Vestry Members Continuing in Office

Term ends January 2026:

Greg Hamm
Peter Snyder
Doug Thorpe
Alexandra Thompson
Becky Kacel (Diocesan Member—Trinity, Everett)

Term ends January 2027:

Phil Haas
Julia Logan
Martha Craig
Christopher Breunig
The Rev. Gail Wheatley (Diocesan Member)

The four members elected at the 2025 Annual Meeting will end their term January 2028.

Candidates for Diocesan Convention Delegate

Clara Berg

I’ve been an active member of St. Mark’s for over a decade and served on the Vestry from 2020 to 2023 (including two years as Junior Warden). I was drawn to Saint Mark’s for the music program and the liturgy, and stayed for the inclusive theology and community. I am a member of the Cathedral Choir and the Evensong Choir, serve on the finance committee, and help teach the youth confirmation classes. I have a master’s degree in fashion history and museum studies and work as the Curator of Collections at the Museum of History & Industry (MOHAI). I look forward to the opportunity to serve as a convention delegate and learn more about the work of the Diocese.

Luciano Falzone

Luciano Falzone is an 11th grader enrolled at Nova High School, also taking classes at Bellevue College. He presently sings baritone for both the Evensong and Schola choirs, having begun his journey at the church singing for the Senior Choristers over 6 years ago. He is captivated by philosophy and religion having studied it more deeply at St. John’s college this past summer, and hopes to incorporate the two in his pursuits such as ultimate frisbee, ethics bowl, and the mock trial team he is starting at his school. He is deeply appreciative of the guidance and support that St. Mark has given him over the years, and is enthused to be able to give back to and engage the community to the best of his ability as delegate.

Stone Fennell

I was born and raised in Seattle, and did not grow up in a faith community. I joined Saint Mark’s in the Summer of 2023, while starting a master’s program at the University of Washington. I was first involved in the Lowell Ministry, having volunteered at Lowell the previous year, and having attended Lowell many, many years before that. I am continually impressed by the kindness and generosity of the Saint Mark’s community, and I am constantly meeting new people who support this community in different ways. In the Meals Ministry, I’ve been able to serve at the Saint Martin de Porres shelter, at Teen Feed. It also helped me see how ministries can work together, when the Meals Ministry made a meal for dozens of students and their families during the Lowell Math Night. Through Saint Mark’s, I’ve been able to participate in the Operation Nightwatch Street Ministry. This ministry gives me valuable perspective on the experiences of vulnerable people in Seattle, which continues to be something Seattle struggles with. Most recently, I’ve joined the Affordable Housing Committee. Affordable housing is something which very strongly affects the Lowell community, food access, and homelessness, and Saint Mark’s is showing fantastic initiative in addressing this. I would be excited to connect to the larger Episcopal community as a convention delegate. Thank you!

Kate Halamay

My name is Kate Halamay and I have been attending St. Mark’s since about 2011. I live in Wallingford with my mischievous tuxedo cat Olive. A lifelong Episcopalian, I grew up attending church with my grandmother at St. David’s Episcopal Church on Cape Cod, Massachusetts. Starting with college and continuing through many moves, I have always been fortunate to find a local Episcopal church where I could worship and return to the familiar rhythms of the liturgy. A pediatrician by trade, I moved to Seattle in 2006 to start my pediatrics residency at Seattle Children’s/UW and never left! After trying out a few churches during residency, I found my spiritual home at St. Mark’s a few years after finishing my training. I am truly grateful for the vibrant and loving community I have found here and who has embraced me with open arms. I currently serve as an acolyte and verger and also help to lead and organize activities for the 40s/50s group at St. Mark’s. I have participated in a couple of Radix groups and prior to the pandemic volunteered at Noel House before it moved offsite. I have served as a delegate to convention three times before and have loved getting to participate in the governance and decision making that affects our local diocese. I would be honored to represent you at Diocesan Convention once again.

Carleton MacDonald

My wife Karen and I moved to Maple Valley in February 2019, and I began attending Saint Mark’s right after that, joining the Saint Mark’s Singers at the 9 a.m. service where I sing tenor. I have served one term as diocesan delegate for Saint Mark’s, found it very fulfilling (especially as we took part in the special convention last May to elect the new diocesan bishop), and would love the opportunity to serve again. In my prior church in Maryland I served a term on the Vestry and three years as diocesan delegate for our parish, attending convention at Washington National Cathedral. Taking part in activities that support the work of the church and the diocese is something I truly enjoy. Karen and I are both retired from our respective careers as a school teacher and Amtrak manager and spend our days reading, visiting family, and traveling from time to time.

Hilary McLeland-Wieser

Hilary McLeland-Wieser is a PhD student studying Public Health at the University of Washington. A Seattle area native, she has attended Saint Mark’s since she moved back to the area from Washington, DC in 2022. Hilary is involved with the 20s and 30s group at Saint Mark’s and is a member of the stewardship committee. She also serves as an usher and an acolyte at the 11am service. In her free time, Hilary enjoys baking and knitting.

