY REV. KATE MOOREHEAD CARROLL
Using the witness of sacred scriptures, the wealth of wisdom gleaned from life’s experiences, and the grace given in prayerful waiting, participants will be invited to explore meaning found amidst the ambiguity of life in these remarkable times.
Registration required. Fee: $25
The Very Rev. Kate Moorehead Carroll
Alicia Divers
The Very Rev. Steven L. Thomason
The Rev. Canon Emily Griffin
EVENSONG CHOIR PILGRIMAGE
TheSaint Mark’s Cathedral Evensong Choir is a unique intergenerational ensemble consisting of the most advanced Senior Choristers and members of the Schola (youth choir) of the Choir School, together with select auditioned adult singers. In August of 2025, 38 singers traveled to the U.K. to serve as choir-in-residence in the cathedrals of Lincoln and Durham for one week each. The choir had made similar pilgrimages in 2022 and 2018, offering music at the daily service of Choral Evensong and Sunday Eucharist while the cathedrals’ own choirs are on summer break. The singers, parents, and spouses were joined by Dean Steve and Kathy Thomason. With the encouragement of the Dean, the intense engagement with daily singing and prayer were tranformative spiritually as well as musically.
The Evensong Choir offers a monthly liturgy of Choral Evensong at Saint Mark’s on the first Sunday of each month during the academic year— services resume on October 5, 2025. More information about the choir, Choral Evensong and Saint Mark’s, and their recent U.K. pilgrimage, including links to video of services they sang in Durham and Lincoln, can be found on the cathedral website at saintmarks.org/evensong ◆
photos
(this row and top) by Charles Gagnon
Sing, Play, and Belong, then Repeat!
by Elizabeth Antley
Music frees us. Music connects us. Music empowers us.
At every age music can evoke an embodied spectrum of feelings that remind us of our shared human experience, deeply connecting us to our truest Being in each moment. This is JOYFUL NOISE
I was reminded of this while visiting my father in late April. I glanced at my watch during the visit and noticed I was five minutes beyond when I should have left for the airport. I was grateful I had buffered some extra time for traffic and security delays, so another five minutes would still get me to the gate on time. I could not leave just then, not during that song. I was shaking a maraca in one hand and holding his 82-year-old hand in the other. We were singing You Are My Sunshine in his group music therapy class. His complex dementia has taken hold of his body and muted most of his spoken words, but when the group boisterously sang “you make me happy when skies are gray” I felt him firmly squeeze my hand, turn his head toward me, and whisper “this is good.”
A few days later, I glanced at my watch again and noticed I was five minutes beyond when I should have started the “tidy up” time for my first class of Joyful Noise early childhood music classes at Saint Mark’s Cathedral. I was grateful to have buffered some extra time for class transitions on the first day, so another five minutes would
still get us to the end of class on time. We could not finish just then, not during that song. I was shaking an egg shaker in one hand and holding a bubble machine for the small group of 3-month-to-2-year-olds, and their parents, in the other. We were singing This Little Light of Mine in our first Tiny Tones session. My young friends effortlessly bouncing, smiling, twisting and twirling, loudly singing their approximation of new words they could feel in their bodies before knowing the meaning in their minds, and when we sang “Let it shine, let it shine, let it shine”, I look up and whisper “this is good.”
I am delighted to bring JOYFUL NOISE as the new musical offering to Saint Mark’s Cathedral! Babies, toddlers, and preschoolers from birth to 5 years old, alongside their chosen adults, will get a chance to explore sound, build the foundations of music theory, and develop key physical and social-emotional skills in this beloved community. Starting in September 2025, classes will run on Wednesday afternoons, in conjunction with the Choir School, in Room 102 of the Saint Nicholas Building; registration details are available in the Music and Arts section of the Saint Mark’s website, under “Joyful Noise—Early Childhood Music” or saintmarks.org/joyfulnoise
Let’s sing, play, and belong with music, and then repeat! This is good. ◆
Terra Exhibition Coming to Saint Mark’s
by Ben Browner & Eric Morris, co-producers of the Terra Exhibition
very special installation will be gracing the nave of Saint Mark’s Cathedral for three weeks this fall, from November 3–23. From the central beam of the cathedral, a 24-foot museum-grade Earth will be suspended for all to enjoy and contemplate. This beacon of unity will be internally lit, slowly rotating, and lowered at special moments.
Orbis Globes has been manufacturing globes like this for over thirty years. Their craftsmanship has been installed everywhere from NASA Headquarters to the United Nations. Smaller Orbis globes have even been launched into orbit and taken to the International Space Station! The dream to bring this artwork into sacred venues such as Saint Mark’s has been a longtime idea of Orbis Founder Eric Morris, and he’s teamed up with Revival Gatherings—a holistic bioregional events project—to make it happen.
The intention of the Terra Exhibition is to invite people into what astronauts often describe as the “Overview Effect.” When we come into contact
with our Earth in its miraculous wholeness—borderless and sanctified—it inspires an awe and wonder that’s terrestrially unrivaled. These exalted emotions, much like those spoken of in Biblical stories, have the power to change core perspectives about our humanity, engendering a holy respect for the natural world and our place in it.
The installation will be free and open to the public during exhibition hours (weekdays from 12–5 p.m.). Some of these afternoons will simply be offered as contemplative space, with a background soundtrack of nature audio, soft worldly music, holistic oratories, astronaut chatter, etc. Other afternoons will host light programming with local indigenous storytellers, environmental educators, live musicians, poetry offerings, or meditation teachers. All are welcome to join in any of these offerings for free. A programming schedule will be publicized soon.
