Candidates for Vestry
Christopher Breunig
I have attended Saint Mark’s since 2018, with periodic attendance at services and meetings over the past 30 years of living in the Seattle-area Episcopal churches. I live on the Eastside and attend 9 or 11 regularly. At Saint Mark’s I have participated in justice ministries, feeding programs, Radix groups, Cathedral Yoga Committee, Men’s Retreats, and other ministries. I came to Saint Mark’s after serving as a Diocesan member of the Vestry from 2015 to 2018 and realized my church home was at Saint Mark’s. I am divorced father of two—a married son and a non-binary child, both of whom live in Seattle. I am an in-house lawyer at Costco Wholesale where I support technology projects. Outside of work and church, I volunteer legal services and love to spend time with family and friends, cook, hike, and cycle. I am excited to stand for Vestry to serve this amazing community as it grows and transforms the world.
Martha Craig
Like many before me, I entered Saint Mark’s through the music door, as a member of the Gallery Choir. In my nearly 23 years as a parishioner, I’ve experienced the joy of being part of a loving, purposeful community and learned how rewarding it is to say “yes.”
I now sing in the Cathedral Choir. I’m on the Radix planning committee and have helped facilitate numerous Radix groups. I’ve been a confirmation sponsor as well. I was moved to become a Eucharistic visitor after a serious injury, when I found myself on the receiving end of a visit. It wasn’t until then that I fully understood what a profound gift of love it is to be embraced by your faith community. Over the years, I’ve taken full advantage of the opportunities Saint Mark’s offers to go deeper with my spiritual journey. I’ve taken many classes and I’m currently in my first year of Education for Ministry.
Now that my children, Catherine and Paul, are grown and I’ve retired from my 45-year career as a marketing and advertising writer, I can devote even more time to saying “yes.” I would be honored if you’d consider me for a position on the Vestry.
Nancy George
I grew up in a small town on the Oregon coast. My family did not attend church regularly, though we sometimes attended with my grandmother. I knew there was a God, because we said the Lord’s Prayer every morning in school. I worked in aerospace for 35 years starting out as an airplane mechanic, and then working my way into engineering. I was a mechanical engineer in fasteners with Boeing when I retired in 2017. After retirement I felt like I needed to grow my community, so I started attending services at Saint Marks. The first morning I walked into the 11 a.m. service, Carolyn White introduced herself, told me about the service, and sat with me until it ended. After a couple more services I felt like I found a home. I was baptized and joined the church in 2018. I am currently active in the Garden Ministry and the Facilities Committee, and serve as Greeter, Acolyte, Oblation bearer, and Eucharistic visitor (2nd). I have participated in the Women’s Retreats and in Radix groups. I love to figure out how things go together and how to fix them when they don’t. I’m always trying to learn more about how the church works and where my work is within it. Joining the Vestry might tie it altogether. I’m not sure where I’m going on my journey, but I know I’m going with God.
Phillip J. Haas
Having been a cradle Lutheran for over four decades, I joined Saint Margaret’s Episcopal Church in Bellevue in 2000 and Saint Mark’s Cathedral in 2005. I have enjoyed singing in the Cathedral Choir since then. After co-chairing the Cathedral’s 2007 annual campaign, I served on the Vestry from 2008 to 2010 and was Senior Warden for 2009–10. I have served on the board of directors of the Cathedral Foundation of the Diocese of Olympia since 2017 and was its board chair from 2019 to 2022.
I served on the Cathedral’s Finance Committee from 2017–22 and as chair of the Cathedral Office Space Task Force in 2021. I was a delegate to the Diocesan Convention twice, most recently in 2019, and served on Phillip Lienau’s Discernment Committee in 2018–19. I worked with Jim Green, Steve Thomason, Bishop Rickel, and others to develop a pastoral conference on Physician-Aided Dying in 2018.
Now retired from my 50-year career in health care administration and finance, I have worked as a Clinical Associate Professor for the Health Administration Program at UW, Network Market Head-Northwest Markets for Aetna, Administrator for Payer Relations at Valley Medical Center, Health Plan Executive Director at Virginia Mason Medical Center, and President/CEO of First Choice Health Network during my 38 years in Washington.
I have served on the boards of Pacific Vascular Inc. (2013–present), Group Health Cooperative (2013–17), the Association of Washington Health Plans (2004–2011), and First Choice Health Network (1999–2004).
