Proposals from tenured faculty are selected by the Faculty Status Committee, comprised of chair Fred Kniss, provost; Deirdre Smeltzer, undergraduate dean; Michael King, dean of the School of Graduate and Professional Studies and of Eastern Mennonite Seminary; and five elected faculty members who have professor status.

, professor of philosophy, during fall 2016. Early will use his sabbatical to begin working on a book that will build upon claims originating with Dr. Nancey Murphy about the tension between 鈥渃onceptions of biology that highlight competition and a vision of human life guided by love and peace.鈥� Early cites deep interest and relevant reading in this subject over the past couple of years as the starting place for his writing.

, professor of teacher education, during spring 2017. Smeltzer Erb will focus on scholarship and professional development activities. She plans to engage in activities aimed at supporting the development of beginning teachers and subsequent production of a scholarly article, engagement with an innovative public middle school program, and extension of her personal knowledge of instructional technology.

, associate professor of economics, during spring 2017. Leaman will work on a book project, co-authored with two local business leaders. His book subject will be identifying and analyzing the process of designing and building a climate-neutral residential home. The process and book connects with Leaman’s deep personal convictions around sustainability, links to his classroom teaching, and will become a hands-on learning opportunity for students.

, professor of theology at Eastern Mennoite Seminary, during spring 2017. Thiessen Nation will do extensive research and write several essays as preparation for a future book. Essay topics may include Bonhoeffer鈥檚 pacifist/conscientious objection beliefs in the context of Nazi Germany/World War II; the way in which virtue formation was the project of the seminary in Finkenwalde; and engagement with Bohoeffer鈥檚 book, Ethics, which will likely include a discussion of his notion of 鈥渢wo kingdoms.鈥� He plans to visit several Bonhoeffer-related sites in Germany.

, professor of history, during spring 2017. Sawin will work on researching, editing and reissuing books by 19th century authors through a self-run publishing company, Emu Editions.听 Sawin will develop Emu Editions more fully: constructing its web page, developing a marketing program, and setting up a formal editorial board of other 19th-century literary scholars. The project will enable Sawin to provide 91短视频 students the opportunity to work on real publishing projects.

, associate professor of English, during both fall and spring semesters. White plans to outline and write at least three chapters of a book on the experience of Quakers in the Seven Years鈥� War and their subsequent embrace of pacifism. Out of this initial work, he anticipates giving at least one conference presentation, incorporating his learnings into the courses he teaches at 91短视频, and contemplating connections between the Anabaptist and Quaker peace traditions. White believes this area of research aligns well with the 91短视频 mission.

鈥淒ietrich Bonhoeffer: Life, Theology and Witness鈥� will explore the extraordinary witness of Bonhoeffer in the midst of Nazi Germany. , PhD, who will teach the course, has spent many years researching Bonhoeffer and the impact of his writings on the Christian church.

鈥淧sychology of Religious Experience鈥� will be taught by , PhD, professor of pastoral care and counseling. This course will examine spiritual and religious realities from a psychological perspective. Topics to be considered include spiritual and religious experiences in childhood and adulthood, death, conversion, mysticism, and prayer, as well as the social and political dimensions of faith experience.

鈥淩ace and Religion in American鈥� will explore how nation, race and religion form identity. , PhD, assistant professor of history and mission, will help participants discover ways that racial, religious, and national histories haunt our lives, churches, and communities in the present.

EMS keeps its online courses small, usually capping registration at 12 students, to allow for maximum course interaction between students and faculty. Courses are set up in weekly units, allowing students the flexibility to do course work on their own schedules. Participation audit is an option for online courses that are not at capacity.

The seminary is offering four online courses each semester this year. To learn more about our online courses or to register visit:听

At a March 27, 2014, forum in Martin Chapel, two professors of religion at 91短视频 debated approaches to interfaith engagement that lie somewhere in the middle. Amir Akrami, a visiting Muslim scholar from Iran, argued for 鈥減luralism鈥� as the best approach, while , professor of at Eastern Mennonite Seminary, promoted what he calls 鈥減articularism.鈥�

The forum was led by CIE director .

Every person adheres to a 鈥減articular鈥� belief system and wants others to join him or her in those beliefs, said Nation. At the same time, that doesn鈥檛 mean exposure to other beliefs has no value, he added. 鈥淚 can believe that someone of another faith is profoundly wrong but still learn from them,鈥� he said.

