Kara Markell

The Rev. Dr. Kara Markell is the Assistant Director of the Seattle University Center for Ecumenical and Interreligious Engagement. She has also worked as a pastor at United Christian Church in Renton, WA, and Lake Washington Christian Church in Kirkland, WA, among others.  She was trained as a congregational assessor with Hope Partnership for Missional Transformation. For many years, she served as a pastoral mentor for seminarians and early clergy with Disciples Seminary Foundation and the Northern Lights Regional Christian Church. She works regularly as a consultant and coach for congregations in the adaptive process.

Her most recent publications include contributions to the Journal of Religious Leadership (“Rewilding Religious Leadership: Engaging the ‘Big Book of Revelation’ for the Future”) and to Christ and Cascadia (“The Church Is an Organism: Redefining the Body of Christ as a Living System”). She is co-editor and authored a chapter of CEIE’s forthcoming volume with Georgetown University Press: Discerning Leadership: Responsibility and Transformation (2027).  Markell teaches adaptive leadership in CEIE’s Discerning Leadership Certificate program.

Markell obtained her Doctor of Ministry from the Seattle University School of Theology and Ministry in 2019 and her Master of Divinity from Brite Divinity School. She also has a Master of Music degree from the University of Missouri and has served as a Music Minister in many diverse congregations.