Creating a respectful classroom for everyone.

The Center for Transforming Engagement is a place to learn how to lead and develop our organizations and ministries in service to our wider communities. If you have signed up for a class, workshop, or conference with us, you will be engaging with other leaders seeking to improve in those same areas. Those leaders will come from a variety of cultural, theological, and demographic backgrounds — and all are welcome.

Our only barrier to participation: If you are not able to be welcoming and respectful to others, you will not be able to participate.

We do not tolerate harassment or discrimination of any kind. Our intention is to create a space in which every participant feels safe. Please alert staff if you experience or witness any harassment or discrimination.

The following guidelines are intended to help you and your fellow learners to approach the class experience with compassion, curiosity, and consideration. Most of us care deeply about our ministries, and leadership development is inherently emotional work. Sharing our growth areas in these types of work can be scary — and is the best tool we have to grow and to cultivate empathy for diverse perspectives.

Community Agreement

The Center for Transforming Engagement values diverse perspectives; no one person or tradition has it all figured out perfectly. To that end, we value a classroom environment where all participants are respectful.

In accordance with this, we are committed to welcoming people from across backgrounds and social positions. That includes denominationally affiliated and Christian unaffiliated individuals; progressives and conservatives; people who pray to God, to Spirit, to Jesus;

While we encourage curiosity and good faith efforts to deepen understanding, kindness is the top priority. Those who are unable to refrain from statements that are exclusionary or incendiary — including racist, sexist, homophobic, ableist, transphobic, sectarian, faith-ist, creed-ist, or any other prejudiced words or behaviors — are discouraged from participating.

Should such statements be made, the Center expects that Instructors intervene. When necessary, resources for reporting discrimination are available through The Seattle School.

In working on issues of diversity and developing relationships with people different from ourselves, people will inevitably make errors. We are committed to doing our best, in good faith, to listen, to learn, and to treat others with respect and dignity.

Workshops & Courses

All participants share a common impulse to lead well and serve their communities, though you all come from different worlds and bring different experiences and values to the table. Course discussions can be a highly charged emotional space. Workshops and courses are an opportunity to be generous, vulnerable, and empathetic in ways that still question and push each other’s work to be the best version possible. Respectful disagreements can be pivotal in making each participant’s work better.

Participant email addresses provided at registration may be used within the class to distribute assignments, share resources, and circulate work outside of class. These email addresses will also be used by the Center to distribute important scheduling information and updates about any classes in which the participant is registered. If a participant would like to use a different email for these purposes, please contact us prior to the class, or the instructor at the start of class.

Cultural Norms & Guidelines

“No fixing, no saving, no advising, no setting each other straight.” – Parker Palmer

  • Commit to the expectations outlined by your instructor. Please arrive fully prepared to engage in the process.
  • Maintain confidentiality. Keep private information about other participants and their congregations or workplaces. You may share about your own experiences and to “share the lesson, not the story.” No public dissemination of any other participants’ ideas, materials, or submissions is permitted without the express permission of that participant — no, not even in a sermon.
  • You are invited to be a whole person. Thoughts and feelings are both valid sources of information.
  • Remain respectful of all participants (and their work) in the classroom.
  • Agree to disagree. Often, at the messy forefront of adaptation and learning, there are no right answers.
  • Critique is often a part of the classroom experience. Be ready to speak about problems in your own work and the work of others in a constructive manner. Critique the work, not the worker.
  • Be aware that your fellow participants have an equal right to the class space and time. As a general rule: Everyone should speak once before anyone speaks twice. Keep discussion on topic toward the course content.
  • If you come into the classroom with a background of privilege (education level, income, language proficiency, etc), be aware of that position and the ways in which it can potentially affect other participants.
  • Put aside personal technology or applications not being used for the purpose of the class.
  • Online offerings: Video on and eliminate distractions; treat the experience as though you are in person.

Norms for Instructors

While every instructor has their own style and personality, the below are the values and ideals of the Center for Transforming Engagement. We aim to further these values through our administration and instruction, and invite our partner-instructors to join us.

  • Participants are adult learners and, most often, presently working in the ministry field. Respect that they are coming to the classroom with substantial and varied experiences, and be prepared for questions that are more about applying learnings to specific situations.
  • Participants don’t receive grades or diplomas for their learning. They come because they’re looking for helpful, practical, applicable learnings to inform their work — aim to bring big ideas down to the ground, and to use assignments in ways that advance their actual work. While you can’t effectively demand assignments or attendance, you can make the course and its work valuable enough for them to engage.
  • Listen deeply and engage responsively. Our participants come from urban, suburban, and rural contexts; from mainline congregations to innovative “don’t call it church” communities; from the US and Canada. Be flexible and adaptable, and listen for real needs and contextual differences so you can translate across context (and perhaps grow your frame in the process!).
  • Be teachable teachers. Trust that your participants might have something to teach you — whether a modification of your ideas or how your ideas apply to a new context. Know the limitations of your knowledge and expertise and know that “I don’t know” and “I’m not sure” are entirely acceptable responses to give.
  • We aim to further a culture of hopeful service. Our times demand that we not stick our heads in the sand, nor be content with the status quo. We clearly see the state of things, yet choose a hopeful stance to problem-solving and own a stubborn optimism and insistence that the solutions we imagine be applicable to real-world problems.
  • We are rooted in the Christian tradition while innovating for the present and into the future. Old ways of doing ministry — even just a few years ago — may need a refresh or reboot. Be aware and adaptive to changing circumstances; sometimes the context may even change mid-course. Participants may even be conversation partners in facing those changes.
  • Be comfortable with discomfort of diverse perspectives and opinions. Your approach to differences should be a model of engaging difference as a learning opportunity.

