Stutzman taught at Eastern Mennonite Seminary (EMS) as associate professor of church ministries starting in 1998, and served as academic dean of the seminary from July 2000 to December 2009. He then led Mennonite Church USA (MC USA) as executive director from 2010 until his retirement in 2018. 

He was known by many as a master woodworker, skilled handyman, prolific author, disciplined goal-setter and writer of life-purpose statements, problem solver and mentor, teacher and preacher, and loving husband, father, and grandfather. He is also remembered for his seemingly limitless reserve of energy, his deep commitment to Christ and the church, and the close relationships he formed with those he worked with and served. 

Stutzman died on June 3, 2025, at age 72 from complications following a five-year battle with cancer. A memorial service was held on June 8 at Park View Mennonite Church in Harrisonburg, where he was an active member. View a recording of the service, along with the full obituary, on the church’s website here:

“Ervin was deeply committed to the church and to preparing seminary students to serve and lead in pastoral and other roles,” said Dr. Loren Swartzendruber, president of 91����Ƶ from 2003 to 2016. “He was a gifted administrator who contributed wisdom and energy to the entire university while serving as dean of the seminary. He was also a much-loved professor and mentor to many students.”

Professor Emeritus Lonnie Yoder, who was on the seminary faculty from 1991 to 2021, described Stutzman as a caring administrator and “very supportive dean.” “He was incredibly committed to his role and to the relationships he had with faculty and students,” Yoder said. “He was very purpose-driven. He believed we should all develop life-purpose statements and encouraged all of us to work on them.”

Stutzman himself had written a life-purpose statement that he often referenced, Yoder said. According to an by MC USA, part of Stutzman’s statement read: “In response to God’s love expressed in Jesus Christ, by the power of the Holy Spirit, I purpose to follow after God with all my heart … so that God may be glorified in my life at all times and in every way.”

“He was one of the most highly disciplined people I think I’ve ever met,” Yoder said. “I was always amazed at his capacity to do everything that he did.”

Among Stutzman’s contributions to EMS was a $2 million grant from Lilly Endowment Inc. to develop the LEAP (Learning, Experiencing, And Participating) Program. The initiative, which began in 2003, aimed to help high school students hone their leadership skills, explore Christ-centered theological studies and pastoral ministry, and engage in intercultural learning experiences (with travels to countries including Zimbabwe, Jamaica, and Colombia).

“The key was that Ervin, and it was a stroke of genius by him, wanted the program to be characterized by diversity,” Yoder said. “It allowed high school-age youth to get outside their comfort zone and engage with other talented and committed youth. In that sense, I think Ervin was ahead of his time.”

Stutzman was born on April 27, 1953, in an Amish home in Kalona, Iowa, to Emma and Tobias Stutzman. He grew up in Hutchinson, Kansas, where his family moved after his father’s death when Stutzman and his twin, Erma, were just three years old. He was the only one in his family to graduate from high school.

Stutzman received his PhD in rhetoric and communication from Temple University (1993), MA degrees in religion from EMS (1999) and communications from the University of Cincinnati (1979), and a BA in Christian ministries from Cincinnati Bible College (1978).

He wrote several historical novelizations of true Amish stories, including those of his parents’ lives, Emma: A Widow Among the Amish and Tobias of the Amish, and Return to Northkill, a three-book series on the life of his ancestor, Jacob Hochstedler. He also wrote several other books about Mennonite history, life, and thought.

Professor Emeritus Dorothy Jean Weaver, who joined the seminary faculty in 1984 and retired in 2018, noted Stutzman’s productive nature. “The fact that, in the midst of everything else he was doing, he wrote all those books, shows some real commitment and focus,” she said. 

Weaver co-led a 2007 study tour to the Holy Land that Stutzman and his wife, Bonnie, joined and recalled that the couple were part of a small group that climbed the steep slopes of Mount Tabor on foot. “I was always a little worried that Ervin would assume the rest of us had the same level of energy he had,” she said.��

Another vivid memory Weaver has of the former EMS dean is of the beautifully handmade wooden crafts that Ervin and Bonnie gifted seminary faculty and staff each Christmas. One of those gifts, a domed wooden paperweight inscribed with the EMS motif and initialed “ERS ’06,” remains on some office desks in the Seminary Building today nearly 19 years after being given. 

