Terra Exhibition

by Saint Mark's Cathedral on October 9, 2026 with No Comments

The huge 24-foot diameter Terra globe will be suspended in the center of the cathedral nave, brightly illuminated from within and slowly revolving on its tilted axis. Featuring NASA’s Blue Marble satellite imagery, Terra is the largest and most visually authentic world globe created by Eric Morris of Orbis World Globes. The globe was fabricated by Rainier Industries in Tukwila, WA, and the exhibition is produced by Ben Browner of Revival Gatherings and hosted by Saint Mark’s Cathedral.

Terra’s creator, Eric, considers the globe to be a “beacon of unity.” Visitors are invited to experience a version of “the overview effect”—an exhilarating shift in perspective that astronauts have described when they see the Earth as it actually appears from space, without boundaries or place names. This experience inspires empathy as viewers consider our common humanity and connection with all of creation.

Saint Mark’s Cathedral will be open the following days for public viewing of the globe:

The huge 24-foot diameter Terra globe will be suspended in the center of the cathedral nave, brightly illuminated from within and slowly revolving on its tilted axis. Featuring NASA’s Blue Marble satellite imagery, Terra is the largest and most visually authentic world globe created by Eric Morris of Orbis World Globes. The globe was fabricated by Rainier Industries in Tukwila, WA, and the exhibition is produced by Ben Browner of Revival Gatherings and hosted by Saint Mark’s Cathedral. Terra’s creator, … Read More

This beloved Seattle tradition is offered under the huge 24-foot diameter Terra globe, brightly illuminated from within and slowly revolving on its tilted axis. Every Sunday at 9:30 p.m., the all-male Compline Choir sings the last monastic office of the day every Sunday at 9:30 p.m. The service is broadcast live each week on KING 98.1 FM, or streaming at king.org. The service is also available as a podcast. To hear each week's service on-demand, search for "Saint Mark's Compline" wherever … Read More

Living Stones II Design Committee Update

by Saint Mark's Cathedral on September 23, 2026 with No Comments

The Fruits of the Spirit

by Saint Mark's Cathedral on September 18, 2026 with No Comments

Update on the Living Stones II Capital Campaign

by Saint Mark's Cathedral on August 5, 2026 with No Comments

A Message from Dean Thomason: Update on Living Stones II Capital Campaign

Dear friends,

Following the wonderfully successful parish phase of the Living Stones II capital campaign in 2025, we have been in the Continuation Phase these last twelve months, reaching out to churches across the Diocese and to the broader community, seeking additional gifts and pledges from others for whom Saint Mark’s Cathedral holds a special place. True to our mission to serve as a “sacred gathering place for the Diocese of Olympia and the broader community in times of crisis, sorrow, and celebration,” there are many who recognize the importance of the project to preserve and update this cathedral, and many have joined the effort.

As of August 1, we have received 578 pledges and gifts to the Living Stones II campaign! This number includes a $1 million gift from the Norcliffe Foundation, whose mission is “to improve the quality of life for all people in our community” by focusing on projects involving human services, health care, civic, educational and the arts. I met with their board in May, and they resonated with Saint Mark’s mission and how this building serves so many in our community. We are delighted to share this good news with you.

The total pledged is currently $9,909,102, and more than $6 million of that pledge total has been fulfilled, making it possible for the main construction project to unfold in mid-2027. Thank you to all who have contributed to this effort. I am overwhelmed by the generosity of this community!

Because of your generosity, the Design Committee has been hard at work planning for project, and they will share an important parish update at Cathedral Commons on Wednesday September 23, at 6:45 p.m. in Bloedel Hall and on Zoom. I hope you will mark your calendars now to join that important gathering.

Our initial estimate for the project funded by Living Stones II was approximately $8.5-9 million, and our campaign feasibility study led us to establish our initial campaign goal of $8.5 million. We learned this spring that rising costs and a few unanticipated challenges to a century-old building now project the all-in cost to be about $10.5 million, which means we are not finished with the fundraising yet. As Cathedral Dean, I continue to visit other churches in the Diocese to preach and teach, share about the cathedral, and to solicit gifts from parishes and individuals. And there are folks in the cathedral parish who have not yet made a gift or pledge to the campaign. We hope you will!

Everyone who gives will be recognized on a donor wall, as we did for Living Stones I a decade ago. I hope all who claim this as a spiritual home will join in the effort to ensure the cathedral will serve generations to come. Together we will make our way, and I am so delighted to be part of this community at this important time in the history of Saint Mark’s Cathedral.

For more information on the Living Stones II campaign, or to make your pledge or gift, please visit the campaign webpage, or contact Dean Thomason or Erik Donner in the church office.

Gratefully yours,

The Very Reverend Steven L. Thomason
Dean and Rector

On Sabbatical Odysseys and Dark Nights + Very Rev. Steve Thomason + August 2, 2026

by Saint Mark's Cathedral on August 2, 2026 with No Comments

Genesis 32:22-31 The same night Jacob got up and took his two wives, his two maids, and his eleven children, and crossed the ford of the Jabbok. He took them and sent them across the stream, and likewise everything that he had. Jacob was left alone; and a man wrestled with him until daybreak. When the man saw that he did not prevail against Jacob, he struck him on the hip socket; and Jacob’s hip was put out of joint as he wrestled with him. Then he said, “Let me go, for the day is breaking.” But Jacob said, “I will not let you go, unless you bless me.” So he said to him, “What is your name?” And he said, “Jacob.” Then the man said, “You shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel, for you have striven with God and with humans, and have prevailed.” Then Jacob asked him, “Please tell me your name.” But he said, “Why is it that you ask my name?” And there he blessed him. So Jacob called the place Peniel, saying, “For I have seen God face to face, and yet my life is preserved.” The sun rose upon him as he passed Penuel, limping because of his hip.

Good morning. It is good to be back with you!

It’s been four months since I last worshipped with you here in this place. The sabbatical was a delightful blessing, but, oh, how I’ve missed being here!

When I began my sabbatical on April 6th, the Orion II space capsule was five days into its journey around the moon. Five days later it would splash safely down to earth. That journey served as metaphor for my travels—the separation by long distances, but never without gravity’s tethered pull, a steadfast connection to home. There were periods of black-out in communication, and moments when checking in made sense. There were liminal zones on the journey, when what was… transitioned to something new, and not entirely without risk. Leaving orbital familiarity, returning to it when the hot plasma of this wonderful life of a parish priest on reentry can be a bit overwhelming, and still so good.

The journey was a bit of an odyssey, if I can be so bold as to call it that, and this cathedral is my home, newfound again, so it seems fitting today, my first day back, that the reading from Genesis has us deep in the throes of Jacob’s odyssey, every bit as rich as a Homerian epic, and that is where I would like to invite us to journey together. To ancient times, with Jacob the wrestler. His saga is well worth the read full-on. Tricks, lies and holy scrapes could be the title for his biographical tome. Stolen blessings, duplicitous kinsmen, sly animal husbandry, stone pillows, angels on ladders, dreams and more dreams, and this scene where Jacob has a nocturnal knock-down, drag-out.

