Sam Skillern

Administrative Coordinator

sskillern@theseattleschool.edu

Sam Skillern

Administrative Coordinator

sskillern@theseattleschool.edu

As Administrative Coordinator at the Center for Transforming Engagement, Sam develops and implements program management systems and oversees participant communications. He also manages forms processing for reimbursements and payments.

As Library Assistant at The Seattle School, Sam Skillern supports students in library circulation, retrieving materials from online databases, maintaining the collection, and converting materials into accessible formats. Sam also assists Student Academic Services with class recording management and special projects, and works with Campus Services in helping staff the Front Desk and processing mail.

Sam joined The Seattle School staff in Fall of 2022, drawn to the school’s mission and interdisciplinary approach to learning and community engagement. Sam is passionate about helping people feel welcome, valued, known, and heard. He’s really enjoyed getting to know each member of this community and has treasured being a part of all that folks are learning and doing here.

In 2017 he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Theology with minors in Spanish and History from Seattle Pacific University. To his role, Sam brings a range of experience including interning at the Salem Leadership Foundation, working as a Bilingual Program Coordinator at Big Brothers Big Sisters, serving as Youth Director at Calvin Presbyterian Church, and working as a Brick Specialist at The LEGO Store Bellevue.

Outside work, Sam’s hobbies include playing Dungeons and Dragons and collecting LEGOs and Transformers. He’s also into Star Wars, Marvel, fantasy, and sci-fi. Sam likes trying new restaurants with his wife Jessica, spending time with his brother Drew, and hanging out with friends. Recently Sam’s also been getting into mini-golf and gardening.

Sam lives in Lake City with his wife Jessica and their beloved cat Poppy. Salem, Oregon is his hometown, and his favorite place in the world (so far) is Wallowa Lake, also in Oregon.

Sam is passionate about decolonizing and recontextualizing Christian faith and reconnecting it to the unadulterated divine revelation of Jesus of Nazareth. He believes Christians in the Western world must divorce our understanding of the Triune God and of what it means to be made in God’s Image from the systemic colonialism, racism, sexism, xenophobia, ableism, and homophobia ingrained in the culture that surrounds us. “Jesus lived, died, and was resurrected so we can be free, so let’s embrace our liberation!”

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.
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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