This year's Giving Tree is now on display in the nave, filled with tags for gifts to Lowell Elementary School, Casa Latina, Mary’s Place, and Lambert House, including gift cards as well as toys and other items. Giving Tree gifts are due back to the cathedral by 11 a.m. on Sunday, December 8, so they can blessed at the altar that Sunday and then be distributed to recipients in a timely fashion. (The gifts need to be delivered to Lowell School before classes end.)
As an alternative to picking up a tag on the Giving Tree, you are welcome to use of the following wish lists. These gifts and gift cards are also needed at the cathedral no later than Sunday, December 8.
Drop off donations at the cathedral on Sundays or at the cathedral offices Monday–Friday, 9 a.m.–4:30 p.m.
Finally you are also invited to visit saintmarks.org/give and select "Giving Tree" from the list of options (these donations will be distributed equitable among the recipient organizations).
Your generosity means an enormous amount to these families in our community. If you have questions about the Giving Tree, please contact
DONATIONS RECEIVED BY DECEMBER 15 WILL BE PRINTED IN THE CHRISTMAS BULLETINS.
Help underwrite the beautiful flowers and special music of the season by making a special contribution in honor or memory of someone. Please fill out the form here or below, or use the paper form inserted in your bulletin on Sunday.
Then you can make your gift online at saintmarks.org/give, or donate by check in the offering plate, to the cathedral office, or by mail (instructions may be found on the form.) Contributions received by December 19 will be acknowledged in the bulletins on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.
Contact Erik Donner with questions: edonner@saintmarks.org
Order of Service | Each week's repertoire is posted here.
The Order of Service & repertoire may be found at: complineunderground.wordpress.com/2024/11/23/compline-2024-the-last-sunday-after-pentecost-the-reign-of-christ/
November 24, 2024 • The Last Sunday after Pentecost: The Reign of Christ (Proper 29B)
ORISON: ‘Psalm 95’ from Six Hymns to Doctor Watts – Alice Parker (1925-2023)
PSALM 93 – Plainsong, Tone VIII.3
HYMN 419: Lord of all being, throned afar (Tune: MENDON) – mel. from Methodist Harmonist, 1821; adapt. Lowell Mason (1792-1872)
NUNC DIMITTIS – Plainsong, Tone III.4
ANTHEM: The Altar – Jeff Junkinsmith (b. 1956)
Jason Anderson, director • Jeffrey Ricco, reader • Jeremy Matheis, cantor
Thanks to this evening's Compline volunteer: hospitality minister Jim Buskirk.
Compline at Saint Mark's Cathedral has been a Seattle tradition since 1956. All the singers are volunteers. Learn more at: https://saintmarks.org/worship/compline/
and: https://complinechoir.org/
If you watch and enjoy our live-streamed or archived services, please consider making a donation in support of the mission and ministry of this cathedral.
You may also donate using the Venmo mobile app from your smartphone (search for @SaintMarksCathedralSeattle ) Thank you for your generosity.
WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 20, 2024
Facilitated by: Steve Thomason, Michael Kleinschmidt, and Jason Anderson
The "O" Antiphons service at Saint Mark’s is a signature liturgy that draws us into the orbit of Advent preparation and hope, connecting ancient themes and imagery that engages all the senses. The cadenced rhythms of chant, prayer, hymnody, and prophetic scriptures are held together by carefully choreographed movements that invite us into the realm of the numinous. This year’s service—December 1, 2024, at 7 p.m.—will include the premiere a newly-commissioned anthem, In the Stillness by Black composer Brittney Boykin.
In this Cathedral Commons forum, Dean Thomason, Canon Kleinschmidt, and Dr. Anderson explored with participants the theological underpinnings of the "O" Antiphons tradition at Saint Mark’s, the centuries-old liturgies that it taps into, and the origins and history of this special service. We also discussed ways we continue to adapt and evolve the liturgical expression of "O" Antiphons, seeking to amplify the voices of women prophets while also revising language of familiar hymns to foster sensitivity to Jewish traditions. Those present had the opportunity to sing a revised verse of "O Come, O Come, Emmanuel" and also tried their hand at revisions to other verses of that quintessential Advent hymn.
