On June 25, 2016, we celebrated The Seattle School’s 18th Commencement ceremony at Seattle’s historic town hall. It was a day that was at once festive and solemn as our entire community gathered to honor the hard work of the graduating students in our Master of Divinity, MA in Theology & Culture, and MA in Counseling Psychology programs.

Each year, three graduates—one from each degree program—are selected to address their fellow students and all of those gathered to celebrate their accomplishments. Here, Seth Thomas (MDiv) exhorts his classmates to follow God into the world, continuing to cultivate the learning that they have pursued at The Seattle School. For Seth, that means embracing his calling as a pastor and stepping into the brokenness of the world, holding its wounds, and crying out to God for healing.

“A seed is planted in each of us,” he begins, “a promise that will not return void. This journey of formation has been about nourishing that seed, tilling the earth of our lives, believing that in order to be healed we must be broken first.”