Jacob may be our spiritual ancestor, a patriarchal figure, but make no mistake, he is a complicated man whose moral impulses are questionable, even tragic at times. Even here, as he prepares to meet his brother Esau, from whom he stole the firstborn’s birthright decades earlier, he anticipates a brother’s enmity that would seek bloody revenge. So what does he do? He puts a river and his family between him and his brother—his children, his wives, leaving them exposed as first line. He will sleep alone that night, or he will not sleep at all, tormented by what must have surely been a dark night for his soul.

The late psychiatrist Gerald May helped me understand the notion of “the dark night of the soul,” described by Medieval mystics John of the Cross and Teresa of Avila. The dark night of the soul is not a euphemism for simply experiencing bad things; it is the crucible of the human condition during which one ultimately comes to understand keenly three things: 1) I am not as in control of my life as I think I am, 2) that in the dark night, we are asleep to the truth of who we truly are and what we were created for, and 3) we stifle the power of love in our lives when we become attached to things other than God who is the source of blessing.

If you identify with those three things at all, then surely we can agree that the story of Jacob’s night of wrestling has lasting revelatory power precisely because it gathers us into its orbit of truth. We wrestle with control, with who we truly are, with who we are created to be, and we wrestle with God, who comes to us in love, rather than remaining far away in some celestial disinterest. And yet God remains a mystery still.

If physical combat is too rough a metaphor, choose a different one that works for you, but the point is, this is our story, friends.

Regardless of the motive that got him there, Jacob is alone, haunted even by all that has gone before, and it is there, in the dark night, beneath the same stars that still hold vigil for us today, that Jacob wrestles with all that brings him up short.

He is injured in the encounter, a limp to remind him of the night. He is blessed, but we do not get the words of blessing. They are his alone. He is told his name henceforth will be, not Jacob, but Israel, because he has struggled with God. There is power in naming another. He asks for the name of his counterpart, but it remains an ineffable mystery.

Bible scholars debate whether this “man” who spars with Jacob is actually God or a human or some alter ego imprisoned deep inside Jacob’s weary spirit who desperately seeks release.

What we do know is that the next morning he arises and sees his estranged brother

Esau, with four hundred men, coming toward him. He rushes to his family, and goes in front of them this time, bowing to Esau seven times. He expects bloodshed, slaughter even, but Esau hugs him instead, and they share tears of reconciliation together. I wonder if this turn of events would have been possible only a day before, before Jacob was changed by his dark-nighted conversion. Could bellicose Jacob even allowed it?

Friends, our hearts are heavy with violence and war these days. That weight went with me across three continents, and here at home, too. Gang violence and gun violence may seem so distant, until it’s not, until it erupts in a familiar place too near to allow for some celestial-scale disinterest.

We seem to be unable to extricate ourselves from the orbital weight of war in Iran, and so many other places on this fragile earth, our island home.

There’s been a lot of talk about just war theory in recent months. Pope Leo wrote an encyclical this spring saying we need to rethink our hold on that theory that is so often distorted to justify the violence. Giving space for self-defense in its truest sense, he said the theory is now outdated. And no one can use Jesus, the King of Peace, to justify war.

“He did that to me, so I can do this to him.” I suspect it may require a veritable dark night for all humanity to awaken to a new way of seeing the world, a new way of seeing each other. What Leo called a peace that is “unarmed and disarming.”

It is not lost on me that Jacob is the progenitor of Israel, and Esau is the progenitor of the Edomites, an ancient clan of what we would call Palestinians today. The genealogy of Genesis and the scriptural books that follow gives ample reason for these people to mistrust each other and perpetuate the killing as justifiable. Just war theory run amok. I agree with Pope Leo, we need a new paradigm.

Nevertheless, I remain hopeful humanity can come to its senses precisely because Jacob/Israel is changed by his dark night struggle, and Esau chooses mercy and peace over continued violence.

Remember, this is our story, right?! And God is the catalyst for conversion, right?! Yes, it is odyssean in its unfolding, but here we are. Home. With a limp of wounded reality, to be sure. So what are we to do?

Well, one more brief sabbatical illustration to leave with you as you contemplate that question this week…

This Thursday, the 6th of August, is the anniversary of the dropping of the atomic bomb on Hiroshima. Kathy and I visited the bomb site and surrounding museums and monuments in May. The people of Hiroshima could have become embittered by the experience, unfolding to a perpetual impulse to violence and vengeful tit-for-tat. Generational trauma has a way of doing that.

But they chose to orient to peace instead. Not some pollyannish peace, mind you. The signs of devastation and stories of horror are firmly and forever fixed to that patch of land by the river. But at its center is a cenotaph for peace, an arched monument that holds all the people of this world in its hopeful embrace for another way than war. The people of Hiroshima gather there every year, on August 6th, inviting American presidents to join them as our representatives, to remember the past, to hold vigil in the present, and to pray for a peaceful future. Japan and the U.S. bitter enemies; today, we are siblings bound together for good.

Conversion comes in myriad ways, but can we trust God to be in it? Can we come through the dark night experience with a truer sense of who we are and who we were created to be? Can we embrace the brother who has done us wrong, and consider what mercy and justice and peace look like?

Let’s work for that world vision, shall we? Jesus would have it no other way.

Ordinations to the Priesthood | July 18, 2026

by Saint Mark's Cathedral on July 18, 2026 with No Comments

LINKS

➡️ More about compline

NEWSLETTER

The weekly cathedral newsletter contains important announcements, offerings, and events, can be found here. Click here to add yourself to cathedral emails lists.
The weekly cathedral prayer list, which includes the Anglican, Diocesan, and Cathedral Cycles of Prayer along with prayer requests from the community, can be found here. Information about making prayer requests can also be found on that page.

ARCHIVES

Video of past services can be seen here.
Audio and printed text of sermons can be found here.

Healing & Hope in War Zones

by Saint Mark's Cathedral on July 13, 2026 with No Comments

All are invited to an opening reception immediately following the 11 a.m. service on July 13, with remarks from D’Vorah Kost and Rev. Mark Miller. Refreshments will be generously provided by the Bishop’s Committee for Peace in the Middle East, including volunteer contributions and Syrian catering.

UDPATE: D’vorah Kost, one of the organizers of Healing & Hope in War Zones, has shared the GoFundMe of Wejdan Diab, the teacher working in Cairo with the Gazan children who created many of the artworks in the exhibition. Learn more and make a donation to support her work here.

D’vorah also commends the following organizations to those who wish to support relief efforts in Gaza: IMRelief , which delivers aid directly, and the organization HealPalestine.org

As always, you are encouraged to donate to the American Friends of the Episcopal Diocese of Jerusalem, either directly or through the cathedral’s giving page at saintmarks.org/give (select “Holy Land Humanitarian Relief” from the list of options).

