Every year, Seattle Pacific University begins the academic year with a Communion service adapted from John Wesley’s “Directions for Renewing Our Covenant With God.”
“Members of the SPU Community, embark with Christ. Adventure yourselves with God,” the liturgy begins.
With these words of covenant, we create a foundation in prayer for the relationships, service, and learning that are the hallmarks of a Seattle Pacific education, the foundation for engaging the culture and changing the world. These images capture a few opening moments of this year, as new students embarked on their own SPU journeys.
Photos by Luke Rutan
In Tiffany Loop, University Ministries staff led the community in a service of blessing and rededication for the SPU campus, including a time of prayer for all those affected by the shooting on June 5, 2014. A few weeks earlier, faculty and staff who regularly teach and work in Otto Miller Hall participated in a blessing and rededication of that space, concluding in the building’s lobby with the singing of “Great Is Thy Faithfulness.”
Before classes began, SPU faculty, staff, and student leaders gathered for Opening Communion. The service of hymns and songs, Scripture reading, reflection, prayers, and Communion, was held in First Free Methodist Church and was followed by the annual State of the University Address by SPU President Dan Martin.
On September 25, new students said goodbye to families and moved into residence halls. An enthusiastic team of Orientation student leaders helped newcomers check in, navigate campus, and get to Orientation events on time. They even helped haul boxes from family cars to new students’ rooms.
At the new building, Arnett Hall, the ribbon-cutting was carried out by (left to right) Dan Absher, president and CEO of Absher Construction; SPU President Daniel J. Martin; SPU Board of Trustees member Becky Arnett Gilliam ’80; student Felicia Perez, 2014–15 Arnett Hall president; and Vice President of Student Life Jeff Jordan.
Hosted by the Office of Alumni and Parent Relations, dozens of multigenerational SPU families gathered in the Walls Advancement Center for sub sandwiches, swapping stories, and encouraging their offspring at the start of their first year at the University. Left: From Ann Arbor, Michigan, freshman Annesley Moore- Jumonville and her father Robert Moore-Jumonville ’80. Right: Alumni Director Bryan Jones ’99 greets Alumni Legacy parents and their new students.
CityQuest sends students out to Seattle-area nonprofits for a day of service.
An evening of fun acquaints them with annual residence hall traditions.
At New Student Convocation, students and their parents assembled in Royal Brougham Pavilion and watched professors in academic regalia enter to the sound of bagpipes. After an address by Provost Jeff Van Duzer, students were invited to gather in the center and were encircled by faculty, who prayed for the students and their academic year ahead.
Two days before orientation starts for all first-year students, first-generation students and others from diverse backgrounds meet for Early Connections. They are given the resources and connections to help them succeed, and the program offers ongoing support throughout the year.