Nation, who did not grow up Christian, expressed concern that many Christians in general 鈥� and Mennonites in particular 鈥� are too willing to allow specific, 鈥渢extured鈥� Christian beliefs to be displaced by more vague, pluralistic ways of thinking.

He was drawn to the Mennonite faith through theologian John Howard Yoder鈥檚 seminal work, The Politics of Jesus, and he is particularly concerned that Mennonites not water down their stance on peace. 鈥淢any young people especially don鈥檛 want any clear convictions and are gravitating towards pluralism,鈥� he said.

Pluralism, though, is exactly what Akrami wants to see. Too many people think their religion is superior to all others and that they have nothing to learn from other faiths, he said. 鈥淲e must hold our particular beliefs but acknowledge that others hold particular beliefs as well,鈥� he added.

To Akrami, pluralism means people must accept that other religions contain truth. 鈥淧luralism is not a new religion or an attempt to reduce our religions to the least common denominator,鈥� he said. 鈥淧luralism is not wishy-washy relativism.鈥�

Akrami, who has been involved in many interfaith dialogues over the years, argued that religious interaction often leads to pluralism. 鈥淚 have learned that I do not possess the whole truth,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 want to be enriched by the truth in other religions while at the same time we challenge each other.鈥�

A visiting scholar at 91短视频 from 2012 through August 2014, Akrami has taught several courses on Islam. This semester he is co-teaching a class on comparative monotheisms with a visiting Jewish scholar and a Mennonite professor.

In Iran, Akrami was a researcher and lecturer at the Iranian Institute of Philosophy. Before that he was a visiting research fellow at the Centre for Islamic Studies and Christian-Muslim Relations at the University of Birmingham in England. He earned a doctorate in the philosophy of religion at McGill University in Montreal, Canada.

Nation has taught at for 11 years. Before joining the faculty, he was founding director of an ecumenical peace and justice organization, pastor in several denominations and director of London Mennonite Centre in England. His doctorate is in theological ethics from Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena, Calif.

CIE, founded in 2009 and funded by grants and private donations, promotes interaction between people of different faiths, especially the three world religions that worship one God and claim Abraham as one of their forebearers 鈥� Judaism, Christianity and Islam.

Ron Copeland, the restaurant鈥檚 owner, drew inspiration for the soup kitchen from a number of different sources, including his Christian upbringing and political views shaped by his 鈥渞abid Democrat,鈥� FDR-idolizing mother. The model for the meals themselves was borrowed from the countercultural Rainbow Gatherings movement, in which people calling themselves the Rainbow Family would meet in national forests across the country to collectively not participate in Babylon, as they called the mainstream. During these gatherings, the Rainbow Family shared open-to-all meals cooked in communal kitchens (a 鈥渕agic hat鈥� was sometimes passed to fund supply runs to Babylon).

鈥淭hese meals reminded me more of what I thought meals in the Kingdom of God would be like than anything I had seen in any church,鈥� remembers Copeland, who founded the soup kitchen at The Little Grill as a way to create a welcoming community in a poor part of town.

Some years went by, and Copeland began thinking about turning the weekly equal-opportunity meal into something that more people could enjoy more often. A group was convened to discuss possibilities. Thought was given to the matter. Opportunities were explored. And in 1999 Our Community Place (OCP) was incorporated as a nonprofit to formally pursue a vision of Copeland and others to apply the ideas behind the Free for All Soup Kitchen in a bigger way, to raise up true community in a neighborhood where many lives were disrupted by the chaos of poverty, addiction or violence.

In 2001, OCP bought a decaying building on Main Street, just down the block from The Little Grill, and launched what became an eight-year (!) campaign to convert the badly neglected space into a healthy and whole community center. Around this same time, Copeland was beginning a new chapter in his own life. Having years before made a clean break with Christianity after growing up in the Pentecostal church, Copeland 鈥渞eturned to faith鈥� in 1997, and, in the early days of the OCP building rehabilitation, decided to go to seminary.