Julia Logan
A “cradle” Episcopalian, I moved to Seattle in early 2013 and began attending Saint Mark’s, becoming a member shortly thereafter. In my previous church, I served on the Vestry and was Clerk and Junior Warden. I was elected to the Vestry at Saint Mark’s in 2018 and served as Senior Warden in 2019 and 2020. I was co-chair of the 2020 Strategic Planning Committee. I have been Chair of the Nominations Committee and have served on the planning committee for several iterations of Radix, as well as a facilitator. I am a Lay Worship Leader for Evening Prayer, and I serve as a greeter at the 11 o’clock Sunday service, along with a number of other ministries. I am one of the mentors for the Monday morning EfM class. Currently, I am Chair of the Board of the Cathedral Foundation of the Diocese of Olympia.
In the past, I have served as a chalice bearer, lector and intercessor. My work experience includes retail management, transportation management and logistics for a wholesaler, and non-profit work. Serving on the Vestry is a commitment of time and energy, but it is anincredibly rewarding way to give back to this community that I love. I am excited at the prospect of serving again.
Sarah McCord
I was baptized and confirmed in the Episcopal church and began attending Saint Mark’s regularly since 2018, when I was reaffirmed in the church. Since then, I have served in the ushering ministry, the Phase II discernment committee for Robert Stevens, and, when my work schedule permits, Bible study and the Radix Project. I have also attended a Wesleyan Small Group at Seattle Pacific University. I will join in the pilgrimage to Ireland and Iona this summer as well.
I did my undergraduate work in Mathematics at MIT and graduate work in Applied Math at UW. I teach at Seattle Pacific University in the math department. I volunteered helping elementary school children with math when my children were very young, then homeschooled my three children for middle and high school. I volunteered in the Saturday Science Academy in Los Angeles many years ago, teaching math every Saturday to very bright minority kids who otherwise would not have a chance to have high-level enrichment. I live with my husband and children and one grandchild and have several family members in the area. I’m interested in being more involved with Saint Mark’s, learning more about theology and my place in the church.
Christine Szabadi
I am a retired classical musician and teacher. After graduating from Trinity College of Music in 1963, I taught music in a girls’ high school as well as piano at the Westminster Abbey Choir School. Growing up in London, I attended public school where “scripture” was on the curriculum and daily services were the norm. Attracted initially by the liturgy of the Anglican church, I joined at the age of 13 and was confirmed by the Bishop of Chelmsford a year later. After I married we moved to Basel, Switzerland, where I attended the Anglican church in the chapel at Basel Cathedral. When we arrived in the USA, I joined the Episcopal Church in New Jersey (Diocese of Newark). There I sang in the choir as soloist, was lector and intercessor and served two years on the vestry. In this country I have served on several Boards of Directors, including The Professional Music Teachers’ Guild of New Jersey and Seattle Opera Guild, serving as Board President of both. In New Jersey, I also ran a successful piano studio. Since I came to Saint Mark’s, I truly feel I have come home. I would be proud and honored to represent you on the Vestry.
David Thompson
I am a retired lawyer, married with two adult children. Over the years, I’ve served on the boards of several nonprofit organizations with missions including music, higher education, and the environment. It would be a special honor to serve on the Vestry at Saint Mark’s. After years of occasional visits, I joined Saint Mark’s in 2014, drawn as so many are by the liturgical tradition coupled with a commitment to social justice. I usually attend the 9 a.m. service and have served on the ushering team and as a lector/intercessor. I also served on the 2020 Strategic Planning Committee.
Tom Hayton talked me into signing up for EfM in 2017. Reading the entire Old Testament that first year was a slog, but the warm camaraderie of our little group kept me going through the full four-year program. Radix offered another meaningful small group experience. Prayer with fellow seekers—what a gift! Saint Mark’s serves a unique function in our city. It is as warm and welcoming as any of the small Episcopal parishes I attended before moving to Seattle. At the same time, it is big enough to provide space—both literal and metaphorical—for large events and diverse programs that serve both the congregation and the wider community. I look forward to being a part of finding new ways to serve each other and our city in this special place.
Candidates for Diocesan Convention Delegate
Nancy Beadie
Nancy is grateful for the generous welcome she has experienced from Saint Mark’s clergy, staff, and parishioners since becoming a regular Saint Mark’s communicant in the Autumn of 2022. Raised in various Methodist and Presbyterian Churches in the Northeast and Midwest, and active as an adult congregant in Lutheran and Congregationalist churches in upstate New York and New England, she is glad to have finally found her church home as a confirmed Episcopalian, the church in which her parents were married and her uncle and cousin both served as ordained priests. Especially appreciative of the many opportunities Saint Mark’s offers for deepening her faith, she has participated in the Inquirer’s class, Radix groups, the Wisdom School, Thursday morning prayer group, and the Saint Mark’s writing group. Serving as a delegate to the Diocesan Convention would enable her to continue that process of learning and discernment. Perhaps pertinent to that role, as a recently retired professor at the University of Washington she previously served as elected President of the faculty of the UW College of Education (twice), as elected President and Vice-President of two national professional organizations, and as Senior Editor of her national professional journal, History of Education Quarterly.