Sacred Beauty: Images of the Holy

by Saint Mark's Cathedral on July 13, 2026 with No Comments

photographs by Jim Friedrich

SUMMER 2025

Episcopal priest and artist Jim Friedrich has shared photos from cathedrals and settings in Italy, France, and England that have been assembled to show how the beauty of holiness speaks through sacred spaces and religious forms.

Jim has been active as a photographer and filmmaker for decades, teaching theology and arts at Berkeley’s Graduate Theological Union, and blogging at The Religious Imagineer (jimfriedrich.com). This exhibit is presented by the Saint Mark’s Visual Arts Ministry.

Sacred Icons

by Saint Mark's Cathedral on July 13, 2026 with No Comments

by Fr. Peter Pearson

January–March and Eastertide, 2025

Icons have served since the earliest days of Christianity as spiritual aids, and they have enjoyed something of a renaissance of spiritual purpose in recent times. Byzantine iconography is an ancient and deeply prayerful art form in the Christian tradition, dating back nearly to the apostolic times. Over the centuries, it has evolved and developed as the faith spread throughout the world. Iconography follows a highly systematic and disciplined process which has been handed from teacher to student for centuries. It’s also a very comprehensively demanding educational course for those who want to explore and master the technical, historical, and spiritual aspects of this field.

The Visual Arts Ministry presented an exhibition of a selection of sacred icons by Peter Pearson. There are 18 icons in total, each painted with acrylic paint on wooden panels using traditional Byzantine methods and varnished to protect the surface.

About Peter Pearson

Peter Pearson has been on this path for fifty four years, after being introduced to an icon by his elementary school art teacher. He’s painted thousands of icons and has introduced scores of students to the process. He holds an Masters of Divinity in Sacred Theology from Saint Vincent Seminary in Latrobe, Pennsylvania, and recently completed a Doctorate in Sacred Theology with a thesis on Byzantine icons and spirituality.

Peter is the author of three books on iconography—including A Brush with God: An Icon Workbook and Another Brush with God: Further Conversations about Icons—and is working on a fourth. He regularly offers workshops and lectures on iconography around the country. He’s a sought after speaker with enthusiasm and the ability to make complicated issues accessible to every audience. His icons grace the walls of churches, monasteries, and homes throughout the world. Peter is also a priest and a Brother in the Community of Francis and Clare in the Episcopal Church.

Stations of the Cross

by Saint Mark's Cathedral on July 13, 2026 with No Comments

by Virginia Maksymowicz

Since 2018, the Stations of the Cross by artist Virginia Maksymowicz have been displayed in the nave of Saint Mark’s Cathedral, Seattle each Lent. Although they were originally commissioned by St Thomas Episcopal Church in Lancaster, PA—a very different kind of church interior than Saint Mark’s—their elemental quality and stark appearance resonate visually and spiritually with the nave of Saint Mark’s. Many are surprised to learn that they were not created specifically for this space! In fact, they have only been on loan to the cathedral since their first appearance here in 2018.

In 2022 Saint Mark’s Cathedral announced that these artworks are now a permanent part of the cathedral collection. They were given as a gift by The Rt. Rev. Gregory Rickel, Bishop of Olympia, and Mrs Marti Rickel, to the glory of God and in loving memory of Bishop Rickel’s father, Morris E. Rickel Jr. These Stations of the Cross will serve the cathedral community, the diocese, and wider community as a beautiful and prayerful aspect of our Lenten observances for years to come.

About the Stations of the Cross

Religious imagery depicting Jesus’ journey to Golgotha and the tomb dates back to the 13th century. The artistic tradition began as a way to replicate the experience of pilgrims in Jerusalem, who would walked the Via Dolorosa—traditionally believed to be the route Christ walked in final hours—pausing at prescribed “stations” to reflect and pray. For her interpretation, Maksymowicz worked with a variety of models, culled from a wide range of ages and ethnicities. She explains, “I wanted the narrative of Christ’s passion and death to be represented in a way that is tensioned between the ‘specific’ and the ‘universal.'”

Read a statement and a journal article by the artist.
Read the article in the Episcopal Journal about the Stations.
Check out the feature in Saint Mark’s quarterly magazine, The Rubric.

Coast Salish Art

by Saint Mark's Cathedral on July 13, 2026 with No Comments

by Peter Boome

April 2022 through July 2022

The Visual Arts Ministry of Saint Mark’s Cathedral and Saint Mark’s Creation Care Ministry are delighted to co-sponsor an exhibition of works by Peter Boome, Coast Salish Artist and member of the Upper Skagit Tribe of Washington State, April 24–June 5 in the cathedral nave. He works in a variety of mediums, and his exhibition at Saint Mark’s will include both prints and paintings. Each of his works tells a story, and his exhibition at Saint Mark’s will explore themes including the connection between spirituality and natural world. Works on display in the nave will include new work created especially for this exhibition, a template for a mural on the Seattle waterfront displayed here publicly for the first time, large-scale works on canvas, and smaller prints and paintings. Works will available to be purchased from the artist.

Peter Boome joined Saint Mark’s parishioners for a Sunday morning forum. Watch the recording here.

Peter Boome is a member of the Upper Skagit Tribe of Washington State. He earned his AA from Northwest Indian College, his BAS and MES from the Evergreen State College, and his JD from the University of Washington School of Law.

Peter’s work has been aggressively sought after by collectors around the world. He has emerged as a leading Coast Salish artist, winning prestigious awards at shows such as Indian Market in Santa Fe, The Eiteljorg Museum in Indianapolis, the Heard Museum in Phoenix and many more. Peter has worked with both new and established indigenous artists from around the country and as far away as New Zealand.

His work has been displayed at institutions including the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian, the Autry Museum in Los Angeles, and the Duwamish Longhouse and Cultural Center, and is part of the permanent collections of the Burke Museum and Washington State History Museum.

More of Peter’s work can be seen and purchased on his website here.

Sanctuary

by Saint Mark's Cathedral on July 13, 2026 with No Comments

site-specific textile installation by Josh Faught

January 2017 – October 2018

For Sanctuary, a commissioned work for Saint Mark’s Cathedral, Seattle, Josh Faught creates a textile that extends the length of the cathedral’s massive southeast pillar. Through woven texts, sheet music, DVDs, and archival documents affixed to the textile’s face, the work integrates popular and sacred music, a supernatural soap opera, and records of gay politics, sexuality, and culture in Seattle. Bringing together craft, sociopolitical, and personal histories, Sanctuary also links expressions of romantic and erotic love with songs of praise and prayers.

The work was hand-woven by the artist over the summer and fall of 2016, using hand-dyed cotton, hemp, and gold lamé. This abstract, painterly surface serves as a matrix and support for other found objects: novelty pin-badges, sheet music, magazines, and advertisements. Sourced from the artist’s personal collection and Seattle archives, these objects refer to cultural touchstones, political histories, pop culture, and jokes.