Life takes unexpected turns; when he bought The Little Grill (also in 1992), Copeland held only a vague notion of 91短视频 as some entity up in Park View. Yet here he was, a decade later, selling his restaurant 鈥� to a group of worker-owners under a cooperative model Copeland and a group of employees designed together 鈥� and enrolling at Eastern Mennonite Seminary. There, Copeland began as something of a provocateur. Though he was back on the faith wagon, he mostly regarded church as a too-comfortable social club, and thought a true expression of Christianity meant working with the poor 鈥� opinions he was not hesitant to share with his classmates.

Copeland, who graduated in 2006 credits one of his theology professors, Mark Thiessen Nation, for softening some of the sharp edges he brought to seminary.

鈥淢ark taught me that church isn鈥檛 just about the poor,鈥� says Copeland, who came to understand church as a broader range of things: worship, love between believers, etc. He also decided that his work needed to be Christ-centered if it was to thrive, and in 2008, OCP decided to identify itself as an explicitly Christian organization.

Today, OCP is open for several hours around three noon meals per week. It hosts a weekly work session on Tuesday mornings 颅鈥� several hours of property maintenance and upkeep 鈥� and on Thursday evenings, sponsors some sort of evening program: movies, game night, speakers, music. (These hours are now considerably reduced from what they were originally 鈥� a new approach taken after a burnt-out Copeland suffered a near-nervous breakdown and began a recovery from workaholism in 2011.)

鈥淥CP is a community center where everyone in the world is welcome,鈥� says Copeland, its program director. 鈥淲e鈥檙e trying to do something that鈥檚 a little bit rare, which is to have a community where people really are respected, and then asked to step up and participate in the creation of that community without being patronized, without having an 鈥榰s and them鈥� mentality.鈥�

In keeping with the founding spirit of the soup kitchen, everyone in the OCP community is afforded equal dignity, respect and responsibility in group decision-making, regardless of whatever status they may be assigned in Babylon. It鈥檚 hard, slow work at times. An inherent tension exists between the ideal of pure, egalitarian community and the reality that everyone falls short in some way, at some time. It requires mercy, patience and the willingness to 鈥渁ll make mistakes in front of each other,鈥� says Copeland, who tries to practice 鈥渞eckless forgiveness and extravagant love鈥� as he goes about the work of building community. (He is also an ordained pastor in the Virginia Mennonite Conference; his congregation, The Early Church, meets for worship in the OCP building.)

At seminary, Copeland鈥檚 horizons expanded and his ideas about the church 鈥� what it is and what it does 鈥� were broadened. He hopes he might return the favor, that the work of OCP might broaden the church鈥檚 understanding of mission and outreach, that it might inspire other efforts to reveal the Kingdom through more reckless displays of forgiveness and extravagant acts of love toward the most rejected, marginalized people in Harrisonburg.

鈥� Andrew Jenner 鈥�04

鈥淭he Summer Institute for Missional Questions fits our goal of bringing flexible high-quality ministry education close to congregations,鈥� said , director of EMS Lancaster.听 鈥淭hese instructors bring rich global and local perspectives to the landscape of contemporary Christian mission.鈥�

The 2013 summer institute kicks-off early with a course in April 鈥� May:

• 鈥淩omans: A Letter to the Church,鈥� taught by Myron S. Augsburger. The class meets weekly on Friday evenings, beginning April 5, concluding May 18. It includes two Saturday sessions.

Two courses are slated for May 鈥� June:

• 鈥淓ncountering Anabaptism in the Global South,鈥� taught by Conrad L. Kanagy. This is a hybrid course, combining online components and a weekend in the classroom, May 31-June 1.
• 鈥淗uman Sexuality in Theological Perspective,鈥� taught by Mark and Mary Thiessen Nation. This course meets on three weekends, May 10-11, May 24-25 and June 7-8.

Each of these courses is available for graduate academic credit or for audit. The final weekend of the 鈥淗uman Sexuality鈥� course will focus on theology and homosexuality.听 There will be separate non-credit registration for this weekend event.

For more information call 717-397-5190 or visit

Young Anabaptist scholars will gather at (EMS) April 13-14 to discuss this at a conference titled, “#Occupy Empire: Anabaptism in God’s mission.”

Brian Gumm and Aaron Kauffman, both in their final year at EMS, are organizing the conference.

“We hope to create some bridges between older and younger scholars, the church and the academy and those interested in evangelical witness and rigorous social engagement,” Kauffman said.

