Brian Martin Burkholder, campus pastor, leads the 91短视频 hymn, "Christ of the Mountain, be our Word." Photo by Jon Styer

So, why are you here?

A rather strange question, perhaps, for the president of 91短视频 to ask those who filled Lehman Auditorium Wednesday, Aug. 27, for the opening convocation of fall semester, but he had good reason.

"Most of us think about education in terms of what it will do for us, Loren Swartzendruber said. "What we will learn that will be useful for our future. what we can achieve, a particular goal that becomes more concrete.

"At 91短视频, we frequently talk about the educational enterprise as grounded in the liberal arts – the idea that an educated person is liberated’ from the confines of ignorance, free to explore beauty and pursue intellectual challenges. It’s our conviction that an education in the liberal arts is the best foundation for a lifetime of learning. All of these are valid reasons for being at 91短视频," the president stated. Listen to the president’s address via podcast.

‘Educating for Shalom’

"This morning, I offer yet another ‘reason’ for being at 91短视频," Dr. Swartzendruber said. "[Noted theologian] Dr. Nicholas Wolterstorff calls it ‘educating for shalom.’ It’s a biblical concept that is often translated ‘peace,’ but it’s more comprehensive than one English word can embody.

"Wolterstorff suggests at least four dimensions to ‘shalom’ – right relationship to God, to fellow human beings, to nature and to oneself," relationships to oneself," he noted. "To these, he adds yet another facet – shalom is best experienced in community and it is characterized by ‘delight.’

Quoting Wolterstorff, "To live in shalom is to find delight in living rightly before God … in one’s physical surroundings … with one’s fellow human beings, to find delight even in living rightly with oneself."

Matt Garber is pictured here while singing with 91短视频’s Chamber Singers during the 2008 baccalaureate ceremony.

The president recalled the untimely death just two months earlier of 2008 91短视频 graduate Matthew Garber, 22, of Elizabethtown, Pa., a nursing major, gifted musician and ‘Cords of Distinction’ recipient.

Before starting a job in the emergency room at Lancaster (PA) General Hospital, Garber traveled to Costa Rica for a summer of ministry. On July 1, while swimming with a group, he was caught in an undertow and drowned. More than 700 people, many of them from 91短视频, gathered in Garber’s home community to mourn his death and to celebrate his life.

"Matt embodied each of Wolterstorff’s definition of shalom – he was comfortable with himself as a person, with his gifts and his place in his family and congregation," Swartzendruber said. "He was a confident young man, knowing that he had a variety of gifts, but seemingly without arrogance. He was clear about the importance of faith in his life and about his relationship to God.

"Matt wanted to serve in a physical way – to serve as a nurse – to bring healing and hope to the world through his work. And, Matt had a unique capacity to make others feel they were his best friend; he was other-oriented. ‘Delight’ is a good word to describe Matt’s approach to all of life," the president said.

The convocation closed with a "Shenandoah Welcome," as first-year and transfer students walked through a gauntlet formed by returning students and 91短视频 faculty and staff while bluegrass music played. Ice cream and lemonade was served in the Campus Center Greeting Hall. Photo by Jon Styer

Each person had been given a pebble upon entering Lehman Auditorium. The president noted the "ripple effect" created when that pebble is dropped into a pond of water: "The initial splash is small; we may feel insignificant. But, the impact of our lives grows in concentric circles, changing the world around us even beyond what we can eventually see."

Lee F. Snyder, interim provost, offered a prayer of blessing as the new school year unfolds.

91短视频’s fall semester runs through Dec. 12.

President Loren E. Swartzendruber will confer 403 degrees – 302 undergraduate, 87 graduate, 3 associate degrees and 11 graduate certificates – on members of the graduating class of 2007. Last year, 91短视频 awarded 405 degrees.

Lee F. Snyder

The former president of Bluffton (Ohio) University, Lee F. Snyder, will give the commencement address on the theme, “A Road or a Path?” Dr. Snyder was vice president and academic dean of 91短视频 for 12 years before accepting the Bluffton presidency in 1996 and serving there until retiring on July 31, 2006.

