I am a member of the Cathedral and Evensong choirs at St. Mark’s, and the parent of a teenager who has participated in St. Mark’s choirs and youth groups for several years. I also have served on a previous Strategic Planning Committee. My husband and I first attended St. Mark’s in 1993, and much has changed in our lives since then. We’ve lived in two other states, had a child, and I’ve gone from journalist to grad student to teacher to paralegal. Throughout that entire time--- even when we were not in Seattle--- we always considered St. Mark’s to be our spiritual home, mainly because of the wonderful community here. We’ve experienced firsthand how this church enriches and supports all, and I would be honored to become part of the group charged with moving our mission forward.
After completing Christian Initiation (CI) class at Saint Marks, I was confirmed at the 2007 Great Easter Vigil. I consider Saint Marks my spiritual home and would like to continue to give back to this wonderful community. I participate in parish life through my attendance at services, forums, and ministry. I have been an usher, reader, Welcome Table volunteer, coordinator of the AIDS Care Team, and Finance Committee lay member. I serve as a Radix Zoom co-facilitator and coordinate the Saint Martin de Porres meals ministry. I am studying in the Education for Ministry (EfM) program. I hope that I would bring to the Vestry my spiritual faith and a knowledge of our operations, history, and parish friends. I served as an attorney in public and private practice and a career in higher education as professor, dean, and vice president for planning.
I am honored to be invited to run for the St Mark’s vestry. A life-long Episcopalian, I’m a 14 year member of St Mark’s. I early on became a lector, and intercessor. I’ve represented St Mark’s at 4 Diocesan Conventions. I chaired the labyrinth committee one year, served on the environmental justice committee and am active in the Creation Care Committee. I’ve served on several nonprofit boards. I will be retiring this spring from Seattle Public Utilities, where I’m an intergovernmental liaison and strategic advisor for regional watershed planning and recovery efforts. I am inspired by the constant growth and evolution of St Mark’s, even into the virtual world. I’d be grateful for the opportunity to give back in a deeper and more sustained way and parlay my strategic planning, teamwork, grant writing and leadership skills into serving on the vestry.
My name is Maris Olsen, and I have been attending St. Mark’s for the past 4-5 years. I was drawn to this parish because of our strong commitment to social justice issues. I am primarily involved in working with several homeless ministries and immigration rights. While a member of St. Mark’s, I have worked with the Noel House community, St. Martin de Porres, and have been the team lead for UW Teen Feed for the past several years. I strongly believe that solving homelessness would solve a host of other societal issues. On a lighter note, I have enjoyed reading as a lector at the 9:00 service and look forward to resuming in 2021 . I am currently retired from my career as a program manager at Microsoft, and stay busy taking care of my grandchildren, sewing clothes, and gardening like a crazy person.
I had been in business and industry for 26 years; and another 9-plus in social services in a variety of leadership roles – many involving change management, and greater social responsibility. Away the office or church, I am usually traveling – seeing and learning about places and meeting people. I came to Saint Mark’s Cathedral formally in the fall of 2012. Not long after, I offered my talent as an usher and later, as the coordinator of the Newcomer Ministry; plus a few other tasks for a number of ministries since then. I was received at Saint Mark’s in 2015. My journey of faith brought me here; and more recently, I was talked into possibly running for a seat in the Vestry. I am a firm believer in the passage found in Matthew 22:14; therefore, if called, I think I am ready to help out however I am able to do so.
Russ has been a lifelong Episcopalian, but started coming to services at St Mark’s in the fall of 2016. He has served as a Eucharistic minister, and as a lay chaplain in community. He has also assisted his wife Rachel as a leader for the 20s and 30s group, helping to establish and lead the 'Questioning Together' monthly gathering for dinner and conversation. Russ started his work life as a shop carpenter and worked in professional theater for much of his career, most recently as the Technical Director for the Seattle Opera. Russ is so grateful to the St Mark’s community for the space for prayer, reflection, healing, and spiritual fulfillment. The people he has met and grown to know and love have made this place feel like home, and it is in this place and with these people he hopes to grow with his family. It would be an honor to serve this community on the vestry. He thinks there is much for him to learn and offer in this ministry should he be invited to serve.
