MAY 26 THROUGH JUNE 30

The cathedral is launching a non-partisan effort to help eligible people register to vote, every Sunday from May 26 through the end of June, at a table in the rear of the nave following morning services and before Compline.

For each Sunday, the organizers are seeking two volunteers to be present at the table in the nave after the 9 a.m. service, two volunteers after the 11 a.m. service, and one volunteer before Compline. Responsibilities will be to greet all warmly, hand out registration forms, and collect the completed forms or give instruction for how to mail it in. Absolutely no partisan conversation and/or debates are allowed.

Sign up using this form. (Sign up for as many slots as you would like according to your availability.)

UPDATE: A video of the May 21, 2024, liturgy can be seen here and below.

TUESDAY, MAY 21, 2024, 7 P.M., in the cathedral nave and livestreamed

Join in person or online on Tuesday, May 21 at 7 p.m. for an Interfaith Prayer Service in the style of Taizé. We will be joined by friends from Clear Mountain Monastery Buddhist Community (which currently meets on the cathedral campus every Saturday morning) as we celebrate Living Buddha, Living Christ, Living Spirit, acknowledging two sacred feasts: Pentecost (May 19), celebrating the coming of the Holy Spirit in the Christian calendar; and Vesak (May 23) celebrating the Buddha's birth, enlightenment, and passing in the Buddhist calendar.

This special service meditates on values that both traditions hold as sacred, represented by the "fruit of the Spirit" in Galatians, and the perfections (parami) of character necessary in Buddhism to achieve enlightenment. The liturgy will include prayers and readings taken from Christian and Buddhist scriptures, as well as chants from the Buddhist and Christian traditions.

A video of the May 21 service and the April 28 Sunday preview forum providing a preview and background of this service can be seen below:

Since the Annual Parish Meeting update in February, the Affordable Housing Committee and Vestry have continued to make progress in taking the next steps in the predevelopment process to explore affordable housing on campus.

NEW Update, April 24, 2024:

Update from April 7, 2024:

• On March 14, Saint Mark’s received an additional grant from Trinity Church Wall Street in the amount of $150,000 to complete pre-development studies and support the process of identifying a development partner.
• On March 19, the Vestry approved moving to the stage of selecting a development partner. While feasibility analysis will be ongoing, the Committee and Vestry believes that feasibility has been demonstrated at a level that supports initiating a process to select a development partner with which to pursue affordable housing on the St. Nicholas site, in anticipation that the development partner would bring its expertise, credibility, and financial strength to the project, while being aligned missionally with Saint Mark’s and being supportive of the project criteria that were approved by the Vestry.
• Continued participation in Enterprise Community Partners Faith-Based Development Initiative as part of a community of faith organizations looking to explore use of property for missional purposes.
• Engaging in sustainability planning work with The International Living Future Institute (ILFI) This collaboration is part of a planned path to “Core” certification for ensuring sustainability and carbon reduction goals on top of the base standards for affordable housing in Washington State.

Integral to this work has been continued analysis on further historical rehabilitation of the building. Saint Mark’s has been working with atelierjones, an architecture firm, for initial predevelopment planning that includes two options—(1) retaining the historic wing of the St. Nicholas Building through historic rehab or (2) new construction entirely on the site. A key next step in this work will be a meeting with the Seattle Department of Construction and Inspection (SDCI) this spring to review an initial enhanced site plan to get feedback from the City on key aspects about the project design.

“There are still many questions to answer, but we are getting closer to a more informed view of what redeveloping the St. Nicholas property could look like for affordable housing on campus,” said Dean Steve Thomason. “The Committee and Vestry are working diligently and intentionally to ensure that such a project design remains congruent with the Cathedral’s mission and serves a multigenerational population at a variety of lower-income levels.”

The parish is invited to join in two opportunities to learn more and share questions:

1. Wednesday, May 22 (6:45–8:15 p.m., in person in Bloedel Hall and by Zoom) – A Cathedral's Complicity in Redlining and Restrictive Covenants: a forum exploring the impact of Civil Rights history and racial segregation to consider how church communities, including Saint Mark’s, have a responsibility to honest face this and respond in just ways in our time.
2. Wednesday, June 5 (7–8 p.m. by Zoom) – An Update on Affordable Housing at Saint Mark’s: an opportunity to hear from Committee and Vestry leadership on the project plans and ask questions.

The Affordable Housing Committee meets on the first Wednesday of each month. For questions, email affordablehousing@saintmarks.org.