Running down the entire right side of the work are woven texts, each repeating the title of a song from Heaven on Earth, a 1987 solo album by former Go-Go’s singer and gay icon Belinda Carlisle. Each track on the album is structured like a traditional pop song, full of references to love and desire. Heaven on Earth can also be read as a thinly veiled hymnal; the continual use of second-person leaves open the identity of the “you” to whom each song is addressed. Every song has the potential to oscillate between earthly eroticism and sacred devotion. These texts are woven using a method called summer and winter, where two contrasting weft yarns in light and dark colors alternate to create a reversible pattern. This two-sided structure reminded the artist of the sides of a LP, and give a structure to the piece as a whole, which switches from predominant reds to blues halfway down as the song titles from the A-side of Heaven on Earth turn to those on the B-side.

On the other edge of the work, a column of pockets open up from the double cloth, holding a number of DVDs containing the complete first season of the cult-classic paranormal soap opera Passions (1999-2007). Set in the quaint New England village of Harmony, Passions opened up the typical range of soap operatic narratives by exploring supernatural realms. The melodrama of the soap opera, with its Mephistophelean villains and pure-of-heart young couples, was brought into new settings (hell, heaven) with higher stakes than fame, fortune, love and loss.

Between the smash hit and the soap opera, a set of objects are affixed to the textile like memoranda on a bulletin board. These mostly reproduce documents found in a pair of local archives kept at the Allen Library, University of Washington: the papers of Peter Hallock (1924–2004), organist, countertenor, composer, and founder and longtime director of Saint Mark’s lauded Compline Choir; and a large archive of correspondence, newsletters, magazines and fliers documenting LGBT politics and culture between 1964 and 1998, assembled by Tim Mayhew, a Seattle activist.

A manuscript of Hallock’s composition “A Song of Deliverance” connects the themes of Passions and Heaven on Earth to a more local, specific, and ecclesiastical context. Zines and ephemera from the Mayhew archive limn the mores of gay culture in the second half of the 20th century: the goofy-naughty Seattle zine Pot Pourri, with dispatches from pageants and boat cruises; a slip advertising “The Date-Record,” allowing men to call in their whereabouts on blind dates or hookups as a safety measure; advertisements for The Monastery, a notorious, long-since closed all-ages discotheque/church which gives its alternate name, “The Sanctuary,” to Faught’s piece. Founded in a deconsecrated church in 1978 by a complicated figure named George Freeman, the Monastery closed in 1985 after a series of police stings and court battles, when a Seattle judge gave Freeman a permanent injunction against operating any venue. In memorial articles published in The Strangerand other local papers, past attendees remember it variously as a den of sin and a safe haven, sometimes as both.

These disparate elements run through the weft and across the surface of Faught’s monumental weaving, setting up a complex chain of associations. Connecting various histories and objects in the matrix of a loom, Sanctuary opens a conversation between high and low, corporeal and insubstantial, secular and sacred.

Sanctuary was on view at Saint Mark’s Cathedral through July 2018. It was on exhibition at the University of Washington’s Henry Art Gallery in 2025.

About the artist

Josh Faught’s work explores conjunctions between various histories: the history of textiles, sociopolitical histories, and the artist’s personal history. Solo museum exhibitions include a site-specific installation at the Neptune Society Columbarium as part of the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art SECA Art Award Exhibition, and the Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis, both 2013. Faught is the recipient of the Betty Bowen Award at the Seattle Art Museum, 2009, the 2011 Louis Comfort Tiffany Foundation grant, and the 2012 San Francisco Museum of Modern Art Society for the Encouragement of Contemporary Art Award. He is an associate professor of textiles and fine arts at the California College of the Arts, San Francisco and Oakland.

About Western Bridge

Founded in 2004 as an art exhibition space in Seattle’s Duwamish industrial district, Western Bridge has operated since 2012 as an itinerant art initiative, commissioning work by artists including Josh Faught, Allyson Vieira, and Rob Fischer.

AN Update from the Living Stones II Design Committee

by Saint Mark's Cathedral on June 8, 2026 with No Comments

A Message from Saint Mark’s Cathedral Living Stones II Design Committee

Dear Members and Friends of Saint Mark’s Cathedral Parish:

Our committee has been hard at work since our last update. As we work to meet the Cathedral’s commitment of achieving net zero carbon emissions on campus by 2030, the Cathedral House HVAC Retrofit is well underway. The outdated HVAC system is being removed, protections for the floor and window shades in Bloedel Hall are in place, and dust protection measures are in place. Portions of the lower ceiling are being demolished and temporary lighting installed to make way for new pipe work. Events scheduled in Bloedel are proceeding as planned as our contractors are working off hours and cleaning up daily to make that possible. Next up will be our Staff offices, and every effort will be made to reduce impact during office hours.

For the next Phase – Jake McKinstry and Eric Cho with Spectrum Development Solutions, the Owner’s Representative, and the Committee sent out a Request for Proposals for a general contractor to which three general contractors submitted proposals. After review of all three proposals and meeting with teams from each, we selected Abbott Construction as the General Contractor. Abbott is already underway with meetings with Spectrum and Richard Glassman with M/G Architecture PLLC, the architect, to explore design concepts. We expect to transition from concepts to actual design by late summer which will give us something to look at. At that time, we will host a community forum to share where we are in the process.

Yours,

Walter Stuteville & Re Knack
Co-Chairs, Living Stones II Design Committee

Sacred Spaces

by Saint Mark's Cathedral on May 14, 2026 with 1 Comment

The huge 24-foot diameter Terra globe will be suspended in the center of the cathedral nave, brightly illuminated from within and slowly revolving on its tilted axis. Featuring NASA’s Blue Marble satellite imagery, Terra is the largest and most visually authentic world globe created by Eric Morris of Orbis World Globes. The globe was fabricated by Rainier Industries in Tukwila, WA, and the exhibition is produced by Ben Browner of Revival Gatherings and hosted by Saint Mark’s Cathedral. Terra’s creator, … Read More

ONGOING OFFERINGS

CATHEDRAL TOURS: A tour of the cathedral, telling the story of this unique building and visiting some little-seen spaces in the crypt, is offered immediately following the 11 a.m. service on the last Sunday of each month. Gather under the clock in the rear of the nave after the liturgy concludes. At about 12:30, the group will move to Thomsen Chapel to begin the tour.

LABYRINTH: Walk the outdoor labyrinth on the front lawn (accessible 24 hours a day) or the indoor labyrinth in Compline Corner (whenever the nave is open). Finger labyrinths will also be available, along with a selection of books and materials for all ages about engaging with the labyrinth as a spiritual tool.

GARDENS: Bring your own picnic on the front lawn and enjoy the beautiful ornamental plantings by the Garden Ministry, explore the Saint Mark’s Greenbelt, and visit the Leffler Vegetable Garden (when it is open on Sundays and Wednesdays). Check out the Seed Library in the cathedral nave, where you can take seeds for planting and bring seeds from your own garden for others to use. Engaging with the gardens and gardening serves as an invitation to consider Creation Care as a spiritual practice.

CHILDREN'S CORNER: Whenever the cathedral is open, so is the Children's Corner, with a variety of creative and reflective activities appropriate for a range of ages, along with a curated selection of picture books and toys. A cathedral coloring book and a family guide will be available.