I have been an active member of Saint Mark’s since arriving in Seattle in 2009, singing in the choirs (Cathedral Choir and Compline) in addition to assisting with the Schola and Evensong Choir when they were created. I have served on the Stewardship Committee, assisted with the Social Justice Ministry as the liaison for the Mental Health Chaplaincy when it was housed here, and helped lead several efforts withing the Living Stones Capital Campaign. I am currently serving a lifetime appointment as the Lay Chaplain to the Compline Choir. In my ministry outside the cathedra, l I work as an ad-hoc consultant for Chaplains on the Harbor, helping them develop and organize their ongoing growth and missional work serving our neighbors in Grays Harbor County. My professional life is varied, working as a professional musician, voice teacher, and non-profit executive specializing in arts management. I am currently the consultant for a number of small and mid-size arts organizations helping them navigate the pandemic as well as plan for the future. I am on a several boards and advisory boards, including for the Greater Seattle Choral Consortium, which I helped found. I live in Shoreline with a tiny cat-like velociraptor that likes to cuddle named Cosmo.
I have enjoyed and grown from my involvement in several ministries since I started attending St. Mark’s regularly in 2017. As a regular listener to Compline on KING-FM for many years, I already felt part of the larger St. Mark’s community. When I started attending Sunday services regularly, I began experiencing the warmth of the community and the varied opportunities for worship, education, and involvement. I was confirmed in the Episcopal Church at St. Mark’s Cathedral in Minneapolis when I was in graduate school at the University of Minnesota. At St. Mark’s my involvement has ranged from Education for Ministry—I’m now in Year 4—to the Visual Arts Ministry, helping install the Stations of the Cross, leading small groups with the Radix and the Racial Reconciliation programs, and co-leading a webinar last spring on coping with the stress of the pandemic. I feel enriched and blessed by being part of the St. Mark’s community, and I would be honored to serve on the Vestry, helping to continue the great work that has already been done. I believe my background on multiple church and community boards as well as dealing with the challenges of being a healthcare provider during a pandemic will be useful background for serving on the Vestry. Exciting things are happening in our community, and I am eager to support our ongoing programs and to help support new ones that we feel called to start. I am excited by the opportunities the St. Nicholas building renovation presents and hope to be an active contributor to that project. More generally, I am excited to imagine and experience our post-pandemic life together.
I offer myself as a delegate to Diocesan Convention, not from any sense of my particular ability to contribute. Rather, I believe that every member of an Episcopal parish/cathedral community has an obligation to serve in this way, when the Holy Spirit moves a fellow member of the community to nominate you. I’ve been a member of the Cathedral Community for 5 years serving in various ministries: Cathedral and Evensong Chorister, Thurifer, Verger, finance committee, Cathedral Foundation and cook (Wednesday Commons Meal). I have been an active Episcopalian for 40 years, serving as a parish treasurer and delegate to Diocesan Convention in the Diocese of Massachusetts.
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I joined Saint Mark’s in 1981 after moving from Ohio. Shortly thereafter, my husband died, I completed my degree from UW, and ran away, moving coast to coast and back. During the years, wherever I lived, I have served: Altar Guild, Choir, Lector, Acolyte, LEM, Vestry, Junior Warden, Search Committee, Diocesan delegate, CEEP delegate, Legacy Committee, Worship Leader. My return to Saint Mark’s in 2017 felt like I had come full circle: I was home. Here I am a Verger and member of the Garden Committee. Also, I am member of the Society of the Companions of the Holy Cross. I would be honored to represent Saint Mark’s at Convention and look forward to meeting and exchanging ideas with other parishioners within the diocese.
See statement above under "Vestry Candidates"
Since 2008, my husband Erik and I have called Saint Mark’s our spiritual home. We were married here in 2009, and since then, I have served in ministries that have included the Altar Guild, as Vestry secretary, as a member of a discernment committee, and an acolyte. I’m honored and excited to explore this aspect of our greater diocese as a delegate.