“I think of him being well-placed in this seminary because he was naturally gifted as a strong administrator and he cared ever so deeply about the church,” Weaver said. “He was the right person at the right place.” 

At EMS, Stutzman succeeded George Brunk III ’61, SEM ’64 as dean. He was followed by Dr. Michael King ’76, who became dean in July 2010 after a six-month interim term by Sara Wenger Shenk. Before becoming dean, King, as owner of Cascadia Publishing House, had worked with Stutzman to prepare his book, Tobias of the Amish, for publication. “In that sense, I had a lot of opportunity to get to know him,” King said.

“He was a very hard worker,” King said. “He was passionate about fulfilling his assignments as a leader.”

One of the most challenging roles of the dean’s job is to maintain accreditation with the Association of Theological Schools (EMS has been an accredited member since 1986), as well as the support of the United Methodist Church for training its Methodist students. Both of those accreditations were key to maintaining a student body in numbers high enough for EMS to remain successful and viable.

“During my tenure, I worked closely on both accreditations, always building on the work Ervin had done,” said King, dean of EMS from 2010 to 2017. “I always knew I owed a tremendous debt to the very careful work Ervin had done in setting the stage in prior accreditations.”

While dean, King was an advisory council member of the seminary’s Preaching Institute, a program Stutzman established and chaired that provides pastors and lay leaders with an opportunity to develop their preaching skills. “That was an excellent experience,” King said. “I believe it may be on hiatus at this point, but it was a very valuable program in its day.”

Ervin married Bonita “Bonnie” Lee Haldeman MA ’05 (church leadership) of Manheim, Pennsylvania, in 1974. Together, they served as volunteers for Rosedale Mennonite Missions in Cincinnati for five years.

In 1982, at age 29, Ervin moved with his young family to Lancaster, Pennsylvania, and became associate pastor of Mount Joy Mennonite Church, while also serving as the associate director for Home Ministries at Eastern Mennonite Missions. Just 18 months later, he began a half-time role as district overseer for Lancaster Mennonite Conference, and from 1991 to 2000, he served as their conference moderator.

“As I recall, he once joked that he lived his adult life in decades,” Yoder said. “He was involved in Lancaster Mennonite Conference for a decade, and then EMS for a decade, and then MC USA for a decade, approximately.”

Bonnie, who supported Ervin as his wife for 51 years, described him as “everyone’s dream of a husband—he would do whatever needed to get done.” At their home just a handful of blocks from campus, Ervin built all the cabinets, countertops, bookshelves, and furniture. She said he spent six months creating a 290-page, leather-bound book of journal entries, photos, and reflections as a gift for their 50th anniversary. “He was always teaching himself new skills,” she said.

“He was a visionary,” she said, “a big-picture person.”

In their retirement, Ervin and Bonnie biked thousands of miles on their e-bikes and traveled the country in their RV. Before he died, he wrote a yet-unpublished memoir.

“He was nourished by being outdoors, eating good food, regular church attendance, a spiritual life of prayer and contemplation, and keeping peace with fellow people,” Bonnie said. “He was a man of integrity.”

Ervin was preceded in death by his son Daniel Tobias Stutzman. His beloved spouse Bonita survives, as do two children: Emma Ruth (Stutzman) Dawson (Iowa City, Iowa), along with her sons Felix Tobias Dawson and Caius Lysander Dawson, and Benjamin Lee Stutzman and his wife Andrea Joy (Kniss) Stutzman (Harrisonburg, VA), along with their children Eva René Stutzman and Evan Rafael Stutzman. His twin Erma Mae (Stutzman) Yoder (Ephrata, PA) is his only surviving sibling.

Portions of this article are from the on Ervin Stutzman. 

When Eastern Mennonite Seminary needed to raise funds for a new building in the late ’80s, students stepped up as they had in times of past need: with an auction. Perusing the items, Dean����III ’61, SEM ’64��was struck by the charm of a butter churn, hand-painted by��Harold G. Stoltzfus ’76. The lettering on the churn commemorated the��Oct. 13, 1989, auction and included the school motto , as well as a listing of all the previous deans, including Brunk.

