St. Mark's Episcopal

Cathedral A cathedral is a church that contains the '' cathedra'' () of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, conference, or episcopate. Churches with the function of "cathedral" are usually specific to those Christian denomination ...

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, is the seat of the

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of the Episcopal Diocese of Olympia. St. Mark's was founded as a mission church of Trinity Parish Church.

History

Plans for the building, located on the west side of 10th Avenue East between East Highland Drive and East Galer Street on

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, were drawn up in 1926. Fundraising took place for two years until construction began in 1928. Ground was broken on September 30, 1928. The

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took a toll on the parish, however. Construction was incomplete when the

cathedral A cathedral is a church that contains the '' cathedra'' () of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, conference, or episcopate. Churches with the function of "cathedral" are usually specific to those Christian denomination ...

was dedicated on April 25, 1931, and the parish was in default on its mortgage throughout the 1930s. The cathedral was

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upon in 1941 and shut for the next two years. From 1943 to 1944, the

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used the cathedral as an anti-aircraft training facility; the evidence of this era can still be seen in murals in the crypt. In 1944, Bishop S. Arthur Huston reopened discussions with the parish's bankers in

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; over the next three years, more funds were raised, and in 1947 the mortgage was paid. The mortgage document was burned before the Parish on Palm Sunday. The cathedral's

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, Robert V. Taylor, resigned abruptly in March 2008, stating that he and the vestry (church board) diverged in their visions for the future of St. Mark's and there was a loss of trust between them. After several years of transitional ministry, Taylor was succeeded by Steven Lynn Thomason in the summer of 2012.

Location

St. Mark's Cathedral is located at the top of a very steep drop-off to Lakeview Boulevard East below. The wooded hillside is known as the St. Mark's Greenbelt.

Organ

The choir loft of St. Mark's is home to one of the largest

pipe organ The pipe organ is a musical instrument that produces sound by driving pressurized air (called ''wind'') through the organ pipes selected from a keyboard. Because each pipe produces a single pitch, the pipes are provided in sets called ''ranks ...

s in Seattle. The organ was built in 1965 by D. A. Flentrop (

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Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

) and restored in 1993-1994 and 2001 by Paul Fritts & Company Organ Builders, Tacoma. Further additions followed in 1995 (new chorus reeds 16' and 8' in Manual II) and 1996 (Zymbelstern). In 2011, Paul Fritts installed new horizontal reed stops (the former horizontal trumpets from 1965 were stored). The instrument has 58 stops/79 ranks on four manuals/pedal, and contains 3,944 pipes. The current organists are Michael Kleinschmidt (Canon Musician), and John Stuntebeck (Associate Organist).

Gallery

File:Seattle - St. Mark's Cathedral - Thomsen Memorial Chapel door.jpg, Outside the Thomsen Memorial Chapel at St. Mark's Cathedral File:Seattle-St-Marks-Cathedral-east-3139.JPG, East entrance of the cathedral File:Seattle - St. Mark's Cathedral from Gas Works near sunset.jpg, St. Mark's Cathedral (top right) from

Gas Works Park Gas Works Park is a park located in Seattle, Washington, United States. It is a public park on the site of the former Seattle Gas Light Company gasification plant, located on the north shore of Lake Union at the south end of the Wallingford ne ...

File:Seattle - St. Mark's Cathedral - altar.jpg, Altar of the cathedral File:St. Mark's Episcopal Cathedral Entry Interior - Seattle, WA.jpg, Interior of the cathedral nave File:Seattle - St. Mark's Cathedral - choir loft 01 - cropped for symmetry.jpg, Nave, organ, and choir loft as viewed from the front of the nave File:Seattle - St. Mark's Cathedral - lamp and window.jpg, Example of lamp and window design in the nave

References

External links