Dr. MaryKate Morse is the executive dean of the Portland Seminary and lead mentor for the Leadership and Spiritual Formation Doctor of Ministry track. She leads the seminary and serves on the Executive Academic Leadership of the university.

Dr. Morse began her ministry living in the Andes Mountains of Bolivia and Peru, then studied at Western Evangelical Seminary, where she received a Masters in Biblical Studies and a Masters in Divinity. She went on to become certified as a spiritual director, was recorded as a pastor with the Evangelical Friends, and completed her doctorate at Gonzaga University. MaryKate has taught at the seminary for nearly 30 years in the fields of New Testament Greek, various spiritual formation courses, and leadership and organizational change courses. She has also authored three books, centering on the topics of leadership and prayer, as well as various other chapters and writing projects.

In our time together, MaryKate was able to put words to the mystery of beauty in a way I haven’t experienced before. She describes how beauty opens us up to God in unique and powerful ways. She also talks about her experience as a spiritual director, the process of spiritual formation, why she believes more people are being called to the ministry of spiritual direction these days, and how beauty literally saved her life when she was sixteen. So, please sit back, and allow MaryKate’s words and stories to minister to your heart and mind. May you be opened anew to the power of beauty and may we allow Beauty to do its work in us.