Intersections at The Seattle School
Intersections features essays, dialogues, critical engagement, and art from faculty, staff, alumni, students, and other thought leaders. Grounded in the hope of fostering faithful dialogue, we are guided by a commitment to understanding narrative, wrestling with intersections, resisting reactivity, and fostering radical hospitality. With that in mind, we seek to feature work from a wide range of backgrounds and perspectives. Therefore the opinions expressed on the Intersections blog are those of the authors and do not purport to reflect an official statement regarding the views or opinions of The Seattle School of Theology & Psychology. If you would like to offer feedback, respond to a piece published here, or offer your own submission, you can email us at submissions@theseattleschool.edu.
Eucontamination: Disgust Theology and Psychoanalysis in Practice
This conversation explores Eucontamination as a theological framework for understanding how disgust shapes our inner lives, communities, and responses to difference. Building from their book, Eucontamination: Disgust Theology and the Christian Life, Dr. Paul Hoard and Billie Hoard argue that disgust is not merely an emotional reflex but a formative moment that reveals what we […]
Do You Hear What I Hear? Listening In and To Such Diverse and Polarized Times – Dr. Monique Gadson
During times of deepening polarization, increasing anxiety, and ongoing chaos, it can seem everyone is saying something to no avail. Are we listening to one another? Are we listening for shared values? Understanding of one another? Or are we reacting from our own triggers and concerns? In this webinar, Dr. Gadson discusses how becoming an […]
Beyond Pews and Couches: Finding Care Outside Church and Therapy
What if there is more beyond traditional church and talk therapy models? How do we use the transformative tools of psychology and theology, but also not get stuck in models that lack responsiveness to these times? Theologians, Dwight Friesen and Joel Kiekintveld, join in conversation with psychologist, Paul Hoard, as they explore the question of […]
Keeping Hope Alive in Palestine: Interview with Areej Masoud
Areej is a Palestinian Christian woman from Bethlehem and the founder of Khayari Women’s Leadership and Economic Empowerment Organization. In a September 2025 interview with Dwight Friesen, Professor of Practical Theology at The Seattle School, Areej spoke about. Areej spoke about her experiences having been born and raised under occupation and what it meant to […]
Body Becoming: A Book Event with Dr. Roberto Che Espinoza
The Seattle School of Theology and Psychology welcomes Dr. Roberto Che Espinoza— Transqueer, Latinx public theologian, activist-scholar—as they discuss their new book “Body Becoming: Our Path to Liberation.” Pointing to the increasing disconnection from our bodies and from one another, Body Becoming takes a critical look at which bodies count in this country and offers […]
Purity Culture and Therapeutic Turn in American Evangelicalism – Dr. Lauren Sawyer
The purity movement of the 1990s is usually seen as a grassroots pushback against the sexual revolution—a return to “biblical values” in a more permissive culture. But that view misses something important: purity culture actually grew out of a much longer effort by evangelicals, spanning about a century, to figure out how to respond to […]
Alumni Spotlight: Q&A with Sonja Lund, MDiv 2023
Our hope at The Seattle School is to be led by our alumni and their stories–how they labor to live out their calling among the people and communities they serve. Recently we had the opportunity to catch up with Sonja Lund, MDiv 2023 and understand how The Seattle School helped shape her path. How did you […]
Dr. McNeil to Retire in 2027
The Seattle School of Theology & Psychology announced that President and Provost Dr. J. Derek McNeil will complete his service to the school in June 2027, concluding a season of leadership marked by institutional resilience, mission clarity, and academic integration. Dr. McNeil first joined the School’s leadership as Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs and […]
Faculty Highlights: The Educators Behind the Journey
At The Seattle School, we remain deeply grateful for the faculty who continue to shape students’ hearts and minds through immersive learning, thoughtful care, and innovative teaching. From long-standing professors to returning alumni and new adjuncts, each educator brings our mission to life—transforming relationships and forming reflective practitioners.
Seeing God in the most vulnerable and in our enemy
Vanessa Ryerse, a current student in the Master of Arts in Theology & Culture – The Arts program, discusses the process of creating her final project for the Constructive Theology course, taught by Dr. Lauren Sawyer. Vanessa shares insight into her creative journey, offering reflections on her approach and the development of her work. Dr. […]
11 Black Educators We’re Learning From
Black History Month invites us into a posture of remembering the people and events that impacted our history not only in the past, but also as history is unfolding in the present. Here you will find a list of eleven Black educators and writers from a wide range of disciplines who are making history today. […]
Day of Scholarship 2025
On January 11, 2025, The Seattle School hosted its third annual community-wide Day of Scholarship on campus in Seattle during our Winter Residency, connecting community members to the wider disciplinary and interdisciplinary conversations across our institution. This year’s theme “Engaging (An)other” emphasized the work of Dr. Esther Meek and her contributions as our current Senior […]