"Celebrating Creation"

MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 1, 2025 (Labor Day), 10 A.M.–2 P.M., in the cathedral nave

A cathedral open day of wonder, experiences, making, and learning about the natural world.

AT 10 A.M.

Gather on the outdoor labyrinth for Forest Bathing in the Saint Mark's Greenbelt led by Saint Mark's Community member Brian Sellers-Petersen.

AT 11 A.M.

An information chat/Q&A with the Saint Mark's Cathedral beekeepers• Join the Saint Mark's Quilt Ministry to design and construct a quilt with fabrics inspired by nature, to be given to Donna Jean's Place women's shelter. No quilting/sewing experience necessary!

Ongoing opportunities indoors and out

explore the Saint Mark’s Greenbelt and gardens• learn about our watershed and local wildlife• self-directed nature meditations• nature scavenger hunt

Activities for all ages

water play
giant bubbles
windowsill gardening
make seed balls
decorate a walking stick
make a nature mandala

AT 1 P.M.

• Live music in the cathedral nave with Clarke Reid

"Hopeful Arts"

SATURDAY, JULY 26, 2025, 10 A.M.–4 P.M., in the cathedral nave

An open day of creativity and contemplation at Saint Mark’s Episcopal Cathedral, in conjunction with the exhibition Healing & Hope in War Zones: Children’s Art from Gaza and Ukraine, on display in the cathedral nave at the same time. Featuring:

SCHEDULE:

11 a.m. - Introduction to Healing & Hope in War Zone with exhibition co-organizer D’Vorah Kost

11:15 a.m.–1 p.m. - Design a Quilt/Tie a Quilt—no experience necessary!

12–2 p.m. - Printmaking Workshop with artist-in-residence Sandy Nelson

2 p.m. - String Trio Concert

The Argonaut Trio—Chantel Charis, Alex Fang, and Sophie Naden-Johns—will be sharing selections from Trio Élégiaque No. 1 in G Minor by Sergei Rachmaninoff, Trio in D Minor, Op. 120 by Gabriel Fauré, and Piano Trio in G Minor, Op. 17 by Clara Schumann.

3 p.m. - tour of the cathedral’s art and architecture

THROUGHOUT THE DAY:

- Poetry corner for youth and adults—including poems to read and invitations to write and share your own
- Storybooks and carpet area for kids
- Creative activities for all ages
- Refreshments including popsicles and grilled cheese
- Walk the labyrinth
- Relax in the Leffler Vegetable Garden
- Explore in the Greenbelt

D'vorah Kost, one of the organizers of Healing & Hope in War Zones, has shared the GoFundMe of Wejdan Diab, the teacher working in Cairo with the Gazan children who created many of the artworks in the exhibition. Learn more and make a donation to support her work here.

D'vorah also commends the following organizations to those who wish to support relief efforts in Gaza: IMRelief , which delivers aid directly, and the organization HealPalestine.org

As always, you are encouraged to donate to the American Friends of the Episcopal Diocese of Jerusalem, either directly or through the cathedral's giving page at saintmarks.org/give (select "Holy Land Humanitarian Relief" from the list of options).

"Quiet Pride" at Saint Mark's

SATURDAY, JUNE 28, 2025, 12–6 P.M., in the cathedral nave

On Saturday, June 28, while the Capitol Hill PrideFest is going on just a few blocks away, the cathedral nave will be open to all for contemplative and creative community-led activities, or just a quiet pause. Opportunities include: refreshments, rainbow crafting, contemplative practices, a station to honor queer ancestors, quiet space for sensory-sensitive folks, a tour of the cathedral building highlighting queer history, kid-friendly activities, and more.

If you would like to be present as a host, greeting visitors and answering questions, please sign up using this forum.

Confirmed activities include:

refreshments including grilled cheese, popsicles, and fruit
A craft station with a variety of projects (and you are invited to bring your own knitting, needlework, etc.!)
Outdoor fun including giant bubbles and the splash pad
special kid-friendly activities
Reading areas for kids and adults
A display for sharing pride stories, feelings, and prayer requests
A separate quiet sensory space (in Thomsen Chapel)
At 2 p.m., a collective art project led by Sandy Nelson
At 3 p.m., a tour of the cathedral building highlighting queer history

Quiet Pride is inspired by a hugely successful event last year at St. Mark's Lutheran Church in Baltimore. In their words, they provided "a mellow Pride space for tender queers... great for anyone who wants to sit down, cool off, hydrate, or is introverted, sensory-sensitive, or just likes the quiet." If you would be interested in helping to plan the offerings at Saint Mark's, or to be present as a host during the event, please email Canon Barrie! wbarrie@saintmarks.org

2025 Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service

SUNDAY, JANUARY 19, 2025, 12:30–3:30 P.M.

On the Sunday of the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday weekend, people all ages and abilities gathered at the cathedral in the afternoon for a variety of projects in the service of our community partners—Operation Nightwatch/Donna Jean’s Place Shelter, L’Arche Seattle, and Lowell Elementary School.

The afternoon began with lunch together. Some participants assembled welcome baskets for the first residents of Donna Jean's Place—making an inventory of received items, filling shower caddies with toiletries, and creating handmade cards. Others crafted a wooden sign for our neighbors Lowell Elementary School (Home of the Lowell Dragons!).

Some new friends from L’Arche Seattle joined in the projects. After lunch a team from Saint Mark's traveled to L'Arche Seattle's Angeline House near Volunteer Park to help with trimming back some shrubs and breaking up larger branches that have already fallen or been trimmed, raking, and taking down a large outdoor canopy.

2024 New Year's Eve Labyrinth Walk

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 31, 6 P.M.–MIDNIGHT (Holy Eucharist at the center of the labyrinth at the stroke of midnight, observing the Feast of the Holy Name of Jesus.)

The 25th Anniversary Offering!—Since 1999, Seattle's most peaceful New Year's tradition.

As the old year passes and a new one begins, take time in the quiet, candle-lit space of the cathedral nave to pause, look inward, and experience a large indoor labyrinth laid out in the nave. Invitations to other contemplative practices are offered, and musical accompaniment will be provided by guest musicians throughout the evening. Drop by any time between 6 p.m. and midnight; stay for a few minutes or a few hours. Activities especially appropriate for younger children will also be available. Tea and cookies will be served. More details, including musician line-up, will be announced on this page when they are available. All are welcome; freewill donations gratefully received. At the stroke of midnight, a special, intimate service of Holy Eucharist led by Canon Rich Weyls is offered in the center of the labyrinth, observing the Feast of the Holy Name of Jesus—a beautiful way to begin 2025.

Learn more here.

Cozy Compline—Bedtime Prayers at the Cathedral

FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 15, 2024, 7–8 P.M.

Participants of all ages, from within the cathedral community and beyond, were invited to come in p.j.’s for milk and cookies and then get cozy for the Church’s bedtime prayers sung by the Schola (youth choir) of Saint Mark’s Choir School. Pillows and stuffed animals welcome!

