Resilience Circles

Change the way you relate to yourself, to God, and to your community.

In a social context where differences often seem to divide us, the Resilience Circle aims to create a “safe enough” space where we can bridge those gaps with presence, authenticity, and kindness.

Join the Interest List

New Circles Begin in October 2025

Learn to engage others, and yourself, with greater compassion.

Resilience circles offer a unique, transformative journey of personal growth, connection, and resilience.

More experience, less “training.” 

More emotion, less logic.

More an “oh” and changed habits than head knowledge

Facilitates Personal Growth

  • Tolerate/manage stress and conflict
  • Exhibit self-compassion and self-awareness
  • Cultivate supportive relationships through listening, vulnerability, and kindly giving and receiving feedback
  • Construct meaning-making from suffering and failure

Fosters Connections

One of the distinguishing features of our Resilience Circles is our commitment to foster connections across a multitude of differences–theological, political, ethnic and cultural.

In a social context where differences often seem to divide us, Resilience Circles create a “safe enough” space where we can bridge those gaps with presence, authenticity, and kindness. By sharing our stories and developing deep listening skills, we learn to engage others–and ourselves–with greater compassion.

How Resilience Circles Work

Circles are a unique space that brings together diverse people to learn and grow together in a cohort model. 

Format: live online instruction and facilitated conversation

Duration: 8-months

Cohort Size: Each circle includes one facilitator and 8-10 participants

Time: Monthly Meetings of 2 hours

Cost: $600

Partial scholarships: available for clergy and church staff – Click here to check your eligibility

Coaching Add-on: $300 for three 50-minute sessions*

  • Coaching helps you activate all that comes up in the group experience.
  • Our coaches specialize in various personality assessments, vocational
    discernment, and spiritual direction.
  • We’ll customize our coaching to whatever best meets your needs!

*While this add-on begins with three coaching sessions, more sessions can be added after your first three.

October 8, 2025

Our next Resilience Circles will begin in October 2025. Each is limited to 10 participants and is available on a first-come, first-served basis. Join the interest list to be the first to know when registration opens!

Join the Interest List

Who Should Join Resilience Circles?

If you desire personal growth and to make an impact right where you are, you will benefit from Circles.

Visionaries ● Non-profit Leaders ● Educators ● Pastors & Ex-pastors ● Healthcare Workers ● Burnt-out or Aspiring Leaders ● Social Entrepreneurs  ●  Social Change Advocates ● Lifelong Learners ● Counselors & therapists ● Academic Professionals ● Individuals Navigating Life Transitions ● Community Organizers

Would you like more information?

Circle Participant Feedback

Capacity to tolerate stress:

81% reported growth

Self awareness:

81% reported growth

Ability to deal with conflict in your vocational context:

100% increased

Self-compassion:

96% reported growth

Ability to find purpose/make meaning in your story

100% reported growth

Ability to cultivate supportive relationships

95% reported growth
Upcoming Virtual Summit
Leading During Polarizing Times
Register for the Virtual Summit!
This FREE online event is designed for ministry leaders seeking practical tools, spiritual wisdom, and renewed strength to lead faithfully when your church community faces deep differences.
No Thanks, I am not interested
Upcoming Virtual Summit
Leading During Polarizing Times
Join the waitlist today!
This FREE online event is designed for ministry leaders seeking practical tools, spiritual wisdom, and renewed strength to lead faithfully when your church community faces deep differences.
No Thanks, I am not interested
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