FRIDAYS IN LENT, BEGINNING FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 16, THROUGH MARCH 22, 6:30-8 P.M., Leffler Living Room
This Lent, Queer in Christ will host a Conversation series called Clearing Space for God, designed with queer people in mind. Join James Davidson and Michael Seewer each Friday evening in Lent as we explore and share sacred stories that celebrate otherness. We'll dig into these stories and discuss how they and we celebrate our special gifts as queer people, and reflect on how we move forward in the process of clearing space for God in our daily lives.
This series is being planned as an in-person offering in Leffler Living Room, but please let us know if you would prefer to join remotely so we can accommodate such requests. Interested in joining these conversations? Contact Michael Seewer: mseewer@saintmarks.org
I have attended Saint Mark’s since 2018, with periodic attendance at services and meetings over the past 30 years of living in the Seattle-area Episcopal churches. I live on the Eastside and attend 9 or 11 regularly. At Saint Mark’s I have participated in justice ministries, feeding programs, Radix groups, Cathedral Yoga Committee, Men’s Retreats, and other ministries. I came to Saint Mark’s after serving as a Diocesan member of the Vestry from 2015 to 2018 and realized my church home was at Saint Mark’s. I am divorced father of two—a married son and a non-binary child, both of whom live in Seattle. I am an in-house lawyer at Costco Wholesale where I support technology projects. Outside of work and church, I volunteer legal services and love to spend time with family and friends, cook, hike, and cycle. I am excited to stand for Vestry to serve this amazing community as it grows and transforms the world.
Like many before me, I entered Saint Mark’s through the music door, as a member of the Gallery Choir. In my nearly 23 years as a parishioner, I’ve experienced the joy of being part of a loving, purposeful community and learned how rewarding it is to say “yes.”
I grew up in a small town on the Oregon coast. My family did not attend church regularly, though we sometimes attended with my grandmother. I knew there was a God, because we said the Lord’s Prayer every morning in school. I worked in aerospace for 35 years starting out as an airplane mechanic, and then working my way into engineering. I was a mechanical engineer in fasteners with Boeing when I retired in 2017. After retirement I felt like I needed to grow my community, so I started attending services at Saint Marks. The first morning I walked into the 11 a.m. service, Carolyn White introduced herself, told me about the service, and sat with me until it ended. After a couple more services I felt like I found a home. I was baptized and joined the church in 2018. I am currently active in the Garden Ministry and the Facilities Committee, and serve as Greeter, Acolyte, Oblation bearer, and Eucharistic visitor (2nd). I have participated in the Women’s Retreats and in Radix groups. I love to figure out how things go together and how to fix them when they don’t. I’m always trying to learn more about how the church works and where my work is within it. Joining the Vestry might tie it altogether. I’m not sure where I’m going on my journey, but I know I’m going with God.
Having been a cradle Lutheran for over four decades, I joined Saint Margaret’s Episcopal Church in Bellevue in 2000 and Saint Mark’s Cathedral in 2005. I have enjoyed singing in the Cathedral Choir since then. After co-chairing the Cathedral’s 2007 annual campaign, I served on the Vestry from 2008 to 2010 and was Senior Warden for 2009–10. I have served on the board of directors of the Cathedral Foundation of the Diocese of Olympia since 2017 and was its board chair from 2019 to 2022.
A “cradle” Episcopalian, I moved to Seattle in early 2013 and began attending Saint Mark’s, becoming a member shortly thereafter. In my previous church, I served on the Vestry and was Clerk and Junior Warden. I was elected to the Vestry at Saint Mark’s in 2018 and served as Senior Warden in 2019 and 2020. I was co-chair of the 2020 Strategic Planning Committee. I have been Chair of the Nominations Committee and have served on the planning committee for several iterations of Radix, as well as a facilitator. I am a Lay Worship Leader for Evening Prayer, and I serve as a greeter at the 11 o’clock Sunday service, along with a number of other ministries. I am one of the mentors for the Monday morning EfM class. Currently, I am Chair of the Board of the Cathedral Foundation of the Diocese of Olympia.
I was baptized and confirmed in the Episcopal church and began attending Saint Mark’s regularly since 2018, when I was reaffirmed in the church. Since then, I have served in the ushering ministry, the Phase II discernment committee for Robert Stevens, and, when my work schedule permits, Bible study and the Radix Project. I have also attended a Wesleyan Small Group at Seattle Pacific University. I will join in the pilgrimage to Ireland and Iona this summer as well.
