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

    SATURDAY, DECEMBER 14, 2024, 9 A.M.–12 P.M., registration required. Total participation limited to 35. Now at capacity.  UPDATE: Due to cancellations, a few spots have opened up. Please email Dean Thomason: sthomason@saintmarks.org FACILITATED 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 … Read More

  • The Spiritual Approach to the Enneagram: A Map to Inner Wisdom

    FRIDAY, JANUARY 10, 2025, 6:30–8:30P.M. and SATURDAY, JANUARY 11, 2025, 9:30A.M.–2:30P.M., in person and via Zoom FACILITATED BY DR. JOSEPH BENTON HOWELL, PH.D. This three-part workshop will approach the Spirituality of the Enneagram in ways we have not previously considered in the Wisdom School. Friday evening’s session will use the foundational concept of the soul child to describe the nine types with specific egoic reactions that come when disconnected from our original goodness. We will explore each type’s pride, virtue, … Read More

  • The Spiritual Approach to the Enneagram: A Map to Inner Wisdom

    FRIDAY, JANUARY 10, 2025, 6:30–8:30P.M. and SATURDAY, JANUARY 11, 2025, 9:30A.M.–2:30P.M., in person and via Zoom FACILITATED BY DR. JOSEPH BENTON HOWELL, PH.D. This three-part workshop will approach the Spirituality of the Enneagram in ways we have not previously considered in the Wisdom School. Friday evening’s session will use the foundational concept of the soul child to describe the nine types with specific egoic reactions that come when disconnected from our original goodness. We will explore each type’s pride, virtue, … Read More

  • A Brush with God: An Icon Workshop

    THURSDAY–SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 13–15, 2025, registration required. THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 13, 6:30–9 P.M. FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 6:30–9 P.M. SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 9 A.M.–4 P.M. (additional session Sunday afternoon, February 16, if needed)  Byzantine Iconography is a highly structured and disciplined art form which combines prayer and painting techniques to create serene images of Christ, Mary, the angels and the saints following centuries old guidelines. Peter Pearson has been studying and painting icons for more than fifty years and teaching others to do so for over … Read More

  • Wisdom Practice Day in Lent—A Different Kind of Fast

    SATURDAY, MARCH 8, 2025, 8:30 A.M.–12:00 P.M. Fasting is not just about giving up food. It is a way of letting go of the distractions and cravings that impede our spiritual journey, creating space for sacred Wisdom to speak into our lives anew. Wisdom Chant guided by local musician Darlene Franz will figure prominently across the morning, as will invitations to consider different forms of fasting that help us unfold to new spiritual awareness shaped by questions such as “What … Read More

  • Pádraig Ó Tuama: The Better Angels of Our Nature

    THURSDAY, APRIL 3, 2025, 7–8:30 P.M., in person in the cathedral nave and livestreamed UPDATE: Due to the number of registrations, this event will be offered in the cathedral nave rather than Bloedel Hall. A livestream will be available to registrants as announced previously.  UPDATED DESCRIPTION: We live in fraught times when violence seems to be the common denominator in a calculus based in mistrust and misanthropic othering. An eye for an eye leaves the whole world blind… Drawing on inspiration from his … Read More

  • Cathedral Commons Supporting Trans and Gender Non-Conforming People

    Cathedral Commons

    WEDNESDAY, APRIL 9, 6:45–8:15 P.M., in person in Bloedel Hall or online via Zoom. Optional Community Dinner at 6 p.m. ($6/child; $8/adult; $25/max. family) Come learn about the challenges facing transgender and gender non-conforming people in these uncertain times and how we can best support one of our most vulnerable minorities. Queer in Christ leaders Chloe Jett and Rose Hazard will guide us in learning more about the power of using gender affirming terms and how we can mobilize to help protect those in … Read More

  • Cathedral Commons: Becoming a Poverty Abolitionist

    Cathedral Commons

    WEDNESDAY, APRIL 30, 6:45–8:15 P.M., in person in Bloedel Hall or online via Zoom. Free, no registration required. Optional Community Dinner at 6 p.m. ($6/child; $8/adult; $25/max. family) If America’s poor founded a country, that country would have a bigger population than Australia or Venezuela. —Matthew Desmond, Poverty, by America Why is there so much poverty in the richest country on earth? Can poverty be abolished? Participants in the recent Community Book Studies of Matthew Desmond’s, Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American … Read More

  • Cathedral Commons – Walking the Pilgrim Way: The Camino de Santiago

    Cathedral Commons

    WEDNESDAY, MAY 7 6:45–8:15 P.M., in person in Bloedel Hall or online via Zoom. Optional Community Dinner at 6 p.m. ($6/child; $8/adult; $25/max. family) Have you ever considered walking the medieval pilgrimage route, Camino de Santiago, in Spain? Several St. Mark's parishioners have and they wish to share their experiences and enthusiasm for the Camino! This Cathedral Commons will cover questions such as: What is a pilgrimage and what is the Camino de Santiago? What are the most popular routes to … Read More

  • Cathedral Commons: Affordable Housing Project Update

    Cathedral Commons

    WEDNESDAY, MAY 21, 6:45–8:15 P.M., in person in Bloedel Hall or online via Zoom. Optional Community Dinner at 6 p.m. ($6/child; $8/adult; $25/max. family) We have exciting updates to share about the affordable housing project at St. Nicholas! Join Dean Thomason, Affordable Housing Committee Chair John Hoerster, and committee members, as they share updates regarding the redevelopment of the St. Nicholas property for affordable housing. Hear updates on selection of a developer/partner for the project, community engagement, community-based justice conversations, and much … Read More