After some time to gather with milk and cookies, the program began with a reading of Candle Walk by Karin Holsinger Sherman. The children present were given miniature lanterns, and then invited to settle in while the choir chanted the office. The liturgy followed the form familiar to this community, the so-called "Seattle Rite" of Compline, originally based on an order published in 1928 but evolved and adapted over the 68-year history of weekly sung choral compline at Saint Mark's. The service culminated with the quiet and moving 1943 setting of "This little light o' mine" by John W. Work, Jr.

The event was designed to be especially child-friendly, but meaningful to all members of the community.

2024 St. Francis Day Celebration with Blessing of the Animals

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 5, 2024, 3:30 P.M. (activities), 4:30 P.M. (liturgy), on the front lawn and labyrinth

On Saturday, October 5, Saint Mark’s once again offered its beloved Saint Francis Day tradition. A few years ago this offering was moved from Sunday morning to Saturday afternoon, and the outdoor celebration has a truly festive community atmosphere. As in previous years, the cathedral extended a special invitation to folks in the neighborhood who may not usually attend Saint Mark's. Dogs, cats, bird, bunnies, ponies, chickens, and all creatures great and small are welcome. New this year: Professional Pet Photographer Julie Austin was present offering to take free photos of animal friends, starting at 3:30.

The service at 4:30 p.m. includes prayers for healing humanity’s relationship with the earth, and for all the creatures who share the earth with us. After the service, animals can receive an individual blessing from a priest if desired. A festive reception with treats for pets and people concluded the afternoon. Learn more here.

Remember Your Baptism!—A Cathedral Pilgrimage for Everyone

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 7, 2024, 1:30–4:30 P.M.

On the afternoon of Saturday, September 7, 2024, Saint Mark’s Cathedral, Seattle, invited parents, godparents, sponsors, and those baptized of every generation to make a pilgrimage to consider the fortifying qualities of baptismal waters that mark us sacramentally and indelibly as Christ’s own forever. Those who gathered explored what it means to have inquiring and discerning hearts across a lifetime, the courage and will to persevere, a spirit to know and to love God, and to have joy and wonder in all God’s works of creation, including you and me, through reflection and activity stations for all ages located throughout the cathedral. At 3 p.m., all gathered for a liturgy of renewal of Baptismal vows.

Learn more here.

A Message from the Living Stones II Design Committee

by Saint Mark's Cathedral on March 9, 2026 with No Comments

A Message from the Living Stones II Design Committee

Dear Members and Friends of Saint Mark’s Cathedral Parish:

The members of the Design Committee for Living Stones II want to introduce ourselves to you and provide an update.

Committee members are:
Walter Stuteville, Past Senior Warden and Committee Co-chair
Re Knack, Cathedral Chancellor and Co-chair
Mark Kuiper, Parishioner
Jason Anderson, Compline Choir Director
Marc Aubertin, Cathedral Subdean
The Rev. Canon Emily Griffin, Canon Vicar
Greg Hamm, Immediate Past Senior Warden
Michael Kleinschmidt, Canon for Cathedral Music
Julia Logan, Senior Warden
The Very Rev. Steven Thomason, Dean and Rector

To date, we have held two meetings. On February 5 we interviewed two companies who expressed interest in serving as the Owner’s Representative for this project and selected Spectrum, who was the Owner’s Representative for Living Stones I and came highly recommended by the previous Design Committee.

We met on February 19 with Jake McKinstry and Eric Cho of Spectrum. We shared our hopes and expectations for the project and with that, developed a sense of momentum and anticipation for what will be accomplished. This included the importance of meeting our pledge to have net carbon zero emissions on campus by 2030 and to improve accessibility within the building.

Jake McKinstry

Eric Cho

This Spring, we plan to host meetings/forums to update the congregation and community on our progress and any challenges we encounter as construction plans are developed and finalized.

Re Knack & Walter Stuteville
Co-Chairs, Living Stones II Design Committee

A Message from Dean Thomason on the Living Stones II Campaign

by Saint Mark's Cathedral on March 3, 2026 with No Comments

A Message from Dean Thomason: Update on Living Stones II Campaign and Construction Planning

Dear friends,

To date, we have received 516 pledges of support for the Living Stones II capital campaign totaling $8,480,721. We continue to invite those who have not yet pledged to do so, and we have also expanded the circle to include members and churches of the diocese, and the broader community. We have also applied for grants from several foundations, and we’ve received grants from public utilities for the carbon reduction work in the project. To date, more than half of the pledge total has been paid, which means the vestry has created a timeline for the construction project. It is in three parts:

The HVAC retrofit for Cathedral House and Bloedel Hall is scheduled for May-August 2026.
The main project, involving the nave and narthex updates, electrical and HVAC upgrades for the cathedral, is set for summer 2027. Preconstruction planning has begun, and the co-chairs of the Design Committee (Re Knack and Walter Stuteville) will share more details about that work very soon.
The Renaissance organ project will come in 2028, but the structural work to support it will be integrated into the 2027 project.

This is all very exciting and only possible through the generosity of so many. I am grateful for this community and for the ways we are stewarding the cathedral to serve as a beacon of hope for generations to come. Visit the Saint Mark’s website for more information on the campaign. I am,

Your sibling in Christ,

The Very Reverend Steven L.
ThomasonDean and Rector

“Lent is a Good Time for Life Planning Work”—A Message from Dean Thomason

by Saint Mark's Cathedral on February 18, 2026 with No Comments

FEBRUARY 18, 2026 (ASH WEDNESDAY)

Dear friends,

For Christians, the Season of Lent offers a certain wisdom—that death is understood not merely as an event that occurs at the end of life, but also as an ever-present character in the story of our lives. Death is a mystery to be contemplated while we live, and always by the light of resurrection hope. This important “life planning” work is holy work to which we are all called. There are three ways I want to invite you into this year:

Planning your funeral
Reviewing and updating (or creating) your will and estate plan
End-of-life decisions (advance directives)

The order of these three is intended to be in reverse chronology. First, funeral planning. For several years now, I’ve made an annual appeal at the beginning of Lent for each adult at Saint Mark’s, regardless of your age, to undertake the work of planning your own funeral. Many of you have done so already: bless you… and this year take time this Lent to dust off your plan, review and update it if needed. If you’ve not yet taken this work on, I encourage you to include this work this year in your observance of a holy Lent. It is sacred work. Please reach out if you need guidance—Canon Rich, Canon Emily, our Curate Adam and I are glad to engage with you in this process or address any questions you may have.

Planning Your Funeral Guide (docx format)
Planning Your Funeral Guide (pdf format)
Funeral Planning Form (docx format)
Funeral Planning Form (pdf format)
Burial Rite: Suggested Readings from Scripture (pdf format) (You are not restricted to these readings, but they are especially appropriate.)