I am a retired classical musician and teacher. After graduating from Trinity College of Music in 1963, I taught music in a girls’ high school as well as piano at the Westminster Abbey Choir School. Growing up in London, I attended public school where “scripture” was on the curriculum and daily services were the norm. Attracted initially by the liturgy of the Anglican church, I joined at the age of 13 and was confirmed by the Bishop of Chelmsford a year later. After I married we moved to Basel, Switzerland, where I attended the Anglican church in the chapel at Basel Cathedral. When we arrived in the USA, I joined the Episcopal Church in New Jersey (Diocese of Newark). There I sang in the choir as soloist, was lector and intercessor and served two years on the vestry. In this country I have served on several Boards of Directors, including The Professional Music Teachers’ Guild of New Jersey and Seattle Opera Guild, serving as Board President of both. In New Jersey, I also ran a successful piano studio. Since I came to Saint Mark’s, I truly feel I have come home. I would be proud and honored to represent you on the Vestry.
I am a retired lawyer, married with two adult children. Over the years, I’ve served on the boards of several nonprofit organizations with missions including music, higher education, and the environment. It would be a special honor to serve on the Vestry at Saint Mark’s. After years of occasional visits, I joined Saint Mark’s in 2014, drawn as so many are by the liturgical tradition coupled with a commitment to social justice. I usually attend the 9 a.m. service and have served on the ushering team and as a lector/intercessor. I also served on the 2020 Strategic Planning Committee.
Nancy is grateful for the generous welcome she has experienced from Saint Mark’s clergy, staff, and parishioners since becoming a regular Saint Mark’s communicant in the Autumn of 2022. Raised in various Methodist and Presbyterian Churches in the Northeast and Midwest, and active as an adult congregant in Lutheran and Congregationalist churches in upstate New York and New England, she is glad to have finally found her church home as a confirmed Episcopalian, the church in which her parents were married and her uncle and cousin both served as ordained priests. Especially appreciative of the many opportunities Saint Mark’s offers for deepening her faith, she has participated in the Inquirer’s class, Radix groups, the Wisdom School, Thursday morning prayer group, and the Saint Mark’s writing group. Serving as a delegate to the Diocesan Convention would enable her to continue that process of learning and discernment. Perhaps pertinent to that role, as a recently retired professor at the University of Washington she previously served as elected President of the faculty of the UW College of Education (twice), as elected President and Vice-President of two national professional organizations, and as Senior Editor of her national professional journal, History of Education Quarterly.
A former Roman Catholic, I moved to Seattle from Virginia in 2017, began attending Saint Mark’s with my wife Lauren in 2018, and became a member of the Episcopal Church and Saint Mark’s parish in 2021. I cherish the welcoming, inclusive spirit of the Saint Mark’s community and our strong commitment to equality, justice, service, and spiritual growth. At Saint Mark’s, I serve as a lay reader and member of the Restorative Justice Council, and I am enrolled in Education for Ministry. I have joined six Radix groups and facilitated two of them. Before the pandemic I served in prison ministry at King County jail. I attend weekly Cursillo group reunions and the Second Sunday Cathedral Book Group. I hold a Ph.D. in American history. I have taught at every level of public instruction and served as a historian and manager in Virginia’s State Historic Preservation Office for 35 years. Lauren and I have been married for fifty-one years and have three sons and six grandchildren.
Sallie Crotty is a lifelong Episcopalian. She was born in Dallas and raised in Galveston, Texas, where her family attended Trinity Episcopal Church. Her mother became one of the first female Episcopal priests in Texas.
I am honored to be nominated to serve as a delegate from Saint Mark’s to the Diocesan Convention. I am interested in the larger diocese, having gotten to know more members from different parishes as I have served on the Vestry, where I am currently completing the second year of the three-year term. Having completed the Education for Ministry program that extends throughout the diocese, I am interested in ways we can strengthen ties between Saint Mark’s and other parishes. Participating in Diocesan Convention is one way to do this, and I would be honored to serve in this role, especially as churches across the diocese recover from the pandemic, and as we welcome a new bishop in the next year.