Emerging scholars featured

The conference will feature Isaac Villegas, Chris Haw, Nekeisha Alexis-Baker, and Janna Hunter-Bowman as primary presenters. Respondents will be 91短视频 (91短视频) faculty, including Peter Dula, chair of Bible and religion department; Mark Thiessen Nation, professor of theology at EMS; and Carl Stauffer, assistant professor at the Center for Justice and Peacebuilding at 91短视频.

Kauffman and Gumm wanted to play on and challenge the 鈥渙ccupy鈥� language made popular in the last year by protesters around the country.

“We wanted to reinterpret that word,” said Gumm. “We were thinking about it theologically as part of the incarnation. How can we faithfully inhabit the empire as Christians?鈥�

“We also wanted to turn it [occupy] on its head,” Kauffman added. “We are asking how God’s kingdom occupies us.”

Conference part of MDiv capstone project

Gumm and Kauffman planned this conference as part of their at EMS. Both are master of divinity students in the academic track. Gumm is a dual degree student with the at 91短视频.

“Planning this conference is part of our continued discernment about the ministerial vocation of education,” said Gumm. “We thought an academic conference like this could help us continue to tease out this call.”

The conference is sponsored by the Anabaptist Missional Project and the John Coffman Center at EMS. 听Online registration is available at . Registration will remain open until the conference is full. Cost of the conference is $15 for students and $25 for non-students.

Gumm and Kauffman received a grant from the Orie Miller Global Village Center at 91短视频 to support the conference.

Nation will challenge the long-held assumption that Dietrich Bonhoeffer, the German theologian and pastor, was arrested, imprisoned and executed because of his involvement in plots to assassinate Hitler. 听Instead, Nation will argue that it was Bonhoeffer鈥檚 costly discipleship鈥攚hich led a Nazi official to call him 鈥渁 pacifist and enemy of the state鈥濃�攖hat led to his arrest, imprisonment and execution.

Bonhoeffer is known for his popular books, The Cost of Discipleship and Life Together.听 He is less well-known for his early and active opposition to the Nazi persecution of the Jews, and the “new monasticism鈥� he introduced to the seminary he directed. He was also seen as so dangerous that he was banned from public speaking and publishing.

This presentation is a summary of a book Nation is writing with two EMS graduates, Anthony Siegrist and Daniel Umbel. 听Nation will present his summary of their research at the University Colloquium in Martin Chapel from 3:30-5. The book is scheduled for publication next year by Baker Academic Press. 听This book will be the first to make the argument that Bonhoeffer was not involved in any assassination attempts.听 But as importantly, it will attempt to re-claim the central legacy of Bonhoeffer, a call to discipleship.

“If we are successful in our argument,” said Nation, “It will require a complete reexamination of the Bonhoeffer legacy.”

University colloquiums are free and open to the public.

“This is a book about killing.” That’s the opening descriptive line in Eastern Mennonite Seminary grad Rob Arner’s new book.

Arner, of Holland, a village in Bucks County, Pa., is a 2007 master of arts in religion graduate of the seminary. His recently- published Consistently Pro-Life: The Ethics of Bloodshed in Ancient Christianity is an extension of his master of arts in religion thesis at EMS.

The book was chosen for publication by Pickwick Publications, a division of Wipf and Stock.

Arner, who grew up United Methodist, came to EMS hoping to better understand pacifism.

Pacifism attracts author to EMS

“I chose EMS because I wanted to explore the peace church trajectory as a faithful calling of Christian discipleship,” said Arner.

“During ‘Christian Tradition’ class my first semester, I heard about the Constantinian shift,” he said.

“I learned that one of many changes during this time was that the ancient Christian church changed from being pacifist and opposed to war to embracing violence. This intrigued me, and I began reading the works of the ancient Christian church find out more,” Arner continued.

“A theory began to suggest itself to me- no matter which century in the early church, or which part of the empire, every early Christian author that I encountered denounced human bloodshed in a variety of contexts – from abortion, to killing in war, and everything in between, espousing and living a consistently pro-life ethic.

Book challenges both liberals and conservatives

“In this book I want to challenge both liberal and conservative readers on their assumptions about the taking of human life,” Arner stated. “The gospel of Jesus is neither liberal nor conservative, and I make the case in this book that the Christians of the first three centuries consistently maintained that ALL killing is incompatible with the teaching and example of Jesus.”