“I certainly wanted to donate and this just caught my eye,” said Brunk, who pulled the churn from his office where it has sat ever since for a .

Brunk is the third generation to contribute — spiritually, financially, intellectually and academically — to the institution. Beginning in 1912, his grandfather bishop George R. Brunk I  provided the most articulate and persuasive arguments for why Mennonites in the eastern states needed to establish a conservative school. Historian Don Kraybill calls this man, “a self-educated, brilliant theologian,” one of the unsung heroes of the institution.

, Brunk’s father, was seminary dean from 1967-76, served more than 65 years in pastoral ministry and was active in churchwide crusades, writing and Bible conference work.

This academic year, 91����Ƶ celebrates , the embodiment of a vision of Mennonite leaders in Virginia, Maryland and Pennsylvania for an institution of higher learning for the training of the denomination’s youth. Though the seminary was formalized in 1965, Bible classes were a mainstay of the early institution’s curriculum.

Curriculum growth

As early as 1918, courses at the college level were offered in advanced biblical training. During the next ten years, there was an appreciable increase in college offerings.

By 1937, a four-year Bible program was instituted and within several years it was increased to five years. In the 1948-49 academic year, the Bachelor of Theology curriculum – a two-year post-graduate program – was added. The following years witnessed the continued growth of the program and its gradual development into a division distinct from the college.

In 1960, the curriculum was expanded to encompass three years of study and the Bachelor of Divinity degree was offered for the first time. The Master of Divinity degree was first offered in 1968-69 and the Master of Arts in Religion degree in 1972-73. A one-year program leading to a Certificate in Biblical Studies was first offered in 1974-75. The Master of Arts in Church Ministries emerged as part of a major seminary curriculum revision in 1983-84, and was changed to the Master of Arts in Church Leadership in 1991 [this program is now the MA in Christian Leadership]. A Clinical Pastoral Education Program was added in 1999.

Seminary buildings

The seminary’s first permanent home was the former industrial arts building, a brick structure built in 1941. The seminary moved into this facility in 1968. The following year, the building was completely renovated, and additional classroom and office space was added in 1971.

In 1986 a “Seminary Annex” provided additional classroom space. The following year, the “Seminary Commons” became available.

Fundraising for a new seminary building began in 1989.

When ground was broken in 1992, $3.27 million had been committed in cash, pledges and deferred gifts. Another $1.2 million remained to be raised, including $450,000 for an endowment fund. At a point when fundraising seemed stymied on a plateau short of the amount needed to finish the building seminary students jumped into the effort, launching a “mustard seed campaign” and asking individuals to pledge $1,500 each.

By the fall of 1993 when the seminary opened, all funds were in hand or committed, with the bulk coming from individual donors and their estates. 91����Ƶ $500,000 came from foundations. With a total contribution of $637,000, Richard E. Martin from the class of 1933 was the decisive donor.

He also donated a stained-glass window (pictured at right) for the chapel in honor of his wife, Edith.

The seminary’s Martin Chapel, with its adjacent fellowship hall financed by Levi and Lillis Troyer, is used on a daily basis for worship services, meetings, and special events.

Formalized in 1965

In 1965, Eastern Mennonite Seminary adopted its formal name and an acting dean was appointed. As mentioned above, George Brunk II was the first dean, from 1966-76. Richard Detweiler served as interim dean for 1976-77, at which time George Brunk III��became dean and served until 1999.��He was followed by Ervin Stutzman through 2009��and then Michael King through 2017. University provost Fred Kniss is currently interim dean.

Since the 1970s, Eastern Mennonite Seminary has offered credit for various pastoral training programs by extension in southeastern Pennsylvania. In 2008, the EMS extension located in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, was approved as a complete degree site.

Eastern Mennonite Seminary is a graduate division of 91����Ƶ. The seminary is an accredited member of the Association of Theological Schools since 1986. It is approved as an institution for the training of candidates for ordination in the United Methodist Church. Eligible students may receive educational benefits from the Veterans Administration.