The following handouts were shared at the forum:
How Shall I Sing that Majesty (score)
In the Stillness (poem by E. Mills for anthem by B.E. Boykin)
The slides from forum may be downloaded here.
THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 28
10 A.M. (liturgy), in the cathedral nave and livestreamed
11:30 A.M. (community Thanksgiving meal), in Bloedel Hall, registration requested
The tradition of a community Thanksgiving potluck meal is a new one for Saint Mark's Cathedral Parish, launching just last year, but the response was very positive, and the gathering was a joyous celebration.
Begin your holiday observance by offering your thanks to God at a service of Holy Eucharist at 10 a.m. in the cathedral nave, then gather in Bloedel for a festive and abundant community celebration.
All are welcome, and feel free to bring others in your circles to join the fête. Turkeys (and a vegetarian alternative main dish) will be provided; bring a side dish, bread or dessert if you can. No worries if not—just come and be a part as we give thanks together in this place. In order to plan for room setup and the size of the turkeys, please reserve your spot no later than 10 a.m. on Monday, November 25. Register using this link or below.
(Check out some photos from Thanksgiving 2023 at the bottom of this page!)
Order of Service | Each week's repertoire is posted here.
The Order of Service & repertoire may be found at: complineunderground.wordpress.com/2024/11/17/compline-2024-the-twenty-sixth-sunday-after-pentecost/
This evening's Office is offered to the glory of God and in celebration of 100th anniversary of the birth of Compline Choir Founding Director Dr. Peter R. Hallock.
November 17, 2024 • The 26th Sunday after Pentecost (Proper 28B) 100th Birthday of Peter R. Hallock
ORISON: Bring us, O Lord God – Peter R. Hallock (1924-2014)
PSALMS 134 & 4 – Peter R. Hallock
HYMN: I’ll praise my Maker while I’ve breath (Tune: OLD 113TH) – Melody from Strassburger Kirchenamt, 1525; harm. Peter R. Hallock (1924-2014)
NUNC DIMITTIS (2-part setting with handbells) – Peter R. Hallock
ANTHEM: Christus est Stella Matutina – Peter R. Hallock
POST-COMPLINE ORGAN MUSIC: Pièce sur des airs populaires flamandes – Nadia Boulanger ; Passacaglia & Fugue in C Minor BWV 582 – J.S. Bach
Jason Anderson, director • Gregory Bloch, reader • Tyler Morse, cantor • John Stuntebeck, post-Compline organ recitalist
Thanks to this evening's Compline volunteers: hospitality ministers Estphan Meza & Priscilla Strand, and videographer Michael Perera.
Compline at Saint Mark's Cathedral has been a Seattle tradition since 1956. All the singers are volunteers. Learn more at: https://saintmarks.org/worship/compline/ and: https://complinechoir.org/
If you watch and enjoy our live-streamed or archived services, please consider making a donation in support of the mission and ministry of this cathedral.
You may also donate using the Venmo mobile app from your smartphone (search for @SaintMarksCathedralSeattle ) Thank you for your generosity.
WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 4, 6:45–8:15 P.M., in person in Bloedel Hall or online via Zoom. Optional community dinner at 6 p.m.
Discover how you can come alongside your neighbor living with housing and hunger insecurity. Hear from ministry leaders who are engaging the issues in practical and meaningful ways. Discover your place in solidarity with our neighbors.
The Restorative Justice Council, the Affordable Housing Exploratory Committee and the Intergenerational Council are collaborating to bring together ministry leaders at Saint Mark’s and from the broader Seattle community in this event. The goal of the summit is for attendees to learn very practical ways they can be with our neighbors in need. The ministries represented will be Operation Nightwatch, Sharewheel (Tent City 3), Lowell Elementary School, Meals Sharing Ministry, Affordable Housing, Habitat for Humanity and the Saint Mark’s Threshold Fund.
A Zoom link will be posted here when it is available.
SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 24, 10 A.M.–1 P.M. (following the 9 and 11 a.m. services), Bloedel Hall
You won’t want to miss this year’s Alternative Gift Market on Sunday, November 24, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. in Bloedel Hall. This year's market will include unique handmade items you won’t find anywhere else, a bake sale with delicious treats, opportunities to donate to meaningful causes, and more.
New this year, the Treasure Tables will be full of beautiful, fun and unique items including Christmas ornaments and decorations, children’s toys and books, art and picture frames, gift books, puzzles, jewelry and accessories, unique collectibles and housewares, and items that are hand- knitted, crocheted, quilted or embroidered. There will be a special Secret Santa Shop with items especially for kids to purchase! You can expect:
One-of-a-kind handmade items from the Quilt Ministry, the Ministry of Worsted Wool, and our neighbors at the Seattle Weavers' Guild
Dried flower creations from the Flower Ministry
Donation Certificates to include in your Christmas Cards to family and loved ones, indicating that you have given a donation to one of our partner organizations in their honor, as a meaningful alternative to typical gifts.
Hot cider, cocoa, coffee, tea, and baked goods
Holiday tunes on the piano by David Poortinga, 10 to 11 a.m.
The proceeds from this event benefit our community partner organizations: Lowell Elementary School, Casa Latina, Mary’s Place, Lambert House, Operation Nightwatch, Seattle Seafarers Center, L’Arche Seattle, Underhill House, and the Threshold Fund.
Your help is needed to set up and put the finishing touches on some projects on Saturday, November 23, and to staff tables during the market and help clean up on Sunday, November 24.
Sign-up form for AGM Support Saturday & Sunday, November 23 & 24
Donation are being accepted for the Bake Sale.
Sign-up form for the Bake Sale
There are many ways to participate in the Alternative Gift Market! Come to Bloedel Hall any time between 10 a.m. and 1 p.m. on Sunday, November 24 to see everything that is on offer.
NOTE: This year, there is just one way to pay! All purchases and donations at the Alternative Gift Market are made through Saint Mark’s Cathedral and distributed to the partner organizations. You’ll have a check-out card which table hosts will mark for you. Each person’s donations and purchases will be tallied and paid for before you leave Bloedel Hall.
As an alternative to picking up a tag on the Giving Tree, you are welcome to use of the following wish lists. These gifts and gift cards are also needed at the cathedral no later than Sunday, December 8.
Drop off donations at the cathedral on Sundays or at the cathedral offices Monday–Friday, 9 a.m.–4:30 p.m.
UPDATE: Due to a power outage on November 13, Canon Emily's forum was cancelled, but it will be rescheduled on a future date to be announced.
DATE TBA, 6:45–8:15 P.M., in person in Bloedel Hall or online via Zoom. Free, no registration required. Optional Community Dinner at 6 p.m. ($6/child; $8/adult; $25/max. family)
While growth in our relationship with God is a lifelong process, the relationship itself is there from the start. What we often lack—no matter our age—are ways to name and share what we experience of God’s presence.
Join the Rev. Canon Emily Griffin for an exploration of the spirituality of childhood and how it provides a foundation for a lifelong faith. How might religious language, community, play, and authentic presence with one another nurture faith—and what might we learn from each other across generations as we journey together? Come and see.
Order of Service | Each week's repertoire is posted here.
The Order of Service & repertoire may be found at: complineunderground.wordpress.com/2024/11/10/compline-2024-the-twenty-fifth-sunday-after-pentecost/
November 10, 2024 • The 25th Sunday after Pentecost (Proper 27B)
ORISON: In all our grief and fear, we turn to you (Tune: FREDERICKTOWN) – Charles R. Anders (1929-2020)
PSALM 146 – Plainsong, Tone IV.2
HYMN: All who love and serve your city (Tune: CHARLESTOWN) – mel. from The Southern Harmony, 1865; harm. Alastair Cassels-Brown (1927-2001), alt.; vs. 3 reharm. Jason A. Anderson (b. 1976)
NUNC DIMITTIS – Dana Marsh (b. 1965)
ANTHEM: Sometimes I feel like a motherless child – African-American Spiritual, arr. Brian Fairbanks (b. 1968)
Jason Anderson, director • William Turnipseed, pianist • Joel Matter, reader • John Garlid canto
Thanks to this evening's Compline volunteers: hospitality ministers James Davidson and John Gulhaugen.
