Intersections at The Seattle School

My journey with purpose has been fraught with fits and starts and loads of apparently meaningless lulls in between. I was born and raised in Texas and my worldview was highly influenced by the predominantly white southern Baptist church that taught me about Jesus and who He expected me to be. It became my understanding […]

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 […]

You spent this past week settling into new homes, purchasing last minute books, or perhaps even driving to Seattle in a moving truck. Know that we are conscious of the days to come for you and the energy, vulnerability, and depth you have already brought to this process of arriving. There are so many exciting […]

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 […]

Today’s faculty highlight is Dr. O’Donnell Day, Associate Professor of Counseling Psychology at The Seattle School. Dr. Day is originally from north Mississippi, spending most of her young adulthood living on a family farm in the South. After completing her bachelor’s degree from Mississippi State University, she joined staff with Campus Crusade for Christ on […]

A warm welcome from your library staff! We are looking forward to getting to know you and to support you in your learning during and after your time at The Seattle School. The library offers a variety of resources and services to meet the teaching and learning needs of the students, faculty, staff, and alumni […]

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, […]

“Learning takes your whole body. ” – Dr. J. Derek McNeil, President & Provost Many of you have been drawn to this learning community at The Seattle School of Theology & Psychology because of the conviction that the fullness of your being should be heard, met, and taken seriously. Amidst this comes a core belief […]

“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. […]

A couple of weeks ago here in the Matriculate Blog, the admissions team wrote a post about liminal, in-between spaces and the wordless tensions that we hold in our bodies when we experience loss, enter unknowns, cross thresholds, or start something new. “[I]t is so important in the midst of liminal spaces,” they said, “to […]