Bob Carter
A former Roman Catholic, I moved to Seattle from Virginia in 2017, began attending Saint Mark’s with my wife Lauren in 2018, and became a member of the Episcopal Church and Saint Mark’s parish in 2021. I cherish the welcoming, inclusive spirit of the Saint Mark’s community and our strong commitment to equality, justice, service, and spiritual growth. At Saint Mark’s, I serve as a lay reader and member of the Restorative Justice Council, and I am enrolled in Education for Ministry. I have joined six Radix groups and facilitated two of them. Before the pandemic I served in prison ministry at King County jail. I attend weekly Cursillo group reunions and the Second Sunday Cathedral Book Group. I hold a Ph.D. in American history. I have taught at every level of public instruction and served as a historian and manager in Virginia’s State Historic Preservation Office for 35 years. Lauren and I have been married for fifty-one years and have three sons and six grandchildren.
Sallie Crotty
Sallie Crotty is a lifelong Episcopalian. She was born in Dallas and raised in Galveston, Texas, where her family attended Trinity Episcopal Church. Her mother became one of the first female Episcopal priests in Texas.
Episcopal schools also shaped Sallie: Trinity in Galveston, St. Stephen’s in Austin, and Sewanee: The University of the South. At each place, she served in various capacities. While at Harvard earning her Ed.M., she attended Christ Church Cambridge.
In Dallas, where she lived for 26 years, she attended St. Matthew’s Cathedral and married Mark. They later attended St. Christopher’s Episcopal Church and raised their two children, Kate and Stephen, there. She served in various roles and ministries there, including serving as Vestry Senior Warden, leading a Vestry retreat and stewardship campaign, and serving as a delegate to Convention.
After moving to Seattle in June 2019, Sallie and Mark joined Saint Mark’s. She finished Education for Ministry and has been active in Radix, EfM book group, Saint Mark’s Writers’ Group, and Creation Care ministry. She is honored and grateful to serve as a Diocesan Convention Delegate from Saint Mark’s.
Sallie is a writer, educator, and mental health advocate. She holds a BA in English from Sewanee: The University of the South and an Ed.M. from the Harvard Graduate School of Education. She will graduate from Queens University of Charlotte in January 2024 with a Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing, with a focus on poetry. She aspires to bring poetry creative writing workshops into outpatient and inpatient mental health settings. Sallie and Mark are deeply grateful for the Saint Mark’s Episcopal Cathedral community.
Wayne Duncan
I am honored to be nominated to serve as a delegate from Saint Mark’s to the Diocesan Convention. I am interested in the larger diocese, having gotten to know more members from different parishes as I have served on the Vestry, where I am currently completing the second year of the three-year term. Having completed the Education for Ministry program that extends throughout the diocese, I am interested in ways we can strengthen ties between Saint Mark’s and other parishes. Participating in Diocesan Convention is one way to do this, and I would be honored to serve in this role, especially as churches across the diocese recover from the pandemic, and as we welcome a new bishop in the next year.
Sarah Elwood-Faustino
Sarah Elwood-Faustino began attending Saint Mark’s in 2006, where the Thursday 7 a.m. Eucharist has long been her base community-within-the-community. She serves as a Eucharistic Visitor and Lay Worship Leader for Morning Prayer, and most often feels the presence of God when she’s biking, hiking or swimming in this beautiful place we call home. In her work life, Sarah is a professor of geography at the University of Washington, and her research and teaching focus on urban geographies, impoverishment, and creative politics forged by marginalized communities fighting for justice, equity, and self-determination. She’s excited to have a chance to learn more about the broader workings of our church as a Delegate to Convention.
Barbara Erickson
I have been a member of Saint Mark’s since the early 1990s, and I currently serve as Clerk of the Vestry.
I attend the 11 a.m. service. I am currently volunteering at the cathedral office front desk on Monday and Friday mornings, and I am a member of the Restorative Justice Council, the Feeding Ministry, the Bread Bakers, the 11 a.m. Greeters, and the Ministry of Worsted Wool (knitters). I belong to and volunteer with the United States Power Squadrons, a boating education organization, and the Good Sams Club of Washington, my RV group.
I grew up in Wickliffe, Ohio, attended Ohio State University, moved to the Seattle area in 1973, where I worked in and retired from the telecommunications industry, and found Saint Mark’s. My family consists of my husband, Steve, and kitty Gloria. Post pandemic, I have felt a call to know more about being an Episcopalian, to get to know the Diocese, and to be involved on a different level.