Compline at Saint Mark's Cathedral has been a Seattle tradition since 1956. All the singers are volunteers. Learn more at: https://saintmarks.org/worship/compline/
and: https://complinechoir.org/
If you watch and enjoy our live-streamed or archived services, please consider making a donation in support of the mission and ministry of this cathedral.
You may also donate using the Venmo mobile app from your smartphone (search for @SaintMarksCathedralSeattle ) Thank you for your generosity.
The Intergenerational Council, the Restorative Justice Council, and the Affordable Housing Committee invite the entire community of Saint Mark's to participate in a book study this winter to help us better understand issues of housing insecurity and houselessness. We've chosen two books by Matthew Desmond, Evicted from 2016 and Poverty, by America, published in 2023.
Thanks to a grant from the Episcopal Periodical Society, there are copies of both books available for anyone in the cathedral community for free. Books will be available to pick up on Sundays in the nave and in the church office during the week.
Also available through the same grant is I See You, a wordless picture book published by the American Psychological Association intended to open a door for kids and parents to begin a conversation about homelessness. I See You is available for families with children and comes with resources for parents, educators, and neighbors.
Book groups (in person and online) to discuss Evicted will be held in January. Groups will discuss Poverty, by America in February. Watch for more information and specific dates in the coming months. Curious to learn more about the subject and the author? Check out this podcast interview with author Matthew Desmond.
PLEASE NOTE: If you have lived experience of housing insecurity and are interested in reading Evicted in the safe space of an affinity group, please reach out to co-facilitators Deborah Anderson (waterlily3in1@gmail.com), Canon Wendy Claire Barrie (wbarrie@saintmarks.org), or one of the clergy.
SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 23, 8 A.M. to 6 P.M., in the cathedral nave
Come support Saint Mark's Evensong Choir in their efforts to raise $35,000 in scholarship funds for their Pilgrimage to England next August, where they will serve as Choir-in-Residence for one week each at Lincoln and Durham Cathedrals. On Saturday, November 23, they will sing all 720 hymns between 8 a.m. and 6 p.m. (one verse per hymn.)
Stop by and join in singing or listen and watch for as long as you like. Get three friends and family to sponsor you for a dollar per hymn and sing 100 of them. It would take about one hour and you will have raised $300 for the choir pilgrimage! There are many ways to participate and you may learn all about them at the Hymnathon table in the back of the nave during coffee hour on Sundays November 10 and 17.
The kids and adults of the Evensong Choir of Saint Mark's Cathedral, Seattle are raising the funds needed for their 2025 residencies at the cathedrals of Lincoln and Durham by singing one verse of all 720 hymns in the The Hymnal 1982! Learn more here. You can make a donation (perhaps $0.10 per hymn?) at saintmarks.org/give or venmo.com/saintmarkscathedralseattle
UPDATED WITH VIDEO & SLIDES
SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 9, 2024, 9:30 A.M.–12:30 P.M., in person in Bloedel Hall and online via Zoom
NOTE: Debie Thomas will also be preaching at the cathedral at all morning services on Sunday, November 10—8, 9, and 11 a.m. Between the 9 and 11 a.m. services, at 10:10 a.m. there will be a special Community Conversation to hold the space and each other as we share what is on our hearts in this challenging time.
Author and teacher Debie Thomas will be at the cathedral on the weekend of November 9 to lead a Saturday Wisdom School workshop. She writes:
Though Christians are called to be an “Easter people,” a people of good news, joy, and resurrection, we are also called to live and speak with authenticity in a world that is not yet what it should be. Sometimes, that call requires us to walk the Emmaus Road, an ancient road that begins with lament before it carries us to hope. Neither despair nor whining, lament is an honest cry from our heart to the heart of a God who weeps over the world’s brokenness, and then offers us a grounded, reality-based hope that does not require denial.