[no statement submitted]
[no statement submitted]
I began attending Saint Mark’s in 2001 when I moved into Seattle. A lifelong Episcopalian, I was drawn to the majesty of the cathedral and its commitment to social justice. When I retired in 2014 as President and CEO of Lutheran Community Services Northwest, I asked the Dean for some volunteer opportunities. I quickly became a lector and a Finance Committee member. I’ve also served on the SSC Advisory Board since its inception. After attending many Lutheran synod assemblies (conventions), I was interested in serving as a delegate to our diocesan convention three years ago and would enjoy serving again. Most recently I’ve been a member of the St Nicholas Redevelopment Committee.
I am a cradle Episcopalian from Colorado. We started attending St. Mark’s about a year after moving to Washington. We’ve loved this community and getting involved as we can in these unusual times. I led a Radix group and am mom to Jonathan who is in Choir School and Sunday School. As a teen, I served as a youth delegate and volunteer to the General Convention in Denver in 2000. I also volunteered at several Colorado Diocesan conventions so I was thrilled to be asked to participate here in Washington. I look forward to representing Saint Mark’s.
A lifelong Episcopalian, Mary Segall has worked improve the quality of international health care in over 20 countries. When working in the West Bank during 2008, she witnessed the bombing of Gaza over Christmas. As she observed, people had no safe place to run. Her commitment to education and advocacy continues through her service on the Bishop’s Committee for Holy Land Justice, and through chairing the Mideast Focus Ministry and the Kairos Puget Sound Coalition. Mary serves as a greeter and an usher and is working to restock the First Aid Kit, so that when the Cathedral reopens, the emergency response will be ready. She also participates the planning of the “Spirited Women” gatherings.
I have attended St. Mark’s since 1992, baptized there as an adult in 1993 at the Easter Vigil. I have served as an usher, a verger for many years and, most recently, a greeter. I also served in St. Brigid’s Banquet’s Teen Feed ministry for several years. I have had the opportunity to participate in many discerning and joyful events at the Cathedral, including marriage to Tim O’Sullivan in 2010. I served as an alternate to the Diocesan Convention in 2019, then delegate to the virtual Convention in 2020, which voted on the resolutions of the Ethnic Ministries Circles of Color. It was a powerful experience. I am honored to be considered for the alternate/delegate positions again for the 2021 and 2022 sessions, to represent this most “holy box,” my St. Mark’s home.
It is an honor to be considered for the position of convention delegate. I was received into the Episcopal church in Massachusetts in 1996. I was baptized and confirmed in New York as a child. Moving to Washington in 2004, I started worshiping at Saint Mark’s. I have been a member of the healing rail and presently serve as a Chalice Bearer and a Lector at the 11AM service. I have served as a delegate to convention for Saint Marks four times since I became a member of the parish. I look forward to serving Saint Marks and the diocese as a delegate to the 2021 convention.
UPDATE: Unfortunately, it is not possible to provide a recording of this presentation.
WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 27, 7–8:30 P.M., via Zoom
A Presentation and Discussion with The Rev. Rachel Taber-Hamilton
Saint Mark’s welcomes The Rev. Rachel Taber-Hamilton, who is Shackan First Nation, Rector of Trinity Episcopal Church in Everett, and Coordinator of Ethnic Ministries Circles of Color.
The Doctrine of Discovery historically informed the legal premise for justifying the forces of colonialism, including the enslavement of African and Asian peoples as well as the oppression and genocide of indigenous peoples. Rev. Taber-Hamilton will share the historical development of the Doctrine of Discovery, the historical role of the Church, and real-world contemporary examples of its continuing impact. The Doctrine of Discovery remains embedded in the legal policies of the U.S. and colonized nations throughout the world, policies that maintain the theological, political, and legal justification for continued neo-colonialism, including the seizure of land, genocide, oppression, and racism.
The Episcopal Church National Convention in 2009 formally renounced the doctrine and urged dioceses’ reflection and action. Come learn how allies can help deconstruct the effects of the Doctrine of Discovery as a social force in our Church, in our nation, and in our world.