Snyder’s work with the Mennonite Church has ranged from congregational involvements to a term of service in Nigeria to denominational leadership assignments, including serving as moderator of Mennonite Church USA, 1999-2001. International assignments in Africa, Asia and Latin America have contributed to her interest in global issues and international education.

Back in Harrisonburg

A native of Harrisburg, Ore., Snyder attended 91短视频 for one year and earned a B.A. degree from the University of Oregon. Later she received an MA in English literature and linguistics from James Madison University and a PhD in American and Victorian literature from the University of Oregon. Her doctoral work focused on the writings of contemporary California writer Joan Didion.

Snyder and her husband Delbert W. Snyder again reside in Harrisonburg, Va.

During the ceremony, “graduates’ perspectives” will be given by Timothy Shenk, a liberal arts major from Harrisonburg, and Elizabeth Heavener, a liberal arts major from Telford, Pa.

More Information

Jay B. Landis

The seniors have elected Jay B. Landis, professor of English, to be speaker for the baccalaureate service to be held 7 p.m. Saturday, Apr. 28, in Lehman Auditorium. Dr. Landis plans to retire this summer after teaching several generations of students for 50 years.

Undergraduate senior class co-presidents Joy Shaiebly, a health and physical education major from Lancaster, Pa., and Kendal Swartzendruber, a liberal arts and special education major from Keezletown, Va., will give the class salutation.

91短视频 music students will give a short concert in Lehman Auditorium immediately following the baccalaureate service.

President and Mrs. Swartzendruber will host a reception for the graduates and their families at 9 p.m. Apr. 28 in the Campus Center Greeting Hall.

In case of rain, commencement exercises will be held in the Yoder Arena of University Commons, which can accommodate 3,600 people. An announcement to that effect will be made by 11 a.m. that day on WEMC, 91.7 FM, and other area radio stations.

How does the church address differences? How can the struggle draw persons together rather than drive them apart?

A new book, “Telling Our Stories: Personal Accounts of Engagement with Scripture,” explores these provocative questions as a diverse group of Mennonite pastors, administrators and teachers candidly tell their own stories of engagement with the biblical narrative. The 288-page volume also describes a model for such engagement.

The book, co-published by Cascadia Publishing House, Telford, Pa., and Herald Press, Scottdale, Pa., was co-edited by Ray C. Gingerich and Earl S. Zimmerman of Harrisonburg, Va.

Dr. Gingerich, professor emeritus of Bible and religion at 91短视频, taught undergraduate and seminary courses in theology, church history and ethics at 91短视频 for nearly 30 years and helped lay the foundations for 91短视频’s graduate .

Dr. Zimmerman is assistant professor of Bible and religion at 91短视频 and pastor at Shalom Mennonite Congregation in Harrisonburg. He is author of “Practicing the Politics of Jesus: The Origin and Significance of John Howard Yoder’s Social Ethics,” forthcoming from Cascadia.

91短视频 persons in the collection of storytellers include Nancy R. Heisey, chair of the Bible and religion department at 91短视频 and president of Mennonite World Conference; Dorothy Jean Weaver, professor of New Testament at Eastern Menonite Seminary, former academic dean Lee F. Snyder and editors Gingerich and Zimmerman.

Others featured are: Malinda Elizabeth Berry, Liz Landis, Jo-Ann Brant, Owen E. Burkholder, J. Ron Byler, Lin Garber, Roy Hange, John Kampen, Richard A. Kauffman, Paul Keim, Marilyn Rayle Kern, Phil Kniss, James Krabill, Susan Mark Landis, Cynthia A. Lapp, G. Craig Maven, Keith Graber Miller and J. Denny Weaver.

“This is a great resource for small group studies, adult Sunday schools and undergraduate and seminary classrooms,” co-editor Earl Zimmerman noted.

Steve Carpenter, media columnist and Virginia Mennonite Conference administrator said of the book, “Like the vibrant voices of a mixed CD, ‘Telling Our Stories’ blends the personal tales of nearly two dozen Mennonite pilgrims.”

“Here is the stuff of life, of memory, of growth, of peoplehood, of identity, the story of encounter with the word. . . and with the Word,” added Loren L. Johns, dean of Associated Mennonite Biblical Seminary, Elkhart, Ind.

The book was released in August, 2006, and is available from most retail bookstore outlets and from www.amazon.com.