These documents are also available at saintmarks.org/funeral. Ideally, you would complete this planning form (or as much as you’d like to complete) and provide a copy to the Dean’s office, where it will be kept on file, and held in confidence, until the time it is needed (hopefully a long time from now!) Of course, you can retrieve it, amend it, or replace it at any time (and many of us do).

Secondly, I want to once again broaden this invitation to include preparation (or review) of your will. Only one-third of Americans have a will when they die, making it especially difficult for their loved ones trying to work through probate. It is never too soon to give thought to that part of end-of-life planning, including provision for heirs and designating legacy gifts for charitable agencies to which you are committed. Again, Lent is a particularly poignant time to undertake this work, or to conduct an annual review of your estate documents.

We have also updated the Saint Mark’s Planned Giving brochure this year. It is intended to serve as a guide for you to consider how to leave a legacy gift to Saint Mark’s. Doing so, and letting Erik Donner or me know that you have, admits you to the Cathedral Legacy Society, which has nearly 300 members and counting. Your gifts and bequests will ensure this cathedral will continue to serve faithfully for generations to come.

Third, give consideration during this Lent to ponder what you want in health care decisions at you approach the end of life. As a hospice and palliative care physician, I could share story after story about how this advance work of decision-making is a sacred gift to your loved ones (and stories of tragic heartache when such direction was not provided). You may have an Advance Directive already—review it and see if it still works for you. If not, I commend to you Five Wishes as a way to consider such things. The cathedral clergy have copies of this booklet as well. And then let your loved ones (and/or your doctor) know where it is.

All of this is holy work, my friends, wherever you are on the spiritual journey of life, wherever you are in the course of life. Again, your clergy are available to support you in this. I hope you will embrace this good work as part of your Lenten observance.

Blessings and peace,

The Very Reverend Steven L. Thomason
Dean and Rector

2026 Annual Parish Meeting & Elections

by Saint Mark's Cathedral on January 21, 2026 with No Comments

SUNDAY, JANUARY 25, 2026

Meeting called to order at 8 A.M.
Voting, 8:05 A.M. - 12:45 P.M. (in person only)
Business Meeting, 12:30–2 P.M., Bloedel Hall and via Zoom

The 2026 Annual Meeting of St. Mark's Cathedral Parish, Seattle, will be on Sunday, January 25, 2026, at 12:30 p.m. in Bloedel Hall and via Zoom. The meeting will include election of parish Vestry members and delegates/alternates to Diocesan Convention. A brochure featuring the candidates is now available, and will be available in the back of the nave starting Sunday, January 4. We’ll also hear reports from the Dean, Senior Warden, and ministry leaders. The Dean will bestow Pro Christo Awards. This is a wonderful opportunity to celebrate our vibrant parish. As with last year, there will be no potluck meal, but light snacks and coffee/tea/water will be available to those in Bloedel Hall, and you are welcome to bring your own food if you find that helpful.

UPDATES

The slate of 12 candidates for Diocesan Convention Delegate was approved.
The new Vestry members elected to three-year terms were: Amanda Davis, John Gulhaugen, James Wilcox, and Sarah McCord.
The Dean appointed Julia Logan as Senior Warden.
The Pro Christo et Ecclesia medal was awarded to Randy Urmston, Eliza Davidson, and Re Knack

PLEASE NOTE:

The meeting will again be hybrid—you can attend in Bloedel Hall or via Zoom.
There will be no potluck meal again this year. Light snacks and coffee/tea/water will be available to those in Bloedel Hall, and you are welcome to bring your own food if you find that helpful.
Elections will occur as they did last year. Online voting for those joining the meeting remotely will not be available. Votes may be cast in person any time between 8:05 a.m. and 12:45 p.m. As usual, there is no early voting or proxy voting, per the cathedral by-laws. The election rules will be read by the Cathedral Chancellor during the meeting.

ELECTION RULES

Like last year, the Annual Meeting will be called to order in Thomsen Chapel at 8 a.m. to take nominations from the floor (if any). Voting will occur by paper ballot only, either at the table in the narthex between 8:05 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. or at the entry table in Bloedel Hall between 12:35–12:45 p.m. Online voting for those joining the meeting via Zoom is no longer available. Per cathedral bylaws, there is no early voting or proxy voting. Complete election rules are presented during the meeting.

WHO CAN VOTE IN THE PARISH ELECTION?

The Second Restated Bylaws of St. Mark’s Cathedral Parish (Art. 1, sec. 3) provide: "In accordance with the Constitution and Canons of the Diocese of Olympia, “Parish Communicants” are those baptized persons who are faithful in corporate worship and who have received the Sacrament of Holy Communion at Saint Mark’s at least three times during the previous year (unless good cause prevented)...”; “Parish Communicants in Good Standing” are those Parish Communicants age sixteen years or older, who are recorded contributors to the support of Saint Mark’s with money or with personal service... Unless subsequently defined otherwise by Diocesan or Episcopal Church canons, “Parish Electors” shall include all the Parish Communicants in Good Standing.”

ADDITIONAL LINKS:

Last Year's Annual Meeting (January 26, 2025) (includes complete video)
2024 Annual Report (distributed at the 2025 Annual Meeting)
The Cathedral Vestry
Vestry Archive (meeting minutes, reports, financials, etc)

2026 Martin Luther King, Jr., Afternoon of Service

by Saint Mark's Cathedral on January 13, 2026 with No Comments

SUNDAY, JANUARY 18, 12:30 P.M., Bloedel Hall, registration requested. Lunch is available (suggested donation: $8/adult; $25/family max.).

"Life's most persistent and urgent question is, 'What are you doing for others?'" —The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Join us on the Sunday of the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday weekend as people of all ages and abilities gather for a day of service. We’ll begin our afternoon together with a pizza lunch from Pagliacci (suggested donation: $8/adult; $25/family max) before heading out to support our community partners and care for our cathedral home.

We have a wide variety of ways to get involved, ranging from gentle, seated activities to active outdoor projects.

Offsite Service Teams

Casa Latina: Join a group traveling to work with women in our community as they prepare for their annual fundraiser.
L’Arche Angeline House & Lowell Elementary: We are sending teams for requested outdoor work. The forecast is calling for sun and 50 degrees—perfect weather to serve our neighbors near Volunteer Park!

Onsite Projects at the Cathedral

If you prefer to stay on campus, we have several essential projects running in Bloedel Hall and the sanctuary:

Outreach & Creativity: Making sandwiches for Operation Nightwatch, tying a quilt for Donna Jean's Place, and painting watercolor cards for Donna Jean’s residents and Lowell teachers.
Stewardship of Space: Deep cleaning of the nave woodwork, brass polishing, cobweb removal in the chapel, and detailing the Bloedel kitchen.

Registration is requested so we can plan for food and project supplies. You can indicate your physical activity preference when you sign up.

