The Office of University Ministries and First Free Methodist Church will host two Ash Wednesday services on Wednesday, March 6, 12:30 p.m. and 7 p.m. in the FFMC sanctuary. This short, contemplative time of worship serves as a launch point to our observance of the Lenten season. All are welcome. 

Campus Ministries has assembled a team of students, staff, and faculty to write a devotional for the 2019 Lenten season. Each day of Lent will include a Scripture reading, as well as a reflection written by a member of the SPU community. Download a PDF of the full Lenten resource on the Campus Ministries website (starting March 6), or follow along on Instagram (@spucampusministries). We hope you’ll join our community as we journey together through Lent and toward a celebration of Easter.

The SPU Percussion Ensemble, directed by Director of Percussion Studies Dan Adams, will present its winter concert Tuesday, March 5, 7:30 p.m. in First Free Methodist Church. The theme for this concert is "World Inspirations." The ensemble will perform works inspired by the music of Brazil, Haiti, West Africa, Crete, Spain, and the United States. The concert is free and open to the public. This concert will be livestreamed.

Seattle Pacific Seminary is staging a benefit performance of The Vagina Monologues as part of the 2019 V-Day events happening around the world. The SPU community is warmly invited to attend. The performance will take place Friday, March 8, at 7 p.m. in Demaray 150. Suggested admission fee is $5/person. All proceeds will benefit The NW Network and the V-Day 2019 Spotlight Fund for women in prison, detention centers, and formerly incarcerated women.

A message from Staff Council: If you missed February’s SPU Professional Development Series workshop on the upcoming September Session, you can watch the presentation in this video. Thank you to Denise Daniels, professor of management and associate vice president for strategic initiatives, and Kenda Gatlin, university registrar and director of student academic services, for facilitating this session!

Bloodworks Northwest will host a blood drive on campus March 7–8, 11 a.m.–5 p.m. near the entrance of Tiffany Loop. Schedule an appointment online.

The Center for Career and Calling is recruiting for their 2019-20 Peer Career Advisor team and would like your recommendations. Do you know a student(s) who is team oriented, motivated to serve their fellow classmates, interested in career development, takes initiative and responsibility, communicates well, willing to go the extra mile, demonstrates strong attention to detail, and has a warm and friendly presence? If so, please encourage them to apply on Handshake or at the CCC website for this paid leadership position.

The Graduate-Selected Faculty of the Year Award will be piloted this year as a way to recognize a faculty member’s positive impact on the experience of graduate students at Seattle Pacific. Graduate students from each program will have the opportunity to nominate a deserving faculty member. A representative group of up to six graduate students from each of SPU’s graduate schools will select the Faculty of the Year from the received nominations, and the honoree will be announced at the annual spring Celebration of Service event. For more information, visit the award page on the Center for Scholarship and Faculty Development website.

Staff are invited to join a weekly meeting to talk about the book Rising Strong by Brene Brown. The group meets every Thursday in Weter Hall, 11:30 a.m.–12:30 p.m., and it’s not too late to join. If you have questions, contact Jessica Razanadrakoto, visits & events coordinator in Undergraduate Admissions, at jessicar@spu.edu.

More than 6,200 SPU parents and family members received the February In the Loop parents’ e-newsletter, which included links to videos about the 2019 alumni award recipients, information about the 2019 Commencement, an SPU Voices story about the student who created the Black History Month Speaker Series with the Center for Career and Calling, and more.

From the Wellness Initiative: Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) as an intervention for college students is becoming more prevalent in research. Visit the Wellness blog to learn more about how ACT is being used to help college students.

A solo exhibition by multidisciplinary artist Colleen RJC Bratton currently at the Seattle Pacific Art Gallery will end March 8. Bratton lives and works in Seattle. She graduated with a degree in visual arts and philosophy from Seattle University, and is a member of SOIL Gallery, a collective and nonprofit gallery established, supported, and managed by Seattle artists. Her sculptural paintings are influenced by the emotions and energies found in revelatory moments the artist has experienced or witnessed. They act as personal therapy and social commentary in a topsy-turvy world.

About her site-specific work, Bratton says, "To bask in those first rays of sun after a long winter and feel the presence of a new season­­ — has this lingering hope come to fruition? Empirical sun transports glimpses of a bright future into the present gray with texture, temperature, color, and light. Underlying comedic elements point to the possible absurdity of such an intense optimism and offer an alternative: the first rays don’t signal hope but instead signal fire."

Immerse is the School of Theology’s youth discipleship academy on July 14–20, 2019. The first 25 students to register will get over 50 percent off tuition ($386 instead of $827). Immerse students who later enroll at SPU also receive $1,000 off their first year of undergraduate study. Visit spu.edu/immerse for details and to register.