In a review of the book Mark Thiessen Nation, professor of theology at EMS, said, “No one has reminded us as clearly as Arner, in this compelling and wonderfully written book, that if we are to be true to the substance of the teachings of the Ancient Church, true to the Spirit by which it was animated, then we must recover their commitment to a Consistently Pro-Life theological ethic.”

Arner is currently working on his PhD at Lutheran Theological Seminary in Philadelphia. He is also an adjunct instructor at Chestnut Hill College and Eastern Mennonite Seminary’s Lancaster campus.

Arner’s 152 page book is available through Wipf and Stock online at for $13.60.

Eastern Mennonite Seminary is a graduate school of theological education on the campus of 91短视频, Harrisonburg, Va., offering three-, two- and one-year programs of study.

Mark Thiessen Nation

The book is available in the university bookstore and will be for sale at the close of the program.

Ted Grimsrud and Mark Thiessen Nation, 91短视频 and EMS theologians and professors, respectively, have taken on an issue that continues to vex and divide the Christian church – homosexuality.

They will draw from their book, Reasoning Together: A Conversation on Homosexuality (Herald Press, November, 2008) in discussing and debating all sides of the issue in an open forum 7 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 19, in Strite Conference Room 105 on first floor of 91短视频’s Campus Center. See campus map.

Dr. Grimsrud and Dr. Thiessen Nation “will engage in respectful yet passionate give-and-take over the differences between them as well as areas of agreement and consensus and field audience questions,” said Brian Martin Burkholder, 91短视频 campus pastor.

“This event, part of a year-long campus emphasis on ‘Embodying Sexual Wholeness in a Broken World,’ is designed for people who want to hear more than one angle on this challenging issue,” Martin Burkholder stated.

Grimsrud’s and Thiessen’s book is available in the university bookstore and will be for sale at the close of the program. The authors will be available for book signings.

The event is sponsored by 91短视频 campus ministries. For more information, contact Martin Burkholder at 540-432-4115.

Eastern Mennonite Seminary is offering evening and weekend courses on these topics this spring.

• Wendy J. Miller, assistant professor of spiritual formation, will teach “Spiritual Formation in Congregational Discernment” 6:30-9:10 p.m. Tuesdays, Jan. 9-Apr. 24.

• Brenda Martin Hurst, assistant professor of practical theology, will teach “Contemporary Theology: Women

  ]]> /now/news/2004/believers-church-conference-explores-politics-and-pacifism/ Thu, 30 Sep 2004 04:00:00 +0000 http://www.emu.edu/blog/news/?p=725
  “This world of 6.2 billion people is a different place than it was a generation or two ago. We in the Western hemisphere need to adjust our lenses to see it in new ways.”
  -Rev. Dr. Robert Edgar, general secretary, National Council of Churches
  Photo by Jim Bishop

  If 16th century Anabaptist leader Michael Sattler were alive today, would he vote in the upcoming presidential election?

  Responding to this question from the audience, speaker Gerald Biesecker-Mast replied, “Likely no, but not out of apathy … Sattler probably would abstain, but would be alarmed at the notion that doing so was an act of indifference, supporting the status quo.”

  Biesecker-Mast, professor of communication at Bluffton (OH) University, was giving a paper outlining the “righteousness and mercy” motif as practiced by early Anabaptist Christians, noting the group’s determination to combine “peace with justice in the social order” and that “scripture, not the hangman,” should be the final appeal in matters of civil authority versus freedom of worship and practice.

  The question of whether Christian faith promotes involvement in politics or whether that same faith directs Christians to values beyond the political realm came to the fore repeatedly at the 15th Believers Church Conference, Sept. 23-25. Some 230 persons were registered.

  The gathering was co-hosted by 91短视频 and Bridgewater College, with sessions divided between the two campuses. Using a format that combined scholarly addresses, panel presentations, audience questions and worship, the conference focused on the meaning of citizenship in the United States from a Believers Church point of view, asking what it means to be citizens of the world’s lone superpower and members of the body of Christ.

  The Question of Voting

  John D. Roth, “Mennonite Quarterly Review” editor and Goshen (IN) College history professor, said that as a pacifist he will not vote for president because the office includes the designation of Commander-in-Chief. In political elections generally, Roth said, “The differences, from an Anabaptist perspective, are illusory … The ballot box is not supposed to hold our personal dreams.”

