Partners
In creative partnership
With broad community involvement, the School of Theology and Ministry (STM) has become a major catalyst and participant in an emergent and strengthened ecumenical community. STM offers the opportunity to study for a variety of ministerial roles.
Partners include the Catholic Archdiocese of Seattle, Anglican, Protestant and Unitarian denominations and religious agencies in the Northwest, and the university. STM prepares students for leadership positions as ordained and lay ministers. Students and graduates are pastoral associates for faith formation, directors of Christian education programs and serving with Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults (RCIA). They also minister to the sick and elderly; are liturgical leaders and chaplains to hospices, hospitals, and prisons; are directors of food banks; serve in shelters for the homeless, provide spiritual direction and retreats, and serve as chaplains in various ministries.
STM’s student body is made up primarily of adults who are seeking to develop spiritually, to know and appreciate their tradition, and to find the services and support they need to engage in disciplined, developmental, and holistic education and formation. STM is fully accredited through the Association of Theological Schools.
Christifideles
The Archdiocese of Seattle makes available major scholarship assistance for up to 50 percent of tuition for Catholics accepted simultaneously into the Master of Pastoral Studies (MAPS) and the Christifideles program. Students accepted into an STM degree program who submit the required Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) and all STM forms, can be considered for an additional tuition reduction.
Christifideles provides for a cohort of 15 students to participate in a two-year program of graduate education in STM and formation activities with the Archdiocese of Seattle. Participants may attend either full- or part-time and will be supported by the formation program for up to three years. Archdiocesan criteria for awarding financial support focuses on participants who add to the ethnic diversity of the parish staff and of the Archdiocese; show evidence of bilingual talent; come from communities with few theological resources; specialize in a ministry needed by the local church and have circumstances that merit assistance.
Interfaith awareness, dialogue and interaction
The Alfred and Tillie Shemanski Institute for Christian and Jewish Understanding is a collaborative venture by Temple De Hirsch Sinai and STM. This institute supports ongoing dialogue between Jews and Christians through public lectures and a clergy institute, and interfaith worship experiences.
In service to the church and the community of the Northwest, the School of Theology and Ministry is in partnership with the following:
American Baptist Churches of the Northwest
Archdiocese of Seattle (Western Washington)
Church Council of Greater Seattle
The Episcopal Church in Western Washington, Diocese of Olympia
Evergreen Association of American Baptist Churches
Greater Pacific Northwest Mission Center
Maryknoll Fathers and Brothers
Northwest Region of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)
Northwest Washington Synod Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
Oregon Province, Society of Jesus
Oregon/Washington District Church of the Brethren
Pacific Northwest District Unitarian Universalist Association
Pacific Northwest Conference United Church of Christ
Pacific Northwest Conference United Methodist Church
Region XII Leadership Conference of Women Religious
Sisters of the Holy Names of Jesus and Mary
Southwestern Washington Synod Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
Synod of Alaska-Northwest, Presbyterian Church (USA)
Washington Association of Churches