Listening for Repair and Renewal

By Center for Ecumenical and Interreligious Engagement

April 5, 2022

A Listening Year ~ April 2022

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Listening for Repair & Renewal

Dr. Trice Photo with Center Message

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The Center for Ecumenical and Interreligious Engagement continues in its listening year, and in engaging the larger community of students, staff, and faculty, working with local to international ecumenical and interreligious partners, and preparing for the years to come. This month you will hear from the Center’s interview with Seattle University President, Eduardo Peñalver, who focuses upon university curriculum and the need to raise our empathy I.Q. in both the university and society. In addition, Center students interviewed many of their peers on the theme of Repair and Renewal – our theme for this month of Spring at the Center.

We also participated in the United Nations Faith for Earth Dialogue and are providing a link to that video with a focus on how universities respond to the climate crisis today. And finally, the Center spoke with prominent religious influencers and leaders on our connection to the environment even as April 22nd marks the anniversary of the birth of the modern environmental movement in 1970 – Earth Day. The Center Team hopes you can make effective use of these resources by listening and engaging with them.

Many of you reading or listening to this message will know all too well that the School of Theology and Ministry, or STM, at Seattle University is closing in a little over a year. You will also best know that the Center has been approved to provide non-credit bearing certificate programs, and this opportunity will take up considerable time and effort in the years to come. Already I am speaking with STM students, alumni, faculty, faculty emeriti, partners, our advisory council, and colleagues throughout the university, region, and country about what specifically we will offer. Discussions range from lay education inclusive of spiritual discernment to providing opportunities for clergy and other religious leaders who are facing and responding to the culture wars of our moment.

In these conversations, I draw heavily on what the faculty at STM confirmed as essential to both the development of curriculum and to the organization of the formation of the whole human being (body, mind, and spirit) in the School. There are six I want to mention here. We always refer to the first three as the three-legged stool, noting that all three are essential to the formation of the student. These are: first, the joy of learning and sharing theological knowledge as essential for understanding the world; second, the gift of spiritual formation in our lives; and third, the opportunity to consider and clarify one’s pastoral practice of leadership. Knowledge, formation, and leadership are each interdependent legs of a stool that also support one another. Facing the challenges of cultural divisions, of geopolitical challenges and violence, your sense of yourself in and of the world, your connection to spiritual substance and well-being, and your continued emergence as a leader, are all in a dynamic and mutually essential relationship that help you to meet those challenges with responses that are personally deepened and morally informed.

As a faculty, there are also three additional commitments that have been essential to the STM experience. These are: fourth a commitment to ecumenical and interreligious collaboration, fifth a commitment to growing multicultural competence, and sixth, a commitment to faith that does justice in our lives, communities, and the world.

Taken together, these six features of graduate theological education and formation are the precise sides of the singular frame for the Center’s future in the coming academic year. Certificate programs, a summer institute, webinars that are already being planned, broadening out the kinds of interviews we pursue and courses we create, and more. These framing features of the charism cherished at STM are essential to theological education in the future of the Center. I imagine the Center’s future within the heritage of these six commitments, beginning with the three-legged stool. In the months ahead, our work continues in this spirit.

Many of you have reached out to me with suggestions, questions, and insights to share. I welcome your input every step of the way. Please take a moment and continue to reach out to me. I do cherish that too. Thank you and wishing the absolute best to you, your loved ones, and your community.

Thank you,

Michael Reid Trice, PhD

Spehar-Halligan Professor and Director

Center for Ecumenical and Interreligious Engagement

School of Theology and Ministry

Seattle University

Center FAQs

Feature: Listen to our interview with Seattle University President, Eduardo Peñalver

Student Stories: Repair and Renewal

Question #1: How do you personally build the future you and your community seek?

Question #2: How has your community supported you throughout this pandemic?

Undergraduate students at the Center for Ecumenical and Interreligious Engagement interview their peers on the Pandemic and ways they connect with their community to bring Repair and find Renewal. -- Watch and listen.

At the RoundTable: Faith for Earth Dialogue at UNEA 5.2

CEIE was a planning partner and presenter at the United Nations Environment Assembly’s Faith for Earth Dialogue at UNEA 5.2: Strengthening Actions for Nature to Achieve the Sustainable Development Goals

If you are a student or alumni at STM, and would like to participate in these sessions, please contact Dr. Michael Trice at tricem@seattleu.edu today!

Sparking our Imagination each month at the Center:

Listening in a Pandemic Age

How have you stayed healthy and connected in a pandemic age?

Created by Center Student Affiliate Genevieve Kennebrae

Words: Listening with the Religica Theolab over graphic element

Our Center has a laboratory called the Religica Theolab with a commitment to public theological engagement for a new generation. April is Celebrate Diversity Month, so we are highlighting the voices of people from around the world working to bring society forward into a new age. Take a listen by clicking the images below! Engage the Religica Theolab

Appreciation from the Director:

“Rev. Justin is a pleasure to collaborate with at the Center. He brings an active and socially-conscious presence to his ministerial efforts and his work as a chaplain on the cutting edge of his field. It has been inspiring to witness his progression from the classroom of STM to see the admiration his work has engendered in the health care profession of spiritual care. Rev. Justin has helped guide us through the transitions at Seattle University and with the Center. We look forward to many more years of growing alongside his care.” - Dr. Michael Trice

A Month to Engage: We are providing significant resources related to coming out of the pandemic for use in community and classroom below.

Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD): Building a Resilient Recovery - Emerging stronger from the Covid-19 pandemic

Economic Commision for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC): A Transformative Recovery after the COVID-19 Pandemic Requires a Global Covenant with Inclusion of Middle-Income Countries in All Forms of Cooperation and Finance

Social Science Research Council (SSRC): Society after Pandemic

The Harvard Gazette: What will the new post-pandemic normal look like? Outbreak forced changes big and small, some of which are here to stay

NPR: Consider This: How to ‘Human’ Again: Advice for the Long Transition to Post-Pandemic Life

The [UK] Centre for Culture, Sports and Events (CCSE): 7/15/2021 Conference on Recovery, Repair & Renewal: The role of arts and culture in the future of urban places

Text Engaging Repair and Renewal on April 2022 over green background with flowers

Religious traditions, Spiritual pathways, and Indigenous wisdom are active in communities around the world. Each month we share new ways to engage with our monthly theme. Below we offer a collection of resources to engage with Listening for Repair and Renewal.

The Intercept: The Leap: Message from the Future II: The Years of Repair (2020)

Nat’l Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine: School-Based Strategies for Addressing the Mental Health and Well-Being of Youth in the Wake of Covid-19

UMass Chan Medical School: Transitions to Adulthood Center for Research: Supporting College Students Affected by Covid-19 School Disruptions

Office of the Surgeon General: Youth Mental Health Reports and Publications