Today on the Stories blog, Carrie Cates, a second-year Master of Divinity student, joins the ongoing conversation about life as an artist at The Seattle School. Here Carrie reflects on worrying about Art, dry-bone valleys, and the animating inspiration of the breath of God. In case you missed them, check out previous entries from Kelly […]
As we continue journeying through Lent, Sacred Space is offering resources, prayers, and reflections to help guide us as a community through this season of lament and repentance. Here, first year Master of Divinity student Drew Dixon offers an overview of Lent, the reasons we observe it, and the resources that are available to help […]
In a sea of many who believe themselves the few with “ears to hear,” do we really have the chutzpah to respond to our calling? One day, still too young to walk, my parents carried me through a parking lot. Nearby, a stranger remotely locked his car. This man “beeped” his car with his keychain […]
Photo © 2014 Caleb Dodson. Several years ago, I stumbled upon simple but profound text, Listening to the Heartbeat of God. It was a book that resonated deep within my own soul as it eloquently reminded me of the heart of God beating in each and everyone of us – inviting me to look and […]
He is the Maker of heaven and earth, the sea, and everything in them—he remains faithful forever. He upholds the cause of the oppressed and gives food to the hungry. The Lord sets prisoners free, the Lord gives sight to the blind, the Lord lifts up those who are bowed down, the Lord loves the […]
When I try to speak about this last year, my third in The Seattle School’s MDiv program, it starts out like a joke: “A Lutheran, an Episcopalian, a Presbyterian, a Quaker, a Mennonite, a Church of Christ…er, a Reformed Protestant, a Baptist, a Disciple of Christ, and a Free Churcher walk into a bar.” Except […]
After finally accepting the fact that my sex does not disqualify me from leadership, finally accepting that I (might kind of sort of) have a gift for pastoring, and finally accepting that the next step was to earn an MDiv, the question became: where would I go? Staying in the area I lived in wasn’t […]
In 2010 my husband and I were in Moshi, Tanzania working under a non-profit doing sustainable development projects. While there, we began dreaming and brainstorming about the work we wanted to be part of in the coffee industry. Situated at the base of Mount Kilimanjaro, we were quite literally surrounded by coffee farms, but our […]
I grew up on the shores of the beautiful Puget Sound. Sunday mornings after church were spent sitting beside the water, watching it lap up against the breaks near the Edmonds-Kingston ferry, watching seagulls and boats go by, and watching waves crash. As a kid, I was not troubled with the origin of waves or […]
Every year, a graduate from each degree program is selected by their peers and faculty to speak at Commencement around a particular theme. This year, the speakers chose the theme “Crossings.” Below is the speech shared by David Jaeger, an MDiv graduate. Missouri turned into Kansas. Kansas turned into Colorado. Colorado into Wyoming, into Utah into Idaho […]
“I can do this.” That phrase has been a common refrain for me throughout my experience at The Seattle School. Some days the words have entered my mind or left my lips with confidence, believing that I am, in fact, able to pastor and care well for people. Other days, those words come out with […]
When a group of young adults asked me to become their next leader, I quickly blurted out, “I can’t, I’m a woman.” Everyone was surprised, most of all myself. I’m usually bold and outspoken; in what cave of my soul had this patriarchy been hiding? Members of the group discussed and discerned with me; books […]