Life together at The Seattle School

Degree programs at The Seattle School are not just about information or knowledge; our learning is formational – embodied, personal, and practiced in relationship with one another. In our community of adult learners, some living locally in the Seattle area and many spread across North America and around the world, students bring varied life experiences, cultures, and contexts into their learning spaces. A significant portion of our learning happens as we engage and co-create a culture of belonging amidst the diverse perspectives and experiences we hold.

Each fall, in our Convocation liturgy, we renew our covenant with one another to live as one body in membership, learning and growing together across diverse backgrounds, locations, and beliefs.

Community rhythms like Convocation ground us and root us in relationship with one another. The Student & Academic Services and Student Leadership teams steward rhythms to mark the beginning, middle, and end of each year and to provide physical, emotional, and spiritual anchor points for students, employees, and families. These events are intended for all students in both on-campus and low-residency modalities, and coincide with residencies when possible. When possible, on-campus events also have online participation by Zoom or live streaming. Many events are also recorded and shared afterwards in the Community Newsletter so that all can participate in whatever time works with our work schedules and various time zones.

Annual Community Rhythms

 

Community Weekend

The Seattle School Community Weekend is an important time for The Seattle School as we set aside time before God and with each other to transition into a new year, rest and reconnect with old friends, and welcome a new class into our community. Several  important community wide events happen during this time:

• Welcome (Back) Reception – Student Leadership hosts an informal drop-in gathering for all students to (re)connect in the Commons.
• Fall Vespers – Student Leadership hosts a community-wide gathering to pause, reflect and pray together as we begin a new year. A co-created and spacious structure allows each of us to participate in ways that honor our own spirituality and practices.
• Convocation & Community Cookout – During Convocation at St. Mark’s Cathedral, we officially invite the incoming class into our community and enter the new academic year together by joining in a liturgy of dedication and the celebration of Holy Communion. Afterwards, we share food and fellowship back at campus, 1130 Rainier Ave S.

Grenz Lecture

The Stanley Grenz Lecture Series is offered in honor of former Professor Stanley Grenz, a prolific Christian scholar with a pastoral heart and deep intellectual presence. In his memory, each year The Seattle School hosts theological leaders and thinkers to advance theological discourse.

Day of Scholarship

The Day of Scholarship is the anchor event for the Winter Residency weekend in January. It is a day-long event that encourages creativity, conversation, and collaboration in research and scholarship across The Seattle School. It connects faculty, staff, students, and alumni, facilitates dialogue and helps community members discover a variety of projects while also strengthening a collective culture of generosity, development, and advancement.

Underrepresented Voices Art Gallery

Over the past several years, the BIPOC Student Group has established a tradition of hosting an art gallery and exhibition featuring art from students who identify as part of any underrepresented community at The Seattle School. This gallery has become a beloved tradition that opens on the Day of Scholarship and remains on display throughout the winter term.

State of the School Address

This is an annual presentation and conversation with the President about where we are as a learning community and what vision and priorities lay ahead of us. We typically gather for the State of the School in late February or early March.

Graduate Friday

At the end of each academic year, we gather for a day of events honoring our graduating students and celebrating the community that we have created together:

• La Danse Awards
• Integrative Project Symposium Featuring MATC graduates
• Community-wide Open house & Happy Hour

Commencement

Commencement is the concluding bookend to Convocation. It is here that we send another Seattle School class out to embody their mandate of blessing to the world.

A symbol of the community we seek to create together lives on campus in the Welcome Center: a triptych painting entitled la danse revisited by alumnus Phil Nellis. This piece illustrates the invitation to learn, labor, love, and serve together. We are called time and again by our individual and communal beauty and brokenness to join the rhythms of the One whose wild Love continually invites us to dance with God, each other, and the world.

La Danse Award

Each Spring we commission an artist from our community to create their own interpretation of Matisse’s La Danse in sculpture form. During Graduate Friday, we display the artist’s work and we honor The Seattle School community along with four recipients of the award—one faculty, one staff, and two students or spouses/partners, who we collectively believe to be exemplars of la danse in our midst.