Sarah Elwood-Faustino began attending Saint Mark’s in 2006, where the Thursday 7 a.m. Eucharist has long been her base community-within-the-community. She serves as a Eucharistic Visitor and Lay Worship Leader for Morning Prayer, and most often feels the presence of God when she’s biking, hiking or swimming in this beautiful place we call home. In her work life, Sarah is a professor of geography at the University of Washington, and her research and teaching focus on urban geographies, impoverishment, and creative politics forged by marginalized communities fighting for justice, equity, and self-determination. She’s excited to have a chance to learn more about the broader workings of our church as a Delegate to Convention.
I have been a member of Saint Mark’s since the early 1990s, and I currently serve as Clerk of the Vestry.
I am a tenor in the Schola Choir at Saint Marks. I’m a junior in high school. I’m passionate about music. In addition to singing I also play the violin. I’m also passionate about nature and I do gardening at my school. I look forward to serving as a Delegate to Convention and to learning more about our Diocese.
Anneka Herring (she/her), is a sophomore at Garfield High School in Seattle. She has been in the Saint Marks Choir School for almost 10 years, and currently sings as a member of the Schola and Evensong choirs. She is passionate about the environment and loves hiking, camping, and going backpacking with her dad. Outside of choir, she also plays piano, softball, and runs cross country. Anneka listens to Taylor Swift, SZA, and Fleetwood Mac, and seeing live music is one of her favorite things. She loves traveling abroad, and hopes to see as much of the world as she can in her lifetime. Anneka is excited to serve as a delegate for Diocesan Convention and can’t wait to contribute to the church that has played such an important role in her life.
I grew up in an evangelical Christian tradition. However, when my husband and I lived in Cambridge, England, in the mid-80s, we began attending Anglican services and found ourselves drawn to this religious tradition. After completing our graduate degrees at Rutgers University and elsewhere, we moved to the Seattle area, began attending Saint Marks in the mid-90s, and have participated in the Habitat for Humanity justice ministry for over twenty-five years. Eventually we officially joined the Saint Mark’s Cathedral community and, as a result, I began to intensify my involvement in its daily activities, including serving almost six years on the Justice Ministries Coordinating Team, a group that promoted and liaised with a wide-range of justice-oriented volunteers, and as a co-leader of the Habitat for Humanity ministry for many years. I have also served as a convention delegate twice before, and this experience of participating in the Episcopal governance tradition has inspired me to seek this appointment once again. I am a Professor Emerita from Seattle University where I was a member of the History Department. I spend much of my free time learning Spanish, biking, birding, hiking with a wonderful group of women every Wednesday, and volunteering with AARP as a Tax-Aide counselor preparing tax returns at no charge for people of all ages and income levels.
I have been involved in the life of Saint Mark’s for over twenty-five years, having been drawn to the spirit and mission of the Episcopal Church after living in England during the late 1980s, and was received into the Anglican Communion at Easter 2012. I have served primarily as co-leader of the Habitat for Humanity justice ministry for the past eighteen years and have participated in local, national, and international building projects, including a Jimmy Carter build in Mexico, several trips to New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina, leading a Global Village trip to Mexico, and, more recently, coordinating numerous projects on the Saint Mark’s campus. I am an Emeritus Professor of Environmental Studies at Seattle University and in 2023 I presented a Sunday Forum at Saint Mark’s growing out of my interest in the spiritual dimensions of ecology and natural history. I have been a Diocesan Convention delegate twice before, most recently in 2018, and would be honored to be of service in this way again.
Hello! I’m Rollin Salsbery and I’ve been coming to Saint Mark’s for around eight years. I serve at the 11 a.m. service as an acolyte and, more recently, as a verger. I am originally from Montana (a small town called Malta—after the island) and came to Seattle for college at Seattle Pacific University. During my time there, I first came to Saint Mark’s for Compline. My wife Kathryn and I live in Magnolia with our dachshund Persephone. I would be absolutely pleased to serve as Diocesan Convention Delegate, and I am honored to be nominated.
My name is Jen Younggren, and I am excited to be a candidate for Diocesan Convention Delegate. I grew up going to Presbyterian services, and, growing up in Virginia, I had exposure through friends to Southern Baptist, Evangelical, and Episcopal churches as well. While in college and medical school at the University of Virginia, I started attending Episcopal services regularly at Saint Paul’s Memorial Church, where I was involved in the choir. I really connected with the liturgy and seasonal rhythms of the church, and it was my church home during those eight years, although I did not join as a member.