Hamilton Harris
I am a tenor in the Schola Choir at Saint Marks. I’m a junior in high school. I’m passionate about music. In addition to singing I also play the violin. I’m also passionate about nature and I do gardening at my school. I look forward to serving as a Delegate to Convention and to learning more about our Diocese.
Anneka Herring
Anneka Herring (she/her), is a sophomore at Garfield High School in Seattle. She has been in the Saint Marks Choir School for almost 10 years, and currently sings as a member of the Schola and Evensong choirs. She is passionate about the environment and loves hiking, camping, and going backpacking with her dad. Outside of choir, she also plays piano, softball, and runs cross country. Anneka listens to Taylor Swift, SZA, and Fleetwood Mac, and seeing live music is one of her favorite things. She loves traveling abroad, and hopes to see as much of the world as she can in her lifetime. Anneka is excited to serve as a delegate for Diocesan Convention and can’t wait to contribute to the church that has played such an important role in her life.
Jacquelyn Miller
I grew up in an evangelical Christian tradition. However, when my husband and I lived in Cambridge, England, in the mid-80s, we began attending Anglican services and found ourselves drawn to this religious tradition. After completing our graduate degrees at Rutgers University and elsewhere, we moved to the Seattle area, began attending Saint Marks in the mid-90s, and have participated in the Habitat for Humanity justice ministry for over twenty-five years. Eventually we officially joined the Saint Mark’s Cathedral community and, as a result, I began to intensify my involvement in its daily activities, including serving almost six years on the Justice Ministries Coordinating Team, a group that promoted and liaised with a wide-range of justice-oriented volunteers, and as a co-leader of the Habitat for Humanity ministry for many years. I have also served as a convention delegate twice before, and this experience of participating in the Episcopal governance tradition has inspired me to seek this appointment once again. I am a Professor Emerita from Seattle University where I was a member of the History Department. I spend much of my free time learning Spanish, biking, birding, hiking with a wonderful group of women every Wednesday, and volunteering with AARP as a Tax-Aide counselor preparing tax returns at no charge for people of all ages and income levels.
Gordon Miller
I have been involved in the life of Saint Mark’s for over twenty-five years, having been drawn to the spirit and mission of the Episcopal Church after living in England during the late 1980s, and was received into the Anglican Communion at Easter 2012. I have served primarily as co-leader of the Habitat for Humanity justice ministry for the past eighteen years and have participated in local, national, and international building projects, including a Jimmy Carter build in Mexico, several trips to New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina, leading a Global Village trip to Mexico, and, more recently, coordinating numerous projects on the Saint Mark’s campus. I am an Emeritus Professor of Environmental Studies at Seattle University and in 2023 I presented a Sunday Forum at Saint Mark’s growing out of my interest in the spiritual dimensions of ecology and natural history. I have been a Diocesan Convention delegate twice before, most recently in 2018, and would be honored to be of service in this way again.
Rollin Salsbery
Hello! I’m Rollin Salsbery and I’ve been coming to Saint Mark’s for around eight years. I serve at the 11 a.m. service as an acolyte and, more recently, as a verger. I am originally from Montana (a small town called Malta—after the island) and came to Seattle for college at Seattle Pacific University. During my time there, I first came to Saint Mark’s for Compline. My wife Kathryn and I live in Magnolia with our dachshund Persephone. I would be absolutely pleased to serve as Diocesan Convention Delegate, and I am honored to be nominated.
Jen Younggren
My name is Jen Younggren, and I am excited to be a candidate for Diocesan Convention Delegate. I grew up going to Presbyterian services, and, growing up in Virginia, I had exposure through friends to Southern Baptist, Evangelical, and Episcopal churches as well. While in college and medical school at the University of Virginia, I started attending Episcopal services regularly at Saint Paul’s Memorial Church, where I was involved in the choir. I really connected with the liturgy and seasonal rhythms of the church, and it was my church home during those eight years, although I did not join as a member.
For lots of life reasons, some having to do with busyness, and some having to do with wide-ranging personal journeys, I spent a long period away from organized religion, and even from regularly practicing Christianity. In 2021. I felt a strong call to return my faith, and began attending Saint Mark’s. I was confirmed at Saint Mark’s Cathedral in May 2022. I have relished my worship life there, and have become quite involved in the community, participating in the Inquirer’s Class and serving in the feeding ministry, as an acolyte, and most recently as a chalice bearer. I have also very much enjoyed being involved with Radix, as a participant, facilitator, and on the planning committee. I was blessed to have the opportunity to make close connections, and deepen faith by joining the pilgrimage to the Holy Land in March 2023.
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