On Saturday, November 22, in the culminating weekend of the installation, Revival Gatherings is hosting a pre-Thanksgiving ritual-theatre-concert in the cathedral. Imagine 1,000
participants gathered fully “in-theround” with a stage at the center under the Earth. Gracing the stage over five hours will be indigenous storytellers, and a wide diversity of local and nationally renowned musicians. The intention of the evening is to bridge culture through participatory song, bringing our voices together in service of healing a fractured past and forging a future of true gratitude, especially as it pertains to the Thanksgiving holiday. All are welcome to join.
We hope the cathedral community and the broader public will appreciate this “world” class exhibition. We
wholeheartedly welcome any inquiries, volunteering, sponsorship or feedback in order to help this project thrive. If the installation goes well— and we assume it will—Terra will likely end up touring major metropolitan cathedrals across the nation. We thank you for so generously inviting this exhibition into your spiritual home. We feel honored and excited to offer this, while developing a lasting relationship with you all in the process. ◆
In Memory of Julie Speidel
excerpted from a homily preached by The Very Rev. Steven L. Thomason at Saint Mark’s for the funeral liturgy of renowned Pacific Northwest sculptor Julie Speidel, June 30, 2025
If you were to stand on the labyrinth in front of this cathedral, and orient to the southwest, there is an azimuth, an angular line to be drawn from the labyrinth, to Julie’s sculpture on the south churchyard, continuing on toward the heart of the city, into Elliott Bay, skirting Alki Beach, into the Sound, and straight on to Julie and Joe’s beloved home on the northwest end of Vashon Island.
The continuity of those touchstones—place of prayer, Julie’s sculpture, Seattle land and seascape, and island home—these touchstones are aligned, which is to say, they are connected, and today, when we celebrate the life of this remarkable woman and commend her to God’s eternal embrace, it seems fitting to gather these touchstones into focus. Julie, the quintessentially Pacific Northwest artist, did essentially that in her creative efforts that span more than a half century.
The story of our region is at once familiar and yet remains cloaked in wondrous mystery: 16,000 years ago, a glacier of ice and rock receded, gouging its troughs that would form the Puget Sound, with its loess fields heaped high around it, including the one on which the cathedral now stands. Known as the Vashon Stade, this glacial age deposited erratics, large boulders originating some 300 miles north of here.
Julie seized on this natural phenomenon and its dance of elemental power in her series on glacial erratics, several sculptures deposited and on display across our region, one of which now rests on the cathedral churchyard, this cathedral which she held dear across the decades. This cathedral…which has served as a house of prayer for countless throngs across the generations.
Julie drew inspiration from earth, wind, fire and water as the elemental substrates for her art, a wide ranging portfolio striking the spiritual connections of meaning and beauty, culture and cosmos. The earthy metallurgy,
the welder’s torch blazing its fierce will on soldered joints, the windswept landscapes creating angles of fascination for the artist, the damp oxidizing air giving life to rich patinas over time, and water, the elemental gift of life.
In 2018, Julie designed and built the baptismal font for this cathedral, a signature piece of liturgical and communal meaning. Its angular themes drawing connection to unique aspects of this cathedral and to ancient Christian rituals, its heft of marble and bronze that fit the space, its flowing water help us take our place in the mystical communion of saints who for two millenia have baptized as a way of knowing in our bones that we are alive, connected, and beloved by God.
Again, if you stand on the labyrinth in front of this cathedral, and draw another line due west into the cathedral, that azimuth passes through the waters of that baptismal font straight to Julie’s ashes and on to the Table at which we trust we share a meal of mystery, a foretaste of the heavenly banquet, a morsel of sacred bread and a sip of wine which Julie found profoundly nourishing, especially as her sight and health failed in recent years. This azimuth line would then continue westward to a setting sun, the sort that helps us paradoxically hold cosmic beauty, life’s joys and the realities of death all in one frame.
To say that we are dust of the earth is to say really that we are stardust, part of the whole, cosmically connected with everything and everyone, who has ever been or ever will be, and that nothing in the universe is disconnected.
For that gift of life and the elemental meaning of earth, wind, fire and water; for the gift of Julie in our lives, for the unifying gift of sacred connection and sacred beauty, we give thanks to God today, even as we trace an azimuth to the heavens to help us remember Julie and all whom we love but see no longer, and trust that we are connected still, and always will be. Amen. ◆
Saint Mark ’ s episcopal cathedral
1245 10th Ave East
Seattle, WA 98102
THE SAINT MARK’S MUSIC SERIES PRESENTS
Mass Appeal
Cappella Romana with the Portland Youth Philharmonic Camerata
David Hattner, guest conductor
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 24, 2025, 7:30 P.M.
Brace yourself for a sonic experience that stirs the soul and lifts the roof. Igor Stravinsky’s Mass is bold, modern, cool—utterly mesmerizing. Anton Bruckner’s Mass in E Minor, featuring double choir, reeds, and brass, answers with lush, soaring harmonies and awe-inspiring grandeur. Performed in collaboration with the Portland Youth Philharmonic’s chamber orchestra, this isn’t just a concert— it’s a cathedral of sound. An electrifying concert that will move both heart and soul.
Information and tickets at: saintmarks.org/concerts