  Like several conference attendees, Roth decried political polarization. However, he said, “Abstaining from voting doesn’t make you less culpable for rulers’ decisions, but more.”

  Roth spoke as part of a panel that sparked lively discussion from the floor.

  Was it better to support “the lesser of two evils?” Panelist Lloyd Harsch, a New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary professor who volunteers in Republican campaigns, said yes, noting “Jesus isn’t running.”

  
  International perspectives were brought to bear on the Believers Church Conference by (l. to r.): Ontonas Balciunas, president, Lithuania Christian Fund; Mwizenge S. Tembo, native of Kenya and associate professor of sociology, Bridgewater College; Wu Wei, senior pastor, Chon Wenmen Church, Beijing, China; and David Radcliff, New Community Project, Elgin, Ill. At extreme left is Nancy Heisey, professor of biblical studies and church history at 91短视频 and moderator of Mennonite World Conference.
  Photo by Jim Bishop

  Some participants said international friends made them feel responsible for voting when they said, “I don’t have a voice, but you have to have a voice” in influencing U.S. actions.

  “What many people are calling for is a vote against what has been going on. It’s a cry of the soul. Maybe there’s nothing you can say yes to now, but you can say no,” said panelist Earl Martin. He and his wife, Pat Hostetter Martin – lifelong Mennonites and 25-year Mennonite Central Committee workers – said they grew up unfamiliar with politics, and, Pat said, “hardly aware of world problems.” That changed when they volunteered to help refugees in Vietnam, where their friends included a couple whose baby was killed when a U.S. Navy flare plunged through their roof.

  Although Earl Martin said he votes, the couple focus more on peace vigils, a community voluntary gas-tax project and refusal to pay a military telephone-bill surcharge.

  The Meaning of the term “Believers Church”

  
  Opening conference speaker Carol Scheppard, associate professor of philosophy and religion at Bridgewater College, talks between sessions with Heidi Miller Yoder, who teaches worship and spiritual formation courses at Eastern Mennonite Seminary. Miller helped plan and lead worship sessions at the gathering.
  Photo by Jim Bishop

  Conferees from varying traditions debated biblical pacifism. Church traditions usually associated with the Believers Church include Adventists, Baptists, Brethren, Disciples of Christ, Mennonites, Methodists, Pentecostals, Plymouth Brethren and Quakers, denominations that view membership in the church as a voluntary act of faith.

  However, Robert Lee said attending the conference reminded him of “how we use the term ‘Believers Church’ differently.” Lee, a Mennonite and international director of the Tokyo Mission Research Institute, explained that Anabaptists usually think the designation indicates pacifism, but others, including Baptists, do not.

  One of the more riveting presentations came from Robert Edgar, general secretary of the National Council of Churches. He captivated his audience as he spoke forcefully, yet in a non-judgemental manner, without notes, quoting leadership people from memory, employing self-effacing humor and underscoring “the urgency of now” in responding to “a world that is teetering between community and chaos.”

  “God is calling us to re-read the Old Testament,” Dr. Edgar said. “Note that the prophets always had the minority view but believed strongly that they were acting in the will of God.

  “Questioning our government and its leaders’ actions doesn’t mean that we don’t love our country,” he said. “But the world has changed so much in the last century. We live in a global village. God transcends national boundaries, and God calls us to be shapers, shakers and remakers of this fragile planet Earth.”

  War and God’s Will

  Mwizenge Tembo, associate professor of sociology at Bridgewater College, described Kenneth Kaunda, former president of Tembo’s home country, Zambia, as “a man of peace who reluctantly supported using force to overcome South Africa’s apartheid regime. Likewise, Abraham Lincoln reluctantly led in the Civil War’s fiery trial, said J. Michael Robertson, pastor of Warsaw (Va.) Baptist Church, who quoted correspondence between Lincoln and a Quaker friend.

  Can a President know it’s God’s will to have a war? a woman in the audience challenged Robertson. Their dialogue continued after the session, in which Robertson advised his audience to “always know what you don’t know.” Warning against claiming to know God’s will, he advised fellow-pastors, “When you go home, teach the separation of church and state.”