  • Cathedral Commons: Rogation Day Procession & Liturgy

    Cathedral Commons

    WEDNESDAY, MAY 28, 6:45–8:15 P.M., in person only, starting in the cathedral nave. Optional community dinner in Bloedel Hall at 6 p.m. ($6/child; $8/adult; $25/max. family) An outdoor liturgy for Rogation Day, an observance that dates to the 5th century. For 1,500 years, the weekdays preceding Ascension Day have been marked by outdoor prayers and thanksgiving for the fruitful Earth. Following the community dinner in Bloedel Hall, participants will process around the cathedral grounds, stopping to reflect and pray at significant … Read More

  • Women’s Retreat on the Hood Canal

    WOMEN'S RETREAT ON HOOD CANAL—UPDATED DESCRIPTION How We Learn to Be Brave FRIDAY–SUNDAY, MAY 30–JUNE 1, 2025, at Sacred Waters Center for Restoration and Retreat in Union, WA (also known as St. Andrew’s House) UPDATE (4/30/25): Due to some changes in participants’ schedules, a few spots have re-opened. One single and a couple of double rooms are now available on a first-come, first-served basis. Fee: $295 double occupancy, $325 single; includes two nights lodging and all meals Friday dinner to Sunday lunch. Partial scholarships … Read More

  • Interfaith Taizé Forum

    Sunday Forum

    SUNDAY, JUNE 1, 10:10–10:50 A.M., Bloedel Hall Come to Bloedel Hall between the 9 and 11 a.m. liturgies on Sunday, June 1 for an informational forum in preparation for the Interfaith Taizé liturgy to be offered in the cathedral nave on the evening of Tuesday, June 10, a collaboration between the Saint Mark’s Cathedral Taizé Ministry and Clear Mountain Monastery Buddhist Community (the faith community which currently meets on the Saint Mark’s property on Saturday mornings). At this Sunday morning forum, the organizers … Read More

  • Cathedral Commons: Practicing Sabbath

    Cathedral Commons

    WEDNESDAY, JUNE 4, 6:45–8:15 P.M., in person in Bloedel Hall or online via Zoom. Free, no registration required. Optional Community Dinner at 6 p.m. ($6/child; $8/adult; $25/max. family) For the final Cathedral Commons of the program year, we'll explore the theme of honoring the Sabbath through the first set of videos and discussion questions from Bishop Phil LaBelle's new Zimzum Discipleship series. This is a great bookend to Bishop LaBelle's first forum with us in September 2024, and a great … Read More

  • “Friends Talking” Forum with First AME Pastor Carey Anderson & Dean Thomason

    Sunday Forum

    SUNDAY, JULY 13, 10:10am, Bloedel Hall Join Dean Thomason and Pastor Carey Anderson in an informal “Friends Talking” forum this Sunday in Bloedel (which has a new beautiful floor!!). Topics of conversation will include state of the nation, racial reconciliation, affordable housing and correcting housing injustices in Seattle’s history, and much more.

  • Crossing Thresholds as Sacred Journey: Wisdom School Plenary

    Cathedral Commons

    OPENING PLENARY WEDNESDAY SEPTEMBER 17, 2025, 6:45–8:15 p.m. in person in Bloedel Hall and online via Zoom Wisdom School 2025-26 Open Plenary with The Very Rev. Steven L. Thomason In the practice of medicine, the liminal point marks the bounds of perception—below it, one does not experience a discernible physiological or psychological response. In mythology, the crossing of a threshold marks the protagonist’s journey from routine (unaware) to sacred (new awareness). The ancient tradition of religious pilgrimage takes similar shape. … Read More

  • Cathedral Commons Forum: Undaunted Joy!

    Cathedral Commons

    WEDNESDAY SEPTEMBER 24, 6:45–8:15 P.M., in person in Bloedel Hall and online via Zoom Does joy just seem too difficult to come by these days? Does it seem irresponsible or naïve? Maybe you don't feel like you can be joyful, don't know how to, or don't deserve to? Local author Shemaiah Gonzalez shares stories from her new book Undaunted Joy: The Revolutionary Act of Cultivating Delight. In her collection of short essays on defiant joy, Shemaiah reflects on how she gradually learned to see joy not … Read More

  • Cathedral Commons Forum—St. Francis, Honeybees, and Caring for Creation

    Cathedral Commons

    WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 1, 6:45–8:15 P.M., in person in Bloedel Hall and online via Zoom Rick Samyn is the Pastoral Assistant for Social Justice at St. Leo Church in Tacoma. A former Capuchin Franciscan Brother, he has been beekeeping for 24 years. In this forum, Rick will invite us to expand our view of what it means to live incarnationally. We'll learn and talk about how to renew our bond with creation, taking St. Francis of Assisi as our guide and honeybees as our model. Join … Read More

  • Radix Opening Plenary: Stories of Recognition in Scripture

    OPENING PLENARY: SUNDAY, OCTOBER 5, 2025, 7 P.M., via Zoom, no registration required SMALL GROUPS MEET: ONCE A WEEK FOR SIX WEEKS, STARTING THE WEEK OF OCTOBER 6, in person OR online via Zoom; registration required Since January 2020, The Radix Project has invited Saint Mark’s community members into small groups to share their stories, reflect on Holy Scripture and sacred art, and pray for one another with intention. Offered 14 times in the past five years, this beloved program continues to nurture deep connection and … Read More

  • Cathedral Commons—Naming Our Thresholds

    Cathedral Commons

    WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 8, 2025, 6:45–8:15 P.M. in person in Bloedel Hall and online via Zoom Facilitated by the Rev. Canon Emily Griffin Thresholds are places for entering and leaving­—for moving from one kind of space or time to another. We make these kinds of transitions throughout our lives but often don’t know how to prepare for them, mark them, or discern the shape of our lives in light of them. In this session, we will share tools for narrating our … Read More