Portions of this article were first published in Crossroads magazine.

—Michael King, seminary dean

Darin Busé, a United Methodist pastor, came to with a distinct plan: in his studies, he would “seek healing so that I could learn to heal healers.”

The pain and wounds he sought to heal are deep and old and shared by many who have seen war: Darin is a combat veteran who enlisted in the U.S. Army three weeks before his 19th birthday. He worked as a psychological operations specialist in several major combat operations, including Honduras, Panama and in Iraq during the First Gulf War.

“I have confronted evil face to face,” Darin said while in the fall of 2015. “I have smelled the pungent aroma of life being burned away. I have tasted the ultimate sacrifice that others have given to defend their country and their cause. In the midst of that, my innocence was shattered…my morality was destroyed and my spirit was devastated.”

Among his fellow seminarians and faculty, Darin has been frank about his life experiences and his relationship to and among violence. Eastern Mennonite Seminary, rooted in the traditionally pacifist Anabaptist faith, is open to all faiths.

Darin has learned and grown in his studies, his friendships and his reflections, enough that he can say the healing he came for is “well underway.”

Yet he still needed guidance for the second part: to heal the healers.

That discernment was blessed during a workshop during the January 2016 (SLT), when Pastor Paul Stutzman drew on the riches of his Church of the Brethren tradition to reflect on the Love Feast and footwashing rituals rooted in Jesus’ final supper with his disciples. To help participants understand some of the dynamics of the disciples, including Peter who first objected to having Jesus wash his feet, Paul asked participants to experience having their feet washed by persons in leadership roles.

Darin reflects: That morning I wanted to respond as Peter did in John 13:1-17, “No, you shall never wash my feet.” I’m not sure why I was at first so reluctant. Perhaps it was the fear of being vulnerable. Perhaps it was an acutely ingrained sense of authority and hierarchy: my station demanded that I be the one who served rather than being served. Or perhaps I was beginning to grasp that my time at seminary was coming to an end and the work of being a transformational leader was approaching. In any case, Christ was there and his presence was undeniable.

The leader who knelt at Darin’s feet was the dean of the seminary, Michael King, who knew Darin’s story well.

“Unbidden came an image of washing off the sand of Iraq,” he remembers. “I shared this with Darin while completing the washing.”

It was a moving moment for both men.

Eventually, the seminary dean reached out to the combat veteran to share his feelings.

Can we share this moment of transformation with others? Michael asked via email.

Humbled by the invitation, Darin replied, Yes. He shared more:

That evening, after I returned home from SLT, I confided in my wife and was moved to inconsolable tears at the profound presence of God in that moment. My spiritual walk thus far has taken me through many swamps and deserts, both literal and figurative. Over the years my feet had accumulated an immeasurable amount of road dust. Not until you said to me, “I felt as though I was washing away the desert sand of Iraq” did the transformational work God had been doing for me become fully real.

At one point in my military career, I gazed in the mirror and didn’t recognize the face looking back at me. I turned physically away at that moment and vowed never again to return to the life that had taken me so far from my Lord.

During a formational moment at EMS, we were asked to reflect back on when we felt farthest from God’s grace and to picture Christ there. I imagined Jesus standing behind me in that reflection. I imagined when I turned around Jesus wrapped me in his arms and held me. While relaying this to my classmates, it hit me that Christ was there all along, holding me and welcoming me back into relationship.

Your kindness, humility and servant leadership has offered one of the most pivotal moments in my life. That sacred and sacramental moment has caused me to stand up and strive to live out the calling God has placed before me. That day I heard Christ’s voice say to me, “Do you understand what I have done for you?” ^��“You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord,’ and rightly so, for that is what I am.^��Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet.”

I had been at a loss as to how God was using that moment of footwashing to share healing. Through this e-mail asking whether we could tell our story together, I believe God answered that prayer.

Abigail Berkey, PhD, visiting assistant professor of biology

Berkey earned a bachelor’s degree in pre-professional zoology from Ohio Wesleyan University and a master’s in integrative biology from University of Illinois. She completed her PhD in ecology, evolution and conservation biology from University of Illinois in 2015. Her interests lie in wildlife, ornithology and ecology. Berkey has previously served at University of Illinois as an adjunct instructor.

