What’s sustaining your leadership right now?

No one told you leadership would require this much emotional strength. Not just strategy or vision, but presence. Discernment. The ability to stay grounded when everything around you is shifting. Leaders Circles are small, honest cohorts designed for ministry leaders who are ready to lead from a deeper place: Rooted, clear, and spiritually alive.

Circle Details

Led BY

Rose Madrid Swetman

Time Commitment

Twice monthly, 2-hour sessions

Duration

3 Months

Price

$500

Format

Live, online, small-group experience
Enroll Now

Three Cohorts to Choose From

Each Circle is a 3-month small-group cohort of 5–8 ministry leaders who gather live, online, twice a month for two hours. Together, you’ll engage in spiritual reflection, honest conversation, and practical tools grounded in theology and social science.

You’ll choose the cohort that meets your season of leadership:

Leading in Uncertain Times: Integrating Theology and Social Science for Resilient Leadership

Begins October 1, 2025 12-2pm PST

Session 1: The Leader’s Inner Life
Leaders cannot holistically lead others without attending to their own well-being and spiritual rootedness. Here we explore how the inner life of the leader shapes their outer leadership.

Session 2: Trauma-Informed Leadership
Understanding individual and collective trauma in your communities.

Session 3: Navigating Conflict and Building Brave Space
How to stay grounded and facilitate dialogue in divided communities.

Session 4: Power, Authority, and Vulnerability
Redefining Leadership in a Post-Christian Era – Reimagining what faithful and ethical leadership looks like in today’s context.

Session 5: Cultivating Healthy Teams and Structures
How to create sustainable, life-giving organizational structures.

Session 6: Hope and Imagination
Learning to lead with purpose in a time of social fragmentation, and reclaiming purpose and theological imagination for what’s next

Trauma-Informed Leadership: Strategies for Clergy and Ministry Leaders

Begins October 1, 2025 9-11am PST

Session 1: Understanding Vicarious Trauma and PTSD in Ministry
Looking at the nature of our work in high-stress environments, and our responsibility to others, including the expectation to provide support and guidance to congregants during their most challenging times can weigh heavily on faith leaders, increasing the risk of developing PTSD.

Session 2: Recognizing Signs and Symptoms of Cumulative Trauma
The gradual buildup of stress can manifest in PTSD symptoms with reluctance to ask for help. Here we will identify emotional, physical, and behavioural symptoms of trauma, and the impact of unresolved trauma on personal and organizational health.

Session 3: Coping Mechanisms and Self-Care
Overview of self-care tools, practices, community support, and professional services.

Session 4: Building Resilience in Ministry
Definition and components of resilience in personal and congregational/organizational contexts. Integrating resilience-building practices.

Session 5: Creating Trauma-Informed Ministry/Organization Environments (Ecologies)
What it means to be a trauma-informed ministry including the principles of trauma-informed care and practical steps for implementing these principles in congregational settings.

Session 6: What now? Integrating Learning
Review key takeaways, ongoing personal and communal growth in addressing trauma, and action planning for trauma-informed ministry.

Leadership Skills for a Divided Congregation

Begins September 30, 2025 12-2pm PST

Session 1: Understanding Division in the Church
Looking at the roots of division, political polarization, theological fragmentation and cultural narratives, plus mapping congregational divides.

Session 2: The Inner Life of the Leader
The importance of self-differentiation, leading from within: emotional intelligence and spiritual maturity, and cultivating inner resilience.

Session 3: Listening Across Divides
Understand the power of active listening, gain techniques for pastoral listening in polarized settings, and how to listen across political and theological divides.

Session 4: Session 4: Facilitating Difficult Conversations
Equipping leaders to navigate and guide challenging conversations in congregational life with courage and care.

Session 5: Leading Toward Reconciliation
Equipping leaders to foster healing, truth-telling, and restoration in divided communities.

Session 6: Prophetic Leadership and Hopeful Imagination
Looking at prophetic vs. political Leadership, vision casting in divided times, and cultivating hope and perseverance.

Extra Details

Leaders Circles are kept small to encourage trust, depth, and meaningful connection.

With just 5-8 participants, each person has space to be seen, heard, and supported. This intimacy allows for honest reflection, deeper listening, and the kind of growth that doesn’t happen in larger groups.

The Circles can fill quickly. If you are unable to register, we offer the Circles twice a year. You will have the ability to join a waitlist when the Circles are closed.

Partial scholarships are available. Click here to see if you qualify.

Leaders Circles Are For You If:

You’re carrying the weight of leadership without the support you need

You feel called to lead more honestly, relationally, and sustainably

You want more than strategy, you want transformation

You’re ready to invest in your own growth, for the sake of those you serve

Alumni Testimonials

“Even 2+ years later, there probably isn’t a week when something from the program doesn’t come to mind. My life and ministry are still shaped by what I learned and by who I learned it with.”

“I feel like the things that used to knock me off course just don’t anymore.”
“The biggest takeaway is my ability to connect my brokenness to how that colors my experiences in my current ministry role. Learning to diffuse that and create space for compassion for myself and for others has been truly life-giving.”
“I feel so blessed to be part of this cohort. I am learning so much and see the opportunities to grow and develop new understanding and practices. I want to thank you all for what you do and the goodness, care, safety, and kindness that you bring to us and this work and discovery.”
“In 29 years of ministry, no other program has influenced me as clearly and concretely as this.”
“[The Circle] helped me to have grace with myself. I told them how much pressure I put on myself and they would say ‘Have grace with yourself.’ That has helped me so much when things didn’t go according to plan.”

Register for a Leaders Circle

Please read the terms carefully before accepting to each one. Choose which Circle you want when registering. You may register for multiple cohorts.

Copyright 2025 The Center for Transforming Engagement ● Privacy Policy ● Website: Alford Creative

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