Dear Students, Faculty, Staff, Alumni, Partners and Friends,

I am elated to announce that on Thursday April 28th The Seattle School Board of Trustees voted to rename Mars Hill Graduate School as The Seattle School of Theology and Psychology. The new name went into effect on August 15, 2011.

Let me begin by saying that I enthusiastically embrace and support our new name, The Seattle School of Theology and Psychology. My primary reasons for supporting our new name are as follows. It is a name that gives location to our national school. It identifies the primary realms of our work: theology and psychology. It captures the unique and innovative identity of our institution. Lastly and ultimately, I support the name The Seattle School of Theology and Psychology because it will enable us to more fully carry out our mission to train people to be competent in the study of text, soul and culture in order to serve God and neighbor through transforming relationships.

The Seattle School of Theology and Psychology Locates Us

As Founding President Dan Allender recently reminded us, the choice to start a school in Seattle came out of a desire to explore the gospel in the midst of a diverse and urban cultural hub. This desire was cultivated during the Bothell years and brought to fruition in 2006 when we relocated to Belltown. Despite our physical presence, not to mention the presence of our 400 local alumni, Mars Hill Graduate School continued to go unknown as a Seattle institution. We believe this is largely due to the brand confusion associated with the name Mars Hill Graduate School. In this light, we have chosen a name that clearly identifies us as a Seattle school. We are a community that understands the importance of being contextual and we have chosen a name that will allow us to exist more openly and clearly in our own context of Seattle and the Pacific Northwest. Furthermore, our strategy is not to develop an increased local presence at the expense of a national presence. We will continue to work in markets around the country through our conferences and workshops and through the newly created Allender Center. We also believe that we will continue to be a “destination” school for students around the country who are drawn to the Pacific Northwest, our new name only supports these national recruiting efforts.

The Seattle School of Theology and Psychology Identifies Us

We have been and will continue to be an educational institution rooted in the academic disciplines of Theology and Psychology. Theology and Psychology are our areas of expertise and our new name clearly identifies this. We believe that a descriptive name provides a better platform to effectively communicate our unique pedagogy and mission. Instead of telling a story about a name (i.e. Paul in Athens on Mars Hill), we want to share the stories about the work we are doing in our classrooms and conferences, as well as the incredible work of our alumni. To utilize a marketing concept, our new name is a vessel that will carry the brand (or mission) of our school into the market place. The next time someone asks me what I do for a living, I will gladly respond “I’m the President of The Seattle School of Theology and Psychology. We train people to be competent in the study of text, soul, culture in order that they may serve God and neighbor through transforming relationships. For instance our alumni are…” Our name is an introduction; the conversation that follows is what will define us as an institution. Thankfully, we pride ourselves in being able to make good conversation.

The Seattle School of Theology and Psychology Captures Us

We are a unique and innovative institution and we have chosen a name that captures that. Since our founding we have been cultivating a “school of thought” that embraces, explores, and develops the interplay and integration of theology, psychology and culture. It is a school of thought that believes therapists and pastors should study together as well as learn from each other. It is a school of thought that believes the Christian Imagination needs to be re-ignited so the church can speak prophetically into our world. It is a school of thought that believes your personal narrative and the gospel narrative are interconnected. I believe that our new name supports our efforts to establish ourselves as true innovators in Christian graduate education. One day, people might just say, “You sound like you’re from the Seattle School”.

The Seattle School of Theology and Psychology Empowers Us

Our new name helps to mitigate the hindrance of “brand confusion” and gives us the ability to tell our own story, proclaim our unique mission, and build upon the legacy of The Seattle School of Theology & Psychology. A unique brand identity is essential for effective new student recruitment and increased donor development. Furthermore, a unique brand will better suit our alumni as they market themselves as therapists, pastors, artists and leaders. All of this is a part of carrying out our mission to train people to be competent in the study of text, soul, and culture in order to serve God and neighbor through transforming relationships. I steadfastly believe in our mission and I will continue to champion it and I will continue to see that our institution embodies it. The name Mars Hill Graduate School carried this mission for the past decade, The Seattle School of Theology and Psychology will continue to do so into the future.

This summer, we graduated the final class under the name of Mars Hill Graduate School. We are now welcoming the first class of The Seattle School of Theology and Psychology. What is most important to me is not the name under which these students end and begin but the quality of the people who are represented by it. We are a people who bring transformation wherever we go. We do this because we have accepted and cultivated the redemptive work of God in our lives. We have chosen to explore the depths of our own personal narratives, the narrative of the gospel, and the collective narratives of our culture. This exploration continues to produce graduates who are willing to step into the darkness of this world with the hope and light of Christ. It is for that reason that I remain committed to this place, which we now call The Seattle School of Theology and Psychology.

In Christ,

Keith Anderson
President
The Seattle School of Theology and Psychology