The Space (for onsite offerings)

Along with respecting the community, please respect the physical space. Our spaces are often donated by partner churches, denominations, or organizations, and we want to leave the space as clean and beautiful as when we entered. There are areas that are not open to us; please respect the limitations of our space use and stay in well-lit and signed spaces.

Guideline Violations

If you would like to report a violation of participant guidelines, please email us at transforming@theseattleschool.edu and we will respond to you as soon as possible. Our administrative staff are part-time Monday through Thursday.

Full attendance and participation during all sessions are expected to complete the program.
Terms / Conditions. By registering for a Resilience or Leaders Circle, you agree to the following (scroll down and click agree)
Please consider the schedule closely to ensure you will be able to participate in the virtual meetings, and block off your calendar to ensure your attendance. Should you have an emergency (illness, situations out of your control) that will impact your participation please email transforming@theseattleschool.edu
Time commitment:
Two hours one day per month for 8 months, dates to be determined by majority of registrants' availability and adjusted as needed during the first group meeting.
Your feedback is immensely valuable!
As an essential component of your participation in this program, we ask that you provide us with your honest, candid, and timely feedback in program surveys and conversations, and consider providing reviews or testimonials of the program for promotional use.
Code of Conduct:
The Center for Transforming Engagement strives for intentionality in the ways we relate to one another - how we as a team relate to each other, how we relate to participants, and how we hope participants will relate to us and one another. To that end, we hold cultural norms about the ways we interact with one another. Your participation in this program is contingent on your agreement to abide by these cultural norms. i. For growth to happen, we all need to be able to share about the deeper challenges we face. To provide that atmosphere of openness and support, you commit to not sharing personal information that is shared in program meetings. ii. In our interactions with each other and our communities, we practice the humility of not-knowing that is required to listen and discover. iii. Be aware of different cultural and characterological ways of communicating, and invite others’ voices. Respect theological differences: the river of Christian orthodoxy is wide, and while the streams of that river are distinct, they are not inherently better or worse. Even if you can’t respect the belief, treat the person with respect. iiii. We value both thoughts and feelings as valuable pieces of information that inform one another, and inform our learning and discerning together. iv. Be in the here and now (not mentally somewhere or some time else), with the people who are sharing their time and stories with you. Eliminate any distractions possible.
Fair Use Policy
All program content, recordings, and materials are the intellectual property of The Seattle School and may not be presented, distributed, or replicated. The Seattle School retains the copyright for all recorded content. Some print materials (PDFs, worksheets, journal prompts, etc.) will be licensed under Creative Commons: Attribution NonCommercial ShareAlike. Those materials will be available for download on our website, and may be used as long as the following conditions are met: (1) attribute to the Center for Transforming Engagement even if remixed/modified; (2) do not use for commercial (paid) purposes; and (3) anything you make that remixes or builds upon this material, you must also distribute under Creative Commons. More information on this license is available at creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/
Agree and Close
(scroll down and click agree) Full attendance and participation during all sessions are expected to complete the program. Please consider the schedule closely to ensure you will be able to participate in the virtual meetings, and block off your calendar to ensure your attendance. Should you have an emergency (illness, situations out of your control) that will impact your participation please email transforming@theseattleschool.edu Time commitment: Two hours one day per month for 8 months, dates to be determined by majority of registrants' availability and adjusted as needed during the first group meeting. Your feedback is immensely valuable! As an essential component of your participation in this program, we ask that you provide us with your honest, candid, and timely feedback in program surveys and conversations, and consider providing reviews or testimonials of the program for promotional use. 2. Code of Conduct The Center for Transforming Engagement strives for intentionality in the ways we relate to one another - how we as a team relate to each other, how we relate to participants, and how we hope participants will relate to us and one another. To that end, we hold cultural norms about the ways we interact with one another. Your participation in this program is contingent on your agreement to abide by these cultural norms. Confidentiality. For growth to happen, we all need to be able to share about the deeper challenges we face. To provide that atmosphere of openness and support, you commit to not sharing personal information that is shared in program meetings. Curiosity. In our interactions with each other and our communities, we practice the humility of not-knowing that is required to listen and discover. Respect differences. Be aware of different cultural and characterological ways of communicating, and invite others’ voices. Respect theological differences: the river of Christian orthodoxy is wide, and while the streams of that river are distinct, they are not inherently better or worse. Even if you can’t respect the belief, treat the person with respect. You are invited to be a whole person, with both thoughts and feelings. We value both thoughts and feelings as valuable pieces of information that inform one another, and inform our learning and discerning together. Presence. Be in the here and now (not mentally somewhere or some time else), with the people who are sharing their time and stories with you. Eliminate any distractions possible. 3. Fair Use Policy All program content, recordings, and materials are the intellectual property of The Seattle School and may not be presented, distributed, or replicated. The Seattle School retains the copyright for all recorded content. Some print materials (PDFs, worksheets, journal prompts, etc.) will be licensed under Creative Commons: Attribution NonCommercial ShareAlike. Those materials will be available for download on our website, and may be used as long as the following conditions are met: (1) attribute to the Center for Transforming Engagement even if remixed/modified; (2) do not use for commercial (paid) purposes; and (3) anything you make that remixes or builds upon this material, you must also distribute under Creative Commons. More information on this license is available at creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/
Agree and Close