Housing

Resident single students live in dormitories located in Palmer Hall. These accommodate about 44 students. Typically, two students occupy a room, although a few single rooms are available. The rooms are furnished, with students providing their own lamps, linens and personal decorative items or furnishings.

Thirty-one unfurnished apartments are available in Palmer Hall. These are either one, two or three-bedroom apartments, varying in size. Each apartment has its own kitchen and private bath.

Commuter housing is also available for commuter students, not to exceed four days per week, which consist of guest and dorm rooms. Commuter dorms are double occupancy with a shared bathroom and are furnished in the same manner as residential dorms. Commuter guest rooms are hotel-style rooms equipped with TV, mini-fridge, private bathroom, and linens and other necessities.

Housing costs are as follows:

Apartments range in cost from $565 per month (efficiency) to $925 per month (three-bedroom), with several options in between.

Dorm rooms range from $1,150 per semester (double dorm/shared bath) to $1,700 per semester (single dorm/private bath)

Commuter housing ranges from $40-$25.

Note: Contact the Department of Auxiliary Services for any housing questions. 

CAMPUS LIFE
The Director of Student Formation & Seminary Chaplain creates and coordinates co-curricular programs and activities that complement and enhance the academic components of ministry formation. These co-curricular vehicles help students cultivate alertness to the practical implications of their classroom learning; heighten students’ attentiveness to their own Christian faith journeys and spiritual development; and support students’ exploration of how they each distinctively fit into and affect an ethnically, culturally, politically, and theologically diverse world community. The Director/Chaplain, along with other faculty and practitioners in a variety of ministry fields, facilitates nourishing Christian worship, challenging workshops, lively discussions, and edifying fellowship.

WORSHIP
The Palmer Seminary community meets weekly for worship. Chapel services are a delightful and refreshing opportunity for us to celebrate the God of our salvation, savor our oneness in Christ, and seek the power and wisdom of the Holy Spirit as we journey together. Preaching that heals and motivates, manifesting a variety of Christian worship traditions and styles, is the centerpiece of most Chapel services. We sing our Christian faith through a variety of musical expressions-- traditional, gospel, contemporary, international. Storytelling, liturgical dance and other creative forms give further expression to our reverence for the work and presence of God, and the life we have in Christ.
In addition to the Curtis Lee Laws Memorial Chapel building, there is a Prayer Room on the fourth floor of the main building. This room is open at all times, and community members are welcome to use it for prayer and quiet meditation.

THE UNITY INITIATIVE
The racial, ethnic, cultural, and international diversity that distinguishes the Palmer Seminary community is a blessed opportunity to exercise excellent stewardship. Diversity comes with challenges, and our stewardship challenge is to manage the difficulties while mining and enjoying the vast treasures hidden beneath layers of prejudice, ignorance, and fear. The purposes of the Unity Initiative are: to enable us to be more conscious of the perceptions and preconceptions we bring into different relational contexts; to make us more aware of and vulnerable to others; to foster friendships and collegial partnerships across markers of diversity; and to develop relational skills and habits of heart that will be transferable out into the Church and world beyond the Seminary community. We believe all of this is essential if we are to fulfill the reconciling work of Jesus Christ. Therefore, the Unity Initiative encompasses all the means by which we intentionally and regularly create opportunities to be in dialogue and fellowship with one another in ways that transgress boundaries of bias: prayer times and worship, film viewings with discussions, panel discussions on topics of interest; casual fellowship that sparks and deepens friendships; workshops and lectures.

FELLOWSHIP
In addition to Chapel, the entire Palmer Seminary Community enjoys gathering for mutual edification and for fun on other occasions. These include a Day of Prayer observed each semester; all-campus Pot-Luck Luncheons in the fall and in the spring; a Carol Sing at Christmas time; soccer games, barbecues, and other activities as community members express interest.

SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS
A wide range of small special interest groups operate under the guidance of the Office of Student Formation. These groups convene for a variety of reasons: prayer, mutual support, outreach, Bible study, spiritual direction, issues advocacy, denominational identity, and more. For brief descriptions click here.