9 a.m. • The Holy Eucharist

11 a.m. • The Holy Eucharist

in person and livestreamed

in person and livestreamed

Wendy Claire Barrie

Sunday & Wednesday Forums

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This Sunday at the 11 a.m. service, Saint Mark's is pleased to host the closing worship for the annual conference of the Vergers' Guild of the Episcopal Church. Although for a "normal" Vergers' Guild conference, the cathedral would be welcoming vergers, sacristans, and ministers of ceremony from across the Episcopal Church to join in worship in person, we still warmly welcome all who will be joining the conference and the Sunday morning service virtually, and we a thrilled to have local vergers from the Diocese of Olympia in the cathedral for the grand opening and concluding processions.

Please note: Due to a concert in the nave, there will be NO Cathedral Yoga offering this coming Monday, September 27. Please join instructor Wendy Townsend in the cathedral nave on the following Monday, October 4, 6:30 p.m.

SUNDAY, OCTOBER 3, 10:10-10:50 A.M., Bloedel Hall

Fall is upon us with leaves changing, crisper nights, and fruits for foraging. Drawing from a selection of autumnal poems, parishioner and English professor Doug Thorpe will guide us in a time of reading and reflection to discover Creation themes and connections.

SUNDAY, OCTOBER 3, 4:30 P.M., in person and livestreamed

The Faith Formation Committee is happy to make public the forum schedule for the coming season! Just as they were before the pandemic, Sunday Forums are offered most Sundays in Bloedel Hall at the 10 a.m. hour, between the 9 a.m. and 11 a.m. services. On Wednesday evenings, were are reclaiming the "Cathedral Commons" format, with presentations and workshops offered 6:45–8:15 p.m. The Wednesday Evening Community Supper at 6 p.m. will NOT be resuming at this time, but stay tuned for future developments. The camera, projector, and computer equipment that is now being installed in Bloedel Hall will allow many of these offerings to be fully hybrid, with a full experience available both to those at home and those attending in person. This equipment will be functional soon.

These schedules are subject to change. Find the Sunday forums listed here, and the Wednesday forums here.

2021/22 OPENING PLENARY: A Spirituality of Desire with Dean Thomason

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 6, 2021, 6:45 P.M.–8:15 P.M., in person in Bloedel Hall and via Zoom videoconference

Desire is often understood as existing in the realm of carnal experience, and is therefore to be denied or rejected. But mystics know a deeper truth—that desire is at the core of our spiritual awareness and informs all that we do and are, in response to God’s desire for us, or alternatively, as a shadow that hinders that union through false attachments. Dean Steve Thomason will draw on art, poetry, science, and theology, including writings of the mystics, exploring desire as a deeply-seated (and perhaps divinely hard-wired) spiritual gift that enables us to engage the Other in life-giving union while also reflecting on ways we fall prey to false attachments meant to fill the spiritual whole that only God can fill. No fee, pre-registration required for Zoom link. The link to register will be announced soon.

Earlier this week, a message from Dean Thomason was sent out to the parish announcing that Wendy Claire Barrie has accepted the call to serve as Canon for Intergenerational Ministries at Saint Mark’s Cathedral. She will begin her work November 1, 2021. Wendy is a nationally-renowned speaker and teacher in the field of lifelong spiritual formation, and her latest book, The Church Post-Sunday School: How to be Intergenerational and Why It Matters, is due out next summer. She is no stranger to Saint Mark’s, having spoken here in 2017 about home-based faith practices, drawing on her earlier book, Faith at Home: A Handbook for Cautiously Christian Parents. Her visionary leadership and vast experience in lifelong spiritual formation and her passion for intergenerational ministry will complement the many gifts our formation team already brings into these areas, and as a lay person herself, she has a keen commitment to the ministry of all the baptized. Learn more about Wendy Claire Barrie here, and read the complete announcement, including a message from Wendy, here.

New Episode of Cathedral Conversations about Race: On Microaggressions

The newest episode of the Cathedral Conversations about Race podcast episode is the first "themed episode" of the series. In it, Cara and Michael attempt to unpack microaggressions: what they are and why they’re so frustrating to experience—and how to have better interactions. If you have any questions, please contact Michael or Cara directly.

Cathedral Conversations about Race is a special series of the long-running Cathedral Conversations podcast, highlighting voices from within our own church community. Subscribe wherever you get your podcasts, or go here to listed to all the past episodes.

UPDATE with Video: Youth Service Project with Nurturing Roots Community Farm

SUNDAY, OCTOBER 10, 12:45–3 P.M., 6218 Beacon Ave. S., Seattle

Middle School and High School youth will offer their elbow grease to assist with the fall chores on this thriving urban farm and community farming program that values community, self-sufficiency, food empowerment, social justice, and education. The Saint Mark's Creation Care Ministry hosted a wonderful forum last April called "Sacred Ground" which included Nyema Clark from Nurturing Roots. If you're interested in an update, check out this inspiring new 6-minute video about the activities at Nurturing Roots, including their "focus on sharing the truth about systematic oppression with an emphasis on food and environmental justice."

The youth of Saint Mark's are invited to visit the farm and get their hands dirty for a good cause (or plan ahead and bring work gloves!). We will meet onsite at the farm at 12:45 p.m. on October 10 after church. Check out the farm's website at www.nuturingrootsfarm.org.

Woo hoo! We now have 100 St. Mark's households signed up on the carbon tracker tool at www.sustainislandhome.org! Who will be the 101st? Get more information and instructions of how to sign up here. This is a great tool that helps our families collectively measure their household carbon footprints and then share ways to reduce it. As a response to the ongoing global climate emergency, understanding the reality of our carbon footprint is a necessary first step toward the goal of becoming a carbon neutral community by 2030.

Volunteer Park Trust will be planting 25,000 daffodil bulbs on the west side of Volunteer Park on Saturday, October 9. Join this community-wide effort as we create a stunning, permanent springtime garden bed. This project is being done in tribute to Doug Bayley, co-founder of Volunteer Park Trust and the visionary who conceived of this beautiful and impressive swath of yellow returning permanently every spring. Flowering bulbs—and daffodils in particular—have long been a component in historic Olmsted-designed landscapes across the country and provide a welcome burst of bright, seasonal color. Learn more and register to participate here.

SUNDAYS, 10–10:50 A.M., St. Nicholas Building, 2nd Floor, registration required

Sunday Morning Church School resumed last Sunday, and it wonderful to be able to welcome our children aged 3 to 11 back to the St Nichoals classrooms during the 10 a.m. hour. Godly Play, a Montessori-based approach to listening to God with children, is offered for kids K–2nd grade. Kids in 3rd–5th grade are exploring Building Faith Brick by Brick, a chance to respond to Bible stories creatively using Lego bricks. Learn more at www.saintmarks.org/children. It's not too late to register your child to participate—sign up using the form here.

After many years of barely-functional water fountains in the narthex, and the last few weeks of no water at all, the cathedral is thrilled to announce the installation of a new bottle-filling station! It is located on the north side of the narthex, near the men's restroom. (The drinking fountain on the south side by the women's restroom has been fixed and is now usable again.) Part of the cost of the unit came from a grant from Zero Waste Washington, a non-profit working towards a healthy, no-waste world. But the larger part of the cost was covered by a generous gift from former Senior Warden Julia Logan, as a memorial to her beloved service dog Henley.

This service will be livestreamed.

Saint Mark’s Cathedral acknowledges that we gather on the traditional land of the first people of Seattle, the Duwamish People, who are still here, and we honor with gratitude the land itself and the life of the Duwamish Tribe. [Learn more]