Intersections at The Seattle School

Identity / Knowing and living into one’s God-given self. To flourish is to find meaning in the midst of struggle, to adapt and grow in response to challenge. In the midst of pandemic, increased awareness of injustice, and the realities of ministry in post-Christian contexts, we don’t lack for challenges! But we do lack a […]

In this episode of the text.soul.culture podcast, Dr. J. Derek McNeil, President and Provost, sits down to talk with Dr. Chelle Stearns, Associate Professor of Theology, about her ongoing work and research at the intersection of trauma and theology. Dr. Stearns is a deeply thoughtful, compassionate scholar who often thinks outside of disciplinary boxes and […]

The Seattle School of Theology & Psychology has released its second research report to come from Resilient Leaders Project (RLP)—a report that describes what flourishing leadership and contextually-responsive ministry look like through a series of alumni profiles, all peer-identified as “exemplars in resilience.” “In the first Resilience Report, we looked at the big picture of […]

Hannah Martin (MACP ‘20) worked for Resilient Leaders Project during her tenure as a student of The Seattle School. Here, she reflects on the necessity of acknowledging pain and tending to our wounds in order to move forward into greater resilience. Laura Wade Shirley’s post on “Running as a Spiritual Practice” has been on my […]

One of our alumnae, Lisa Etter-Carlson (MATC ‘11), is the co-founder of Aurora Commons, a “neighborhood living room” (day shelter) in Seattle. Here, she calls us to see how the COVID-19 pandemic exposes systemic racism, poverty, and the criminalization of poverty—particularly among the unhoused. As this Pandemic has spread, it has exposed and exploited the […]

As a mostly able-body heterosexual, middle-class white cisgender male, my life oozes with privilege. I am acquainted with the sanctimonious anger of Brett Kavanaugh, the smug sexism of Mark Driscoll, the pompous arrogance of Donald Trump, the assumption-rightness of John Piper, and the murderous racism of Derek Chauvin. Yet, Jesus indicates that with God’s help, […]

“But we have no patterns for relating across our human differences as equals. As a result, those differences have been misnamed and misused in the service of separation and confusion.” -Audrey Lorde in Sister Outsider For the past nine years, I have the privilege of teaching Being the Word on the Street: Developing Intercultural Competency. […]

Mississippi. M-i-crooked letter crooked letter-i-crooked letter crooked letter-i-humpback humpback i. We all know it spells Mississippi. Mississippi is a state in the Deep South, flanked by other southern states, but different than Alabama, Arkansas, Tennessee, Georgia, Louisiana. I think uglier in their hate, savagery, viciousness, murderousness. I know this Mississippi, and I am terrified. The […]

The Seattle School of Theology & Psychology is hosting a comprehensive evaluation visit for reaffirmation of accreditation by the ATS Commission on Accrediting on October 20-23, 2020. The purpose of this visit is to verify that the school meets all applicable Commission Standards of Accreditation. Comments regarding how well the school meets those standards and/or […]

“Moonias! Moonias!” (“White Man! White Man”) the children screeched as I stood outside their home on the Maskwacis First Nations Reservation. As a Community Social Worker, I had been summoned to investigate a child abuse allegation. I was twenty-two years old and it had never occurred to me that the color of my skin was […]

Am I living my own story, or living someone else’s? -Dr. Howard Stevenson Earlier this year, Dr. J. Derek McNeil sat down for a conversation with one of his life-long friends, Dr. Howard Stevenson, about trauma and resilience, especially as these topics relate to African-American men and boys. Dr. Stevenson is a clinical psychologist who […]

We live in a culture constructed on the scaffolding of systemic racist ideas, the racialization of ethnicity or safely siloed in our own ethnic communities. The murders of Breonna Taylor, George Floyd, and Ahmaud Arbery; as well as the Make America Great Again anthems, have illuminated where we are in regard to equity and justice. […]