The roles of Compline Choir Director and Director of the Peter R. Hallock Institute are vested in the same person through a requirement in Peter Hallock’s will. The combined roles form a single position currently estimated to be 0.25 FTE, with roughly half devoted to Compline Choir duties and half to Hallock Institute duties.
From the time Peter Hallock founded the Compline Choir in November 1956 until his retirement in July 2009, he received no pay in his capacity as Compline Choir Director, nor was directing the choir listed in his job description as an employee of Saint Mark’s Cathedral. Hallock’s problematic relationships with clerical authority and canon law of the Episcopal Church are well-documented. This resulted in the Compline Choir being “spun off” in 1987 as a Washington nonprofit corporation separate from Saint Mark’s Cathedral, and recognized by the IRS as tax-exempt under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. At that time, the Compline Choir had its own board of directors, elected only by active Choir members, which served as a “rubber stamp” for whatever endeavors Hallock wanted to commence. Board members also had to be active members of the Choir; there was no formal relationship between the board, cathedral, or diocese.
When Jason Anderson took over in mid-July 2009, relations between the Compline Choir, Saint Mark’s Cathedral, and the Diocese of Olympia needed mending. Jason’s first phone call was to the Rt. Rev. Gregory H. Rickel, then Bishop of Olympia, who consented to the board’s appointment of him as Director. Jason and the board began a methodical rapprochement with cathedral and diocesan leadership, resulting in the adoption of new bylaws which reformed the Compline Choir’s leadership into a board of governors, with the Director, Dean, and Bishop sitting ex officio, and other members being active or inactive choir members, or community supporters elected by the choir, with the Bishop consenting (or not) to those standing for election. Jason received no compensation during his first 11 years as Director.
Jason Anderson and the Rev. Dr. Ann P. Lukens encouraged Peter Hallock to consider the creation of an entity to serve as caretaker of his intellectual property, music copyrights, royalties, liturgical innovations, etc. From this, the seeds for the Peter R. Hallock Institute were planted. In his will, Peter stipulated that, after specific bequests and other obligations were met, the remainder of his estate was to be divided into four shares, one for the Cathedral Foundation to be added to its endowment for the care and beatification of the worship space, one for the Compline Choir to establish a permanent endowment fund, and two for the Diocese of Olympia to invest in the Diocesan Investment Fund from which earnings would be used for the creation and maintenance of the Peter R. Hallock Institute—including compensation of the Director of the Peter R. Hallock Institute, who had to be the Director of the Compline Choir. The estate value was estimated to be roughly $600,000, which would have provided healthy bequests to the endowments of the named beneficiaries. However, the net value of Peter Hallock’s estate was much lower than this due to a reverse mortgage, higher than planned medical, legal, and accounting expenses, and a lower-than-expected real estate sales price.
In January 2016, the remainder of Peter R. Hallock’s Estate totaled $154,377. Shares were distributed as required by Peter’s will, with $38,594 each to the Cathedral Foundation and Compline Choir, and $77,188 to the Diocese of Olympia for the Peter R. Hallock Institute. The Peter R. Hallock Institute had three directors initially—the dean, the bishop or his representative (the Rev. Dr. Ann P. Lukens), and the Director of the Compline Choir. Articles of Incorporation were filed on April 27, 2017, exactly three years after Hallock’s death. The Peter R. Hallock Institute was incorporated as a fully integrated auxiliary of the Diocese of Olympia, with the Director, Dean, and Bishop sitting ex officio, and other board members being appointed by the Bishop. The spending policies enacted by the Compline Choir and Institute boards required a 12-quarter rolling average to determine whether a 4% annual draw would be permitted.
Jason Anderson received no compensation as Director of the Peter R. Hallock Institute from 2016-2020. Leadership and governing bodies of the Compline Choir, Peter R. Hallock Institute, Saint Mark’s Cathedral, and Diocese of Olympia knew this was not sustainable and pooled resources from 2021-2023 to make modest compensation of the Director possible, $15,000 per annum. The cathedral and diocese stipulated that funds were available for three years only to encourage the Compline Choir and Hallock Institute boards to undertake significant fundraising of their own. Then the COVID-19 pandemic struck and made such fundraising impractical. The Compline Choir and Institute boards entered into a new compensation agreement from 2024-2026 to make modest compensation of the director again possible, offering $18,000 per annum. Though neither board could afford this higher rate of compensation, they agreed to attempt to increase to something approaching market-rate. Contemporaneous with this, the Institute board began consulting with a professional fundraiser about launching an endowment fundraising campaign. In like manner, the cathedral had also begun consulting with a professional fundraiser about launching a multimillion-dollar capital campaign. Because the Institute and cathedral share a common donor base, the Dean and board of the Institute opted to combine these fundraising campaigns.
As of May 31, 2025, the market value of endowment funds stood at $195,201 for the Institute, and $82,226 for the Compline Choir. When these funds are pooled, the market value is $277,427. However, a 4% draw yields only $11,000 per annum, well below the desired market-rate compensation. If an additional $250,000 were added to the available pool, then a 4% draw would yield $21,000—very near the desired market-rate compensation.
Questions
How would this work after the Living Stones II: Building A Sound Future capital campaign concludes?
The $250,000 raised would be invested in the cathedral’s endowment and restricted for compensation of the Director of the Compline Choir and Peter R. Hallock Institute. Annual draws from the endowments controlled by the Compline Choir and Institute boards would be deposited with Saint Mark’s Cathedral and added to the Compline Choir and Hallock Institute Director compensation fund. The Director of the Compline Choir and Peter R. Hallock Institute would become a 0.25 FTE employee of Saint Mark’s Cathedral, reporting directly to the Dean, and both corporation boards.
Isn’t there an easier way?
There are less complicated paths leadership is considering, including consolidation of Compline Choir and Hallock Institute governing bodies, realignment of corporation members now permitted under Washington State Nonprofit law, and outright gifts of endowment funds to a single corporation with the original donor restrictions attached.
What about the Compline Choir stalls?
The $250,000 allocated for new Compline Choir stalls is an estimate only. The actual cost is not known. No design is finalized or being considered, and as such, no rough-order-magnitude cost is available. Given the scope of the total capital campaign, leadership believes whole-heartedly that building up the Compline Choir Director endowment is a top priority.
See the complete Livings Stones II: Building A Sound Future campaign information here.
See other FAQs here.