In this half-day workshop, we will explore lament as a healing, justice-oriented practice that will help us find our way to the fullness of resurrection hope. Our time together will include meditation, teaching, journaling, and conversation.
UPDATE: A complete video of the Saturday workshop may be seen below.
Download Debie Thomas's slides here.
"Writer, seeker, and wonderer" Debie Thomas is the author of A Faith of Many Rooms: Inhabiting a More Spacious Christianity and Into the Mess and Other Jesus Stories: Reflections on the Life of Christ and is a columnist and contributing editor for The Christian Century. She is currently a seminarian at the Church Divinity School of the Pacific in Berkeley, California, and serves as the Minister for Lifelong Formation at St. Mark’s Episcopal Church in Palo Alto, CA. Learn more at debiethomas.com
Service Leaflet | Learn more about this event here.
Order of Service | Each week's repertoire is posted here.
The Order of Service & repertoire may be found at: complineunderground.wordpress.com/2024/11/03/compline-2024-all-souls-all-the-faithful-departed/
November 3, 2024 • ALL SOULS: ALL THE FAITHFUL DEPARTED transferred
ORISON: ‘I heard a voice from heaven,’ from Burial Sentences – Thomas Tomkins (1572-1656); adapt. Gregory W. Bloch (b. 1977)
PSALM 130 – Peter R. Hallock (1924-2014)
HYMN: Jerusalem, my happy home (Tune: LAND OF REST) – American folk hymn; collected by Annabel Morris Buchanan (1889-1983); arr. Richard T. Proulx (1937-2010)
NUNC DIMITTIS – Plainsong, Tone I; harm. William Byrd (c. 1540-1623)
ANTHEM: Burial Sentences – Thomas Tomkins; adapt. Gregory W. Bloch
Jason Anderson, director • J. Scott Kovacs, reader • Theo Floor, cantor
Thanks to this evening's Compline volunteers: hospitality ministers Robin Ethridge and Estephan Meza, and videographer Michael Lee.
Compline at Saint Mark's Cathedral has been a Seattle tradition since 1956. All the singers are volunteers. Learn more at: https://saintmarks.org/worship/compline/
and: https://complinechoir.org/
If you watch and enjoy our live-streamed or archived services, please consider making a donation in support of the mission and ministry of this cathedral.
You may also donate using the Venmo mobile app from your smartphone (search for @SaintMarksCathedralSeattle ) Thank you for your generosity.
PLEASE NOTE: The sacred space of the cathedral will also be open and available to all for prayer, meditation, and reflection on Election Day and the day before.
On Monday, November 4, the nave will be accessible from 9 a.m. until the conclusion of the Prayer Vigil (at approximately 8 p.m.).
On Tuesday, November 5, it will be open from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Signs may direct you to enter through the Hoerster Annex (office entrance).
UPDATED —A COMPLETE VIDEO OF THE PRAYER VIGIL IS NOW AVAILABLE BELOW.
MONDAY, NOVEMBER 4, 7–8 P.M., in the cathedral nave and livestreamed
In this time of trial and struggle, as we confront challenges to our civil society and our body politic, we are at a crossroads of conscience. And though the voices of vitriol and extremism often resound loudly, it is the judicious wisdom of resilient and courageous peacemakers who will lead us through this crisis. Prayerful reflection stands as a hopeful response to the static of cynicism.
Join local religious leaders and fellow citizens who will gather in Seattle’s Saint Mark’s Cathedral at this important juncture of our nation’s history. All are invited to join in this brief non-partisan interfaith service of hope, either in-person or via livestream. On the cusp of the exercise of our most essential civil right, we ask you to embrace this moment of contemplation and connection, as we affirm the principles that transcend our differences, and the common cause that will bind the wounds of this great nation.
A flyer can be downloaded here.
UPDATE: View the Order of Service here and a complete video can now be seen below.