We’ve been pretty quiet this summer, but that’s because we’ve been working on launching the new name for our school:

We’re so excited to finally step into our new name right as we welcome a new cohort of students. We began this process in November of 2011 and on August 15, we flipped the switch to our new site, unveiled our new brand, and rolled out the new swag! It’s been an exciting year, but we’re all the more excited for what this next year as The Seattle School will bring.

You can keep up with the latest by following The Seattle School on Facebook or Twitter. And stay tuned to Stories at The Seattle School for more writings from students, faculty, and alumni!

Technical note: Stories will now be located at stories.theseattleschool.edu. You should automatically be routed and your RSS feed should automatically work. But let us know of any issues. And if you see a dead link or broken image tag here or on theseattleschool.edu, please let us know!

In the continuing series of reflections from members of the MHGS community as MHGS begins the process of changing its name to The Seattle School of Theology and Psychology, MDiv alumnus Ronna Detrick poetically engages the power of naming.

Not so long ago, a group of wizened and courageous souls sat around the modern-day version of a fire, its embers glowing late into the night, and dreamed up a vision, an experience, a place. They consciously named it – with intentional meaning and substance; a conscious act. Mars Hill Graduate School.

Continue Reading Changing Names: Sparks

In the continuing series of reflections from members of the MHGS community as MHGS begins the process of changing its name to The Seattle School of Theology and Psychology, MDiv alumnus Joel Pinson speaks of the symbolism inherent in changing names.

Shakespeare posed the question, “What’s in a name?” and if we take a cue from the Old Testament, we are forced into the honest admission that names matter a great deal. Parents sometimes fret for months over the name they will bestow upon their unborn child in hopes that a good name might speak into their son or daughter something of his or her calling. A name suggests something of a person’s trajectory.

Since I arrived and departed from MHGS, I’ve witnessed more than a few name changes, with each successive iteration more closely approaching the core identity MHGS sought to embody. It began in the late 90s as Western Seminary Seattle when I was a student, then morphed into Mars Hill Graduate School at Western Seminary only to finally settle out as Mars Hill Graduate School. With each change came growing pains, maturation, focus and a sharpening of purpose. Like a child who grows into adulthood, institutions, ministries and schools do likewise. And a good name is supposed to help us remember who we are as we move forward on this journey. Some things never leave us…

Within theology, one of the classic definitions of a sacrament is “an outward and visible sign of an inward, invisible grace”. And although this term is typically reserved for things like the Eucharist or baptism, I suspect names are meaningful and symbolic in a very similar way. My hope is that the grace and hope that helped forge the foundations of MHGS will be embodied and lived out in the days to come. Perhaps in this way, we can be a living sign of the Kingdom.

Rev. Joel Pinson is an Anglican minister, an Adjunct Professor at Colorado Christian University, a musician and a counselor. He lives in Colorado Springs and he loves strong coffee, Tom Waits, solo motorcycle trips, liturgy and his family, though not necessarily in that order.

In the first in a series of reflections from members of the MHGS community as MHGS begins the process of changing its name to The Seattle School of Theology and Psychology, MACP alumna Elisa Mitchell shares about her own experience bestowing a name.

Outfitted with large books filled with thousands of names, my husband and I called out the possibilities. Each name was met with an immediate veto or put on “the list”. I remember my anxiety of wanting to name our daughter with thoughtfulness, intent, hopefulness, and meaning without confining her to the limits of her name. Caleb, my husband, needed the name to mean something; he wanted us to hope for her life, her humanity, and her story in the naming of her, like the Hebrews did in ages past. We both wanted her name to be something of beauty.

Continue Reading Changing Names: Reflections from the MHGS Community