Welcome to St. Elizabeth Episcopal Church. We are an open-hearted, open-minded community where people find healing, friendship, acceptance, and opportunities to discover and give their gifts to the world. We are working together to be a spiritual center for our neighborhood and people around the greater Seattle area. You are invited to come and worship with us, to join us as God transfigures us into unique expressions of God’s loving presence in our in work lives, our family lives, and our civic lives.

Whether you are new to the greater Seattle area or have lived here for a long time, if you are looking for a spiritual home teaches and that trusts God’s love for all creation, please come and worship with us any Sunday morning at 10:00. We also have Evening Prayer at 5:30 on most Wednesday Evenings (check the website or our readerboard at the church to see if we are offering an Evening Mass.) Our Wednesday evening gatherings are quiet, intimate spoken services that many of our parishioners have come to treasure between Sundays.

We come from a variety of backgrounds, ages, economics, ethnicities and orientations. What we hold in common is a love of God and the Episcopal Book of Common Prayer. That means we celebrate a chanted Eucharist each Sunday that features periods of intentional silence, singing from the Hymnal 1982 and on some days we use incense. We welcome children to join us. During the school year, we offer Sunday School and nursery care. Teachers will bring your children up in time for the offering and Communion. During the summer months we have a place set aside up near the front of the church where there are quiet activities to engage curious and creative young minds during the Mass.

St. Elizabeth’s worship space is filled with beauty: from the stained glass windows along the side aisles to the handcrafted textile art hanging from the curved wooden ceiling to the icons that depict our matron saint, her cousin Mary, and moments from the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Our matron saint, Elizabeth, was the mother of John the Baptizer as well as the first person to recognize the presence of Christ in Mary’s womb. In Luke’s Gospel, Elizabeth and her husband Zechariah, and their son, John, acted as a bridge between the very ancient and God’s new activities in the life of Jesus and the emergent church community. You will see evidence of Elizabeth and her family’s influence on our love for things ancient that stabilizes our openness to watch with hope for God’s on-going acts of creation, challenging us to see and embrace the new work God is undertaking in the midst of our lives.

St. Elizabeth’s example also inspires the people of this church to watch for the presence of Christ in all people. If you are even a little interested in visiting us, I trust that Christ is already working in your life and we’d love to learn more about that with you. Our matron Elizabeth also inspires us to act with compassion on behalf of struggling people, which we do both collectively and individually in a variety of ways. I hope that you will bring your gifts and passions, along with your doubts and your curiosity, but most of all, your hearts and minds. There is a place for everyone in God’s church, and we may be the place where you can flourish.

But whether we are the right church for you or not, I trust that God will be present to your seeking. I do hope to see you someday at St. Elizabeth’s. When you come, please introduce yourself and come to our coffee hour after the Mass so that we can get to know each other a little! We may be the next phase of your faith journey.

Until we meet in person, all blessings in Christ,

Fr. John Forman +

Fr. John Forman
Rector