  Mark Thiessen Nation, an associate professor at Eastern Mennonite Seminary, spoke on the subject of his upcoming biography, noted Mennonite theologian John Howard Yoder. Living among French Mennonites following the devastation of World War II, Yoder learned, and then taught, that true pacifism and Christianit
  y are extremely difficult. Decades later, Nation said, “I was shocked to read Mennonites saying ‘How can we be pacifists after September 11?’ What rock had people been living under?”

  “We have so much to appreciate in this country, religious freedom not least. However, many of our nation’s practices resemble all too closely the imperialism of the biblical empires,” said speaker Ted Grimsrud, professor of religion at 91短视频. “It is as if we have two Americas, America the pioneer democracy, and America the dominant empire.

  “Jesus presented a challenge to empire, and the empire struck back,” Grimsrud noted. “Those who attempt to follow the way of Jesus today must expect opposition from the state.”

  International Perspective

  Those attending the conference were largely from the U.S. with a few attendees from Canada and one from Holland. A three-member panel gave an international perspective to the discussions.

  Wu Wei, Pastor of Chong Wenmen Church in Beijing, said each Chinese church faces a difficult decision over whether to register with the government.

  Otonas Balciunas, president of the Lithuania Christian Fund, said his home community of Anabaptists endured terrible persecution under Soviet rule. In dealing with government, he said, their motto was “Do not fear, do not ask, do not trust. Rising individualism has become a newer challenge.”

  Tembo said Zambia’s new consumer culture has been accompanied by chaos. Chatting with neighbors on a recent visit there, Tembo heard a man praising Osama bin Laden for engineering the Sept. 11 attacks. Friends were surprised to hear Tembo reply, “I could have been on those planes. I live there. I saw the suffering.” Tembo saw the man’s remark as a mirror image of the attitudes of many Americans who are unaware of the effects the U.S. government and businesses have on people across the world.

  “Contrary to popular opinion, and we don’t want to say it too loudly, we are only as good and as precious as everyone else in this world in God’s eyes,” said speaker David Radcliff of the New Community Project in Elgin, Ill. Asked by a member of the audience whether Christians should seek persecution or hardship, Radcliff responded, “Those things come naturally if you live out the heart of your faith.”

  
  Carol Scheppard of Bridgewater College and Ted Grimsrud (r.) of 91短视频 respond to audience questions following their presentations on “Believers and Political Authority in the Bible.” Brian Martin Burkholder (l.), 91短视频 campus pastor, led opening worship and moderated the sessions.
  Photo by Jim Bishop

  In a closing worship service, J. Daryl Byler, director of the Mennonite Central Committee Washington Office, spoke of Jeremiah’s prophesy to the Israelites of a long, hard exile in Babylon. Notwithstanding easier circumstances, he said Christian pacifists in America face an exile in which pacifism becomes less tolerated.

  “We must find ways to both love and resist the empire,” Byler said, while noting that Jeremiah’s prophecy offered an eventual vision of hope.

  Connecting Scholarship with Congregational Life

  “I found the balance between the scholarly and the practical, the blend of ideas and experiences [at the conference] especially helpful,” said participant Edward B. Nyce, recently returned peace development worker with Mennonite Central Committee, Bethlehem, West Bank. “I appreciated the two-pronged call from speakers David Radcliff and J. Daryl Byler to examine our current lifestyles and to be prepared, by God’s grace, to follow Christ’s teachings over the long haul,” he added.

  Char Smith, who recently traveled to Hebron with a Christian Peacemaker Team, said the conference was helpful, though more academic than expected. “I needed more theoretical grounding,” said her husband, Michael, who chairs the Peace and Justice Committee of the Illinois Mennonite Conference.

  “It was gratifying to have Bridgewater College and Baptist, Brethren and Mennonite offices from Washington, D.C., involved in conversation at the planning stage of the conference,” said Nathan D. Yoder, associate professor of church history at Eastern Mennonite Seminary and chair of the program planning committee. “We were also intentional in wanting to connect the scholarship of the academy with the life of congregations. One way we did that was to weave worship into the conference proceedings.”

  Conference planners are working with Pandora Press Canada for a forthcoming book in the “Studies in the Believers Church Tradition” series that will continue the conversation of the conference.

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  Chris Edwards is a free-lance writer from Harrisonburg; Jim Bishop is public information officer at 91短视频.

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