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About our Community
Our Parish
| Our Chapel | Our Priest | Our Deacon | Minor Clergy
Our Parish
Hagia Sophia Gnostic Church is the only fully
sacramental and liturgical Gnostic Christian church within the Apostolic
Succession operating in the Seattle area. We are the Seattle parish of Ecclesia Gnostica, and are not affiliated
with any other Seattle religious groups. Hagia Sophia is welcoming and
affirming to all seekers, offering weekly Holy Eucharist
celebrations on Sundays, as well as occasional evening services including:
Services of Healing, Benediction of the Most Holy Sacrament, Devotional Services
to the Holy Sophia, and observation of
holy days.
Our parish numbers about forty members, of whom anywhere from a handful to
two dozen may be in attendance at a given service. We are hierarchical in
matters of liturgy, egalitarian in all other matters. That is, the priest
has the final word on all questions of ritual and on our calendar of
services, but the parishioners retain authority over all other aspects of
parish life. We govern ourselves informally by consensus, or more
formally through parish meetings.
Our Chapel
Our chapel is located on the second floor of University Christian
Church,
4731 15th Ave. NE, Seattle, WA 98105. To find us, enter through the door of University
Christian near the office, on 15th Ave NE. Take a right down the hallway, and take the
elevator on your left up to the second floor. The doorway to the left opens to a hallway,
and the chapel is the first door on the left, across from the organ loft. Just look for
the signs, if you get lost, or call Fr. Sam+ if you have any questions (206-778-6502).
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Our Priest
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Our priest, Fr.
Samuel Osborne+, received the Master of Arts in Transforming
Spirituality from Seattle University's School of Theology & Ministry
in 2001, and was ordained as a priest of the Ecclesia Gnostica in 2002.
When unoccupied with liturgical matters, Sam serves as executive
director of the Rainier Valley Food Bank
in Seattle and in 2010 received the Mayor's End
Hunger Award for Outstanding Food Bank Program Staff. An active
agent for social change, Sam is an outspoken advocate for the
underserved and impoverished in our community. His interests include
the culinary arts, travel, and exploring the world with his wife and
son. Fr. Sam may be contacted at: toaxionesti (at) yahoo
(dot) com, or 206-778-6502.
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Our Deacon
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Rev. Deacon Andrea
Turner was baptized and confirmed as a member of Hagia Sophia Parish in
2003. Two years later she joined the clergy, and on February 27, 2011 was
ordained a deacon of the Ecclesia Gnostica. Andrea is a Head Start
family advocate at Easter Seals Angle Lake Child Development Center working with families and their children to help them get out of the cycle of poverty. Andrea graduated from the University of Washington
Bothell in 2009. When she is not working, Andrea enjoys spending
time with her husband and two sons. She loves gardening, reading, and
writing. You can contact her at: teacherandrea63 (at) gmail
(dot) com.
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Minor Order Clergy
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Erik Winsor received two
Bachelor of Arts degrees in linguistics and French from the University of Washington in 2006.
Shortly after graduating that year, he joined Hagia Sophia, and started
serving with the clergy in 2009. He is currently a marketing
coordinator for Community Health Plan,
a non-profit health insurance company serving low-income families and individuals in Washington state. An avid
bookworm, Erik spends most of his free time reading, or studying
obscure languages, and also loves cooking, the theatre, and listening to jazz. He hopes one day to fulfill his vocation in a monastic
community, but for now is perfectly happy sharing an apartment with his
adorable cat! You can contact him at: e.winsor (at) gmail
(dot) com.
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