Compline on the First Sunday of Christmas, 2025

by Saint Mark's Cathedral on December 28, 2025 with No Comments

The Order of Service & repertoire may be found at: complineunderground.wordpress.com/2025/12/27/compline-2025-the-first-sunday-after-christmas-day/

December 28, 2025 • The First Sunday after Christmas

PROCESSIONAL: Glory to God in the highest – Plainsong, adapt. Peter R. Hallock (1924-2014)

PSALM 147 – Peter R. Hallock (1924-2014)

HYMN 82: Of the Father’s love begotten (Tune: DIVINUM MYSTERIUM) – Sanctus trope, 11th cent.; adapt. Piae Cantiones, 1582; arr. Richard T. Proulx (1937-2010)

NUNC DIMITTIS (Tune: MARILYN) – Peter R. Hallock

ANTHEMS: In natali Domini – Anonymous, from Codex Speciálník, ca. 1500

O magnum mysterium – Gerald Near (b. 1942)

Jason Anderson, director • William Turnipseed, organist • Josh Sandoz, reader • Theo Floor, cantor

Thanks to this evening's Compline volunteers: hospitality ministers Jim Buskirk 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/

The First Sunday after Christmas Day, 2025

by Saint Mark's Cathedral on December 28, 2025 with No Comments

LEAFLETS

The Service Leaflet contains all you need to fully participate in each liturgy from home.

NEWSLETTER

The weekly cathedral newsletter contains important announcements, offerings, and events, can be found here. Click here to add yourself to cathedral emails lists.
The weekly cathedral prayer list, which includes the Anglican, Diocesan, and Cathedral Cycles of Prayer along with prayer requests from the community, can be found here. Information about making prayer requests can also be found on that page.

ARCHIVES

Video of past services can be seen here.
Audio and printed text of sermons can be found here.

Christmas Eve Midnight Mass, 2025

by Saint Mark's Cathedral on December 25, 2025 with No Comments

LEAFLETS

The Service Leaflet contains all you need to fully participate in each liturgy from home.

NEWSLETTER

The weekly cathedral newsletter contains important announcements, offerings, and events, can be found here. Click here to add yourself to cathedral emails lists.
The weekly cathedral prayer list, which includes the Anglican, Diocesan, and Cathedral Cycles of Prayer along with prayer requests from the community, can be found here. Information about making prayer requests can also be found on that page.

ARCHIVES

Video of past services can be seen here.
Audio and printed text of sermons can be found here.

Christmas Eve 7:30 p.m., 2025

by Saint Mark's Cathedral on December 24, 2025 with No Comments

LEAFLETS

The Service Leaflet contains all you need to fully participate in each liturgy from home.

NEWSLETTER

The weekly cathedral newsletter contains important announcements, offerings, and events, can be found here. Click here to add yourself to cathedral emails lists.
The weekly cathedral prayer list, which includes the Anglican, Diocesan, and Cathedral Cycles of Prayer along with prayer requests from the community, can be found here. Information about making prayer requests can also be found on that page.

ARCHIVES

Video of past services can be seen here.
Audio and printed text of sermons can be found here.

Protected: Emergency Preparedness Workshop: Video and Resources

by Saint Mark's Cathedral on December 23, 2025 with No Comments

Compline on the Fourth Sunday of Advent, 2025

by Saint Mark's Cathedral on December 21, 2025 with No Comments

The Order of Service & repertoire may be found at: complineunderground.wordpress.com/2025/12/21/compline-2025-the-fourth-sunday-of-advent/

December 21, 2025 • The Fourth Sunday of Advent

PROCESSIONAL: Veni, veni, Emmanuel – Plainsong, Mode I; composite arr. Jason A. Anderson (b. 1976); including harm. Peter R. Hallock (1924-2014), Alice Parker (1925-2023), and Philip Lawson (b. 1967)

PSALM 80:1-7,16-18 – Plainsong, Tone IV.4

HYMN 264: The Word whom earth and sea and sky adore (Tune: SONG 34) – mel. and bass Orlando Gibbons (1583-1625); harm. The English Hymnal, 1906

NUNC DIMITTIS – Richard Proulx (1937-2010)

ANTHEM: Alma Redemptoris Mater – Tomás Luis de Victoria (c. 1548-1631)

44:56 POST COMPLINE ORGAN MUSIC:

Prelude on Conditor alme siderum – Marilyn Biery

Partita on Freu dich sehr, O Meine seele – Anton Heiller

Chorale Prelude on Nun komm, der Heiden Heiland, BWV 659 – J. S. Bach

Organ Motet on Veni Emmanuel – John Hebden Schaffer

Toccata on Veni Emmanuel – Adolphus Hailstork

Jason Anderson, director • William Turnipseed, reader • Fred McIlroy, cantor • Christopher Stroh, organ recitalist

Thanks to this evening's Compline volunteers: hospitality ministers Priscilla Strand and Estephan Meza, 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/

SUMMER 2026

A Message from Dean Thomason: Update on Living Stones II Capital Campaign

LINKS

SERMON TRANSCRIPT

LINKS

NEWSLETTER

ARCHIVES

SUMMER 2025

photographs by Jim Friedrich

SUMMER 2025

by Fr. Peter Pearson

January–March and Eastertide, 2025

About Peter Pearson

by Virginia Maksymowicz

About the Stations of the Cross

The Way of the Cross: A Liturgy on Film

by Peter Boome

April 2022 through July 2022

About Peter Boome

site-specific textile installation by Josh Faught

January 2017 – October 2018

SACRED SPACES

Summer at Saint Mark's

Come experience and encounter the sacred spaces of Saint Mark’s Cathedral through art, music, journey, and story.

2026 EVENTS

ONGOING OFFERINGS

2025 EVENTS

"Celebrating Creation"

"Hopeful Arts"

"Quiet Pride" at Saint Mark's

2025 Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service

2024 EVENTS

2024 New Year's Eve Labyrinth Walk

The Pageant of the Nativity

Cozy Compline—Bedtime Prayers at the Cathedral

2024 St. Francis Day Celebration with Blessing of the Animals

Remember Your Baptism!—A Cathedral Pilgrimage for Everyone

Art Installations by Sandy Nelson

A BRIEF HISTORY OF SAINT MARK’S

SUMMER 2024 PILGRIMAGES

SAINT MARK’S COMMUNITY LIFE

A Message from the Living Stones II Design Committee

A Message from Dean Thomason: Update on Living Stones II Campaign and Construction Planning

Offsite Service Teams

Onsite Projects at the Cathedral

Compline on the First Sunday after Christmas Day | December 28, 2025

LEAFLETS

NEWSLETTER

ARCHIVES

Support the Mission and Ministry of Saint Mark's Cathedral

The First Sunday after Christmas Day | December 28, 2025

LEAFLETS

NEWSLETTER

ARCHIVES

Christmas Eve (11 p.m.) | December 24, 2025

LEAFLETS

NEWSLETTER

ARCHIVES

Christmas Eve (7:30 p.m.) | December 24, 2025

LEAFLETS

NEWSLETTER

ARCHIVES

Compline on the Fourth Sunday of Advent | December 21, 2025

LEAFLETS

NEWSLETTER

ARCHIVES

Support the Mission and Ministry of Saint Mark's Cathedral