Michael Perera

I’ve been attending Saint Mark’s for nine years, and have previously served on the Vestry and as a convention delegate. I am currently a member of the diocese’s Commission on Ministry. As our diocese moves into the future with our new bishop, I am excited and humbled (if chosen) to represent our beloved cathedral community at diocesan convention.

David Poortinga

David grew up in Arlington, Washington, and was raised in the Christian Reformed Church. He has been a church pianist since he was a teenager. He studied political science at Colgate University in Hamilton, New York. While attending graduate school at the University of Pittsburgh in 2016, he discovered the Episcopal Church and fell in love with Anglican liturgy and music. David has been an active member of St. Mark’s since mid-2023 and was confirmed at Cathedral Day in 2024. He is grateful for friendships formed at St. Mark’s and a sense of belonging and community. He is involved in a number of ministries, serving as the Taizé ministry coordinator, a musicianship tutor for the choir school, and a member of the 20s/30s visioning group. He is an avid birdwatcher and has led a couple of bird walks for St. Mark’s events. He currently lives in Ravenna and works as a piano and music instructor.

Barbara Selberg

Although I have been a member for many years, I am still impressed by the warmth, skills and talents of the congregation that is Saint Mark’s. I now serve as a greeter (an activity that I can recommend to any member). In the past, I have been a member of the Usher, Flower, and Chalice Bearer Ministries. I have also been a convention delegate ( a role I would enjoy performing again).

John Selberg

Saint Marks, a place of joy and wonderment, has been my spiritual home for the last twenty years. My current ministries include greeters, chalice bearers, Facilities Committee, and Habitat for Humanity. It is a special privilege to be a candidate for becoming a representative to the Diocesan Convention.

Alexandra Thompson

I have so many questions about how the Diocese does its work and being a delegate to the Diocese would be a great way for me to learn. I am interested in budgets and policy and have a solid professional public policy background. I have a lot of energy around this and I enjoy sharing with others what I have learned.

David Thompson

I joined St. 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, as a lector/intercessor, and on the 2020 Strategic Planning Committee. I’ve completed the four-year cycle of Education for Ministry and have participated in two Radix groups. I would be honored to serve as a delegate to the Diocesan Convention, learning more about the wider context for the cathedral’s role in the Diocese.

Dear friends,

As you surely know, beginning March 12 (per Governor Inslee and King County Public Health), the mask mandate for indoor gatherings generally—and houses of worship specifically—are lifted, subject to restoration if infection rates rise and warrant that.

Given these changes, Saint Mark’s Cathedral will adopt the same practice, effective Sunday March 13, 2022, but with a few important safeguards to ensure that we preserve space for all to feel welcome. Please note these details and help us hold the space for all to feel welcome:

• The south pews and additional chairs in the south transept remain “masked only” for the protection of small children and others for whom that protection is important.
• Folks seated in the northern (undistanced) sections can mask or not, their choice, but they cannot guarantee that others around them will be masked.
• Vested ministers and ushers also have the choice to mask or not; however, when they are serving in the narthex or in the “masked only” (south) sections, they will wear masks.
• All ministers distributing communion will mask at the communion stations for bread and wine.
• Choirs—all are vaccinated and can remove their masks (or not, as they choose) when singing in north sections of the nave or the gallery. They will mask during procession through the nave.
• We continue to livestream the 11 a.m. Eucharist and 9:30 p.m. Compline services each Sunday, Choral Evensong the first Sunday of the month at 4:30pm, and other special services. This remains a viable way of connecting to the community and worshipping as part of it.

A few more details regarding other gatherings and spaces:

• Thomsen Chapel services. The mask mandate is lifted, but individuals are welcome to continue to mask. We have programmed the HVAC system to ventilate the space well before, during, and after every service.
• Church Office. The mask mandate is lifted March 12, but anyone is welcome to continue wearing their mask, and any parishioner visiting a staff member is welcome to ask that masks be worn while meeting.
• Ministry groups. If children under five are present, all should remain masked.
• Ministry groups. If no children under five are present, the group that gathers should confer and gain consensus on masking. It is my hope that groups will be considerate of the concerns we bring into such spaces. It may be that one has a newborn relative, or an immunocompromised member of their household whose well-being prompts them to seek a more cautious path.

Finally, and perhaps most importantly: If you have any symptoms, stay home and test! This move to relax precautions will only succeed if we all seek to serve the common good. So if you have symptoms, please stay home.

Of course, it is also likely that a new variant or another surge may prompt the return of mask mandates, but for now we make this turn with a deep desire to be together, to see each other’s faces, and to forge community in life-giving ways. I am grateful for your part in that.

Blessings and peace,

Looking for the Livestream video archive? It now has its own page here.