As School of Education Dean Nyaradzo Mvududu reminds us, “the only constant is change.” Catch up with announcements and news in the latest issue of the SOE’s On Point e-newsletter — including updates from three longtime SOE professors who are moving on to new chapters in their life journeys: Bill Nagy, Arthur Ellis, and Bill Prenevost.

Do you know a student who is energetic and outgoing? Do you know a student who enjoys helping people? Do you know a student who loves SPU? If you answered yes to these questions then you should encourage the student(s) to apply to be an Orientation Student Coordinator or Orientation Leader. Applications are on OrgSync at Orientation Student Coordinator and Orientation Leader. Email Jacob Arzaga, assistant director in the Office of Student Involvement and Leadership, at arzagaj@spu.edu for more information.

The 10th of each month is the last day to make changes to your upcoming payroll check. Do you need to add or remove your spouse and/or children from your health care plans? If so, contact Human Resources (HR) to complete the appropriate form. Changes might include events that are expected to impact your benefits and deductions, such as your spouse or children gaining or losing coverage due to employment, birth, marriage, etc. Additionally, any changes you wish to make to your 403(b) account contributions must be made by the 10th of the month. For changes to your 403(b) account, contact Transamerica Retirement Solutions at 1-888-676-5512 (5 a.m.–6 p.m. PST), or 1-800-755-5801. If you have any other benefits-related changes, call Mardeth Hughes in HR at 206-281-2816.

You have until 9:59 a.m. on Tuesday, March 5, to have stationery orders delivered Monday, March 18. Stationery orders are delivered once a month. Orders made after 10 a.m. on March 5 will be delivered in April. For more information, contact Hope McPherson in University Communications at hmcpherson@spu.edu.

The Faculty/Staff Bulletin is published every week during the academic year. If you have information or event news, send it as soon as possible to Bulletin editor Tracy Norlen at fsb-editor@spu.edu. Submissions may be edited for clarity. The next deadline is Thursday, March 7. The next Bulletin will be published on Monday, March 11.

From the Office of the Provost: The Faculty Retirement Dinner will be held Thursday, May 9, 6:30–8:30 p.m., in Royal Brougham Pavilion. We will honor 19 (that’s right, 19!) retiring faculty members, representing 575 years of cumulative service to Seattle Pacific. There is much to celebrate!

All faculty and emeriti faculty will receive paper invitations in the mail during the first week of Spring Quarter, but please be sure to mark your calendars now. Do not miss this opportunity to honor your colleagues with an evening full of fun, laughter, and celebration.

Bill Woodward, emeritus professor of history, received the Distinguished Centurion of the Year Award at the 2019 Homecoming and Family Weekend’s Centurion reunion’s 60th anniversary. Bill advised the club for nearly a decade after Roy Swanstrom, its first advisor, ensuring the traditions and impact of Centurions continued. Even after retiring in 2017, Bill continues to support Centurions by nominating prospective members, attending reunions, and sharing words of encouragement and wisdom. Congratulations, Bill!

A message from School of Theology Dean Doug Strong: Instructor of Biblical Studies Jamie Coles Burnette has accepted a position as the principal of Halifax Christian School in South Boston, Virginia. This new position allows Jamie to be in the same town as her widowed mother and other relatives. Her husband has also accepted a job as worship director in a nearby church. While we’re very pleased for Jamie (and Elliot), we will miss her wonderful contributions to the SPU community. Please join us for an informal drop-in reception in honor of Jamie on Tuesday, March 5, 12–1 p.m. in the Alexander Hall Conference Room. 

Robert Baah, professor of Spanish, had the second installment of his series on divine providence featured in Pentecost Fire USA (2019 Edition, page 16–20). The article considers the church’s view of providence in the Middle Ages and the Reformation, with particular reference to Anselm, Aquinas, and Calvin.

In February, Brian Bantum, associate professor of theology and cultural studies, gave the Wiley Lectures at Point Loma Nazarene University in San Diego. His lectures were titled  “Who Will We Be? Doing Theology as Though Our Bodies Mattered.” He was also in Charlotte, North Carolina, lecturing and preaching for Myers Park Baptist Church’s “Awakening Series,” a year-long series of lectures focused on the question of embodiment.

Staff Council delivered donuts and a card on behalf of the SPU community to thank Facilities and Project Management staff members for their hard work during February “snowpocalypse” snow closure. Read more here!

The Office of Human Resources would like to welcome Saintalia Brutus, a new custodian II dayporter in Facility and Project Management.