A MESSAGE FROM BISHOP MELISSA SKELTON

Dear Dean Thomason,

It is both the prerogative and privilege of a bishop to acknowledge from time to time certain individuals who have provided exemplary service to Christ's church. The title of "honorary cathedral canon" is accorded to those who have labored long and well and have been exemplars of servant leaders who have built up the kingdom of God. These persons have distinguished themselves in their work of equipping the saints for the work of ministry, building up the body of Christ, helping others to grow into the full stature of Christ.

I write to you today with the appointment of the Rev. Edie Weller as an Honorary Canon of Saint Mark's Cathedral. Edie has served this diocese and the cathedral with much grace over the years. I am delighted for this acknowledgement to honor and give thanks for her service to Christ and the Church.

Edie was born on November 11, 1953. She earned a Bachelor of Science from the University of Wisconsin–Platteville in 1977. Edie met Albert John Weller, and they were married on December 29, 1973. They have two children, Elizabeth and Bryan. Edie went on to earn a Master in Health Administration from the University of Washington in 1981, and worked with Group Health in various roles from 1981–1996 when she founded her own consulting firm, working with community-based and not-for-profit organizations in strategic and program planning, group facilitation, and grant preparation.

Edie felt the call to ordained ministry and began taking courses at Seattle University's Institute for Ecumenical Theological Studies. Witnessing Patty Baker's installation and the celebration of the new ministry at St. Clare's helped Edie clearly resolve her own sense of ministry as a priest. She earned her Master of Divinity degree from the Church of Divinity School of the Pacific in Berkeley, CA. While in graduate school, she completed an internship at St. Peter's Church in Seattle and a Chaplain Internship with the Veterans Administration–Puget Sound Health Care in Seattle.

She was ordained to the Diaconate on June 28, 2003, by Bishop Vincent Waydell Warner and to the priesthood on January 17, 2004, by Bishop Vincent Waydell Warner. She was called to Trinity Church in Everett as a Curate, where she served from 2003 to 2006. Edie was called as Rector at the Church of the Resurrection in Bellevue from 2008 to 2015.

Edie retired from active ministry on September 1, 2016, but she did not stop working as a minister of Christ in this diocese. Her long-held commitment to justice has guided much of her time since retiring, with deep commitments to the work of anti-racism and ecumenical/inter faith engagement. She has also served as a trained listener at Underhill House and as a pre-cook/server for the Fatted Calf Café at St. Paul's in Seattle, and since retirement has held the position of priest associate at Saint Mark's Cathedral where, in addition to regularly providing liturgical leadership for worship, she has provided leadership to the Creation Care ministry, Seattle Service Corps, Noel House Women's Shelter, the Sanctuary Network, and many other ministries. Most recently, she has served as Interim Pastoral Associate for Saint Mark's, and many in the community recognize her as pastor, priest, and teacher.

It is with deep gratitude and great affection for Edie, and for her dedication and service to the people of this diocese, that I delight in appointing the Rev. Edie Weller as Honorary Canon of Saint Mark's Cathedral.

Faithfully,

The Most Rev. Melissa Skelton
Bishop Provisional Diocese of Olympia