Walking the Emmaus Road: A Journey from Lament to Hope

by on November 5, 2024 with No Comments
Debie Thomas

UPDATED WITH VIDEO & SLIDES

A Wisdom School Saturday workshop led by author and teacher Debie Thomas

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.

About the Presenter

"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

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Men’s Retreat at Camp Huston: The Art of Forgiveness

by on September 19, 2024 with No Comments

FRIDAY–SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 15–17, 2024, at Camp Huston Retreat Center in Gold Bar, WA

LED BY DEAN STEVE THOMASON

This weekend retreat is designed to create the space for quiet reflection, time away from the burdens of daily life, spacious time in nature, conversations with other men of faith, and worship. It will be a time of spiritual reflection and renewal with focused reflections and conversations related to forgiveness as the catalyst for healing and hope. Steve Thomason, Dean of Saint Mark’s Cathedral, will facilitate the weekend to which men of all ages are welcome.

Registration required.

Space is limited to 30, available first-come, first-served. Fee: $295 double occupancy, $325 single; includes two nights lodging and all meals. Partial scholarships are available. A $100 non-refundable deposit is required to hold your space. Payment in full is due October 15, 2024. Contact Dean Thomason sthomason@saintmarks.org to reserve your spot.

Meeting God In Our Busy Lives: The Theology and Practice of Zimzum

by on September 16, 2024 with No Comments
The Rt. Rev. Phil LaBelle

WEDNESDAY SEPTEMBER 25, 2024, 6:45–8:15 P.M., (as Cathedral Commons) in person in Bloedel Hall and online via Zoom.

FACILITATED BY THE REV. PHIL LABELLE — BISHOP-ELECT OF THE DIOCESE OF OLYMPIA

With overly-packed schedules, many of us wonder if we’ll ever be able to live the lives we yearn for. A life with space for the important things. With a connection to God, others, and the natural world. Jewish mystics suggest that God’s first act of creation was zimzum, a sacrificial self-withdrawal. God needed to open up space within God’s self before God could call forth the cosmos. What might that concept mean for us who are made in the image of God? Join the Rev. Phil LaBelle for an exploration of the Jewish mystical concept of zimzum, and what it can mean for us today.

The slides for this presentation can be downloaded here. A complete video is now available: 

A Spirituality of Hope and Healing

by on September 15, 2024 with No Comments

UPDATED WITH VIDEO

WISDOM SCHOOL 2024/25 OPENING PLENARY

WEDNESDAY SEPTEMBER 18, 2024, 6:45–8:15 P.M., (as Cathedral Commons) in person in Bloedel Hall and online via Zoom.

LED BY THE VERY REV. STEVEN L. THOMASON

Drawing on his decades of experience as a hospice physician and parish priest, Dean Thomason will explore a spirituality of hope, as a virtue worthy of practice especially in challenging times, and a spirituality of healing, as the prevailing gift of peace that comes to those who lean into newfound creativity and freedom.

UPDATE: The slides for this presentation are now available here.

A complete video is now available: 

Parish Picnic 2024

by on August 15, 2024 with No Comments

SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 8, 12:15 P.M. (following the 11 a.m. service), on the labyrinth and front lawn; RSVP requested.

This year, we’re delighted to provide a delicious picnic lunch of grilled burgers and hot dogs (vegan alternative available), macaroni salad, chips, watermelon, and cookies following the 11 am service on the front lawn. There’s no charge, but please register here so we know how many people to cook for.

Activities will include:

  • Ministry Fair! (naturally!)
  • Live bluegrass music!
  • Blessing of Backpacks and Briefcases! (All ages are invited to bring their bags.)
  • Bake sale to benefit children and youth ministries at Saint Mark’s!

If you usually come to the 9 am service, please note that there will be Children’s Chapel at the 11 a.m. service as well that day.

“Remember Your Baptism!”— A Cathedral Pilgrimage for Everyone

by on August 15, 2024 with No Comments

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 7, 1:30-4:30 P.M. (Renewal of Baptismal Covenant at 3 p.m.), in the cathedral nave and outdoors; registration requested

In the Baptism rite of the Book of Common Prayer, parents and godparents of younger children are asked “by your prayers and witness, will you help this child to grow into the full stature of Christ?” Adult baptizands have sponsors, too, and the entire community is asked if we will “do all in your power to support these persons in their life in Christ?” Living into our baptism, then, is a lifelong pilgrimage.

On the afternoon of Saturday, September 7, 2024, Saint Mark’s Cathedral, Seattle, invites parents, godparents, sponsors, and those baptized of every generation to make a pilgrimage to your cathedral where we consider the fortifying qualities of baptismal waters that mark us sacramentally and indelibly as Christ’s own forever. Those who gather will be invited to explore 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. Wherever you are on your spiritual journey, you are welcome here! There will be reflection and activity stations for all ages (including the splash mat, weather permitting!).

Activities will be available 1:30–4:30 p.m. in the cathedral nave — arrive any time and stay as long as you wish. Please plan to be present at 3 p.m., when everyone will gather around the font to renew our Baptismal Covenant in community. Other offerings include:

  • Activity and reflection stations based on the six promises of the baptismal covenant
  • Splash pad!
  • Water beads and water table, and sand play-dough and shells for kids
  • Water walk around the cathedral campus
  • Water poetry and scripture
  • Watercolor painting
  • Rock painting using imagery from the Waters of Baptism mural in the nave
  • Special music offered by members of the Schola
  • Remarks by Dean Thomason on the meaning of the sacrament and its elements, just before the renewal of Baptismal promises

Register using this link or by submitting the form below.

Fill out my online form.

Night Prayer with Music from Taizé on the Labyrinth

by on July 31, 2024 with 1 Comment

WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 21, 7 P.M.–8 P.M., outside on the labyrinth and front lawn

All ages are welcome to join the 20s/30s group for an outdoor evening of music and prayer. Using Night Prayer from the New Zealand Prayer Book as our guide, we will end our day gathering on the Labyrinth in front of Saint Mark's. We will also intersperse simple singing together inspired by music from Taize and other short refrains.

If you play an outdoor appropriate instrument and want to join in helping to make music you are welcome to join! Musicians are invited to gather early at 6 p.m. to review the songs - melody and chords will be provided.

We will stay afterward for casual social time. Feel free to bring some cookies to share!

Wisdom Practice Day in Advent—Silence, Stillness, Solitude: Ancient Monastic Practices for Bearing Advent Hope in a Modern World

by on July 30, 2024 with 3 Comments
The Rev. Sr. Miriam Elizabeth Bledsoe, OSH

SATURDAY, DECEMBER 14, 2024, 9 A.M.–12 P.M., registration required; total capacity limited to 35 participants.

PLEASE NOTE: THIS EVENT IS CURRENTLY AT CAPACITY AND IS NO LONGER ACCEPTING REGISTRATIONS

LED BY THE REV. SR. MIRIAM ELIZABETH BLEDSOE, OSH

In a world of constant commotion, what does it mean to practice silence? In a culture of shifting change, how do we practice stillness? In the crowds of everyday life, where do we find solitude? While silence, stillness and solitude have long been foundations of living for those in monastic life, such practices are available to everyone. These wisdom practices can open in us hospitable space to welcome the Christ Child and bear hope into the world.

The Rev. Sr. Miriam Elizabeth Bledsoe from The Order of Saint Helena, an Episcopal monastic order for women in South Carolina, will join us in exploring how these ancient practices can shape our lives for bearing hope in a modern world.

About the Facilitator

"I am an Episcopal priest and monastic sister with the Order of Saint Helena in North Augusta, SC. I was ordained in 2002–3 and served as a parish priest before coming to the order in 2011. In my order I serve as part of a duo on the Leadership Council; as sister in charge of the kitchen; and as a priest, preacher, spiritual director and retreat leader. As well, I provide occasional sacramental supply for Christ Episcopal Church in Denmark, SC."

 

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Wisdom Practice Day in the Fall—Marking Sacred Time

by on July 30, 2024 with No Comments

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 21, 2024, 10:00 A.M.–2:00 P.M.

Drawing on traditional cyclical wisdom that holds seasonal, weekly and daily rhythms as sacred, how we mark time matters, and it informs the ways we live intentionally in the ordinary routines of daily life. Guided by contemplative practices that help us align with the rhythms of the natural world, those gathered will prepare and share a meal as a way of framing our lives by rooted intention.

Register here.