Marcille Frederick, director of Sadie Hartzler Library

Frederick has served as a librarian at several institutions, including Trinity Christian College, The King’s University College and Institute for Christian Studies. She earned a bachelor’s in history from Beloit College, a master’s in American history and a master’s of library science degree from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She also earned a master of philosophy degree in historiography and philosophy of history at the Institute for Christian Studies in Ontario. As a librarian, she loves bringing people together to create community around ideas and sharing resources to nurture deep reflection and coming alongside as a teaching and mentor.

Samuel Wai Johnson, Jr., visiting instructor of economics

Johnson earned a bachelor’s in economics from University of Liberia and a master’s degree in economics from Ohio University. He anticipates completing a PhD this year at George Mason University School for Conflict Analysis and Resolution. He brings experience as a visiting scholar at 91����Ƶ in the Center for Justice and Peacebuilding program and as a visiting adjunct at University of Liberia. Johnson’s expertise and interest are in economic dimensions of conflict and peacebuilding, economic development and post-conflict development finance.

Lisa King, instructor of nursing

King earned a bachelor’s degree in nursing at 91����Ƶ and a master’s in nursing leadership and management also at 91����Ƶ. She brings nursing experience in the hospital along with specific training and certification in advanced cardiac life support and end of life and pain management. She has served as an adjunct nursing instructor previously in the nursing program at 91����Ƶ.

Audrey K. Myers, assistant professor of the practice of nursing

Myers bring nursing experience in the hospital setting, both as a nurse and as a pediatric nurse practitioner, to previous instructional positions in 91����Ƶ’s RN-BS nursing completion program. She earned her bachelor’s degree in biology at 91����Ƶ, and two degrees from University of Virginia: a bachelor’s in nursing and a master’s degree as a pediatric nurse practitioner.

Melody M. Pannell, assistant professor of social work

Pannell returns to 91����Ƶ, where she was director of multicultural services from 2003-2008. She earned master’s of divinity and master’s of education in Christian education at Samuel DeWitt Proctor School of Theology this year. Pannell brings experience as a counselor in the university, in-home, youth and clinical counseling. Her interests include church ministries and expertise in diversity and multicultural relations. She also holds two degrees in social work: a bachelor’s from 91����Ƶ and a master’s from Fordham University.

Daniel Showalter, PhD, assistant professor of mathematics

Showalter brings international teaching and working experiences in a variety of rich cultural settings, including South Korea and Laos. He earned a bachelor’s in mathematics from Urbana University, and a master’s degree in mathematics and a PhD in mathematics education from Ohio University, where he has been an adjunct professor and visiting assistant professo. His interest and passion lie in mentoring students in their personal, spiritual and professional paths. He values working with students holistically, whether teaching online or in the classroom.

Timothy Seidel, instructor of community and international development

Seidel brings experience in international peacebuilding and interfaith engagement, after a 10-year career with Mennonite Central Committee. Currently a PhD candidate at American University School of International Service, Seidel looks forward to “engaging students in critical reflection around issues of politics, development, and peacebuilding.” He earned a bachelor’s degree in biochemistry from Messiah College, a master’s degree in international peace and conflict resolution from American University School of International Service, and a master of the theological studies from Wesley Theological Seminary

Michael Spory, assistant professor of art

Spory earned a degree in art from 91����Ƶ and completed a master’s in architecture in 2015. He brings experience as an architectural intern and worked in marketing at MennoMedia. Spory’s interests lie in freelance photography, architecture, graphic design and branding. He was selected as a Lilly graduate fellow from 2012-2015.

Johonna Turner, PhD, assistant professor of restorative justice and peacebuilding

Turner brings a wealth of teaching experience from K-12 schools in Washington D.C. to adjunct teaching of undergraduate and graduate students at University of Maryland. She has also taught at 91����Ƶ’s Summer Peacebuilding Institute. As founder and director of the Vision to Peace Project, she has been instrumental in teaching young people leadership skills to prevent violence and promote justice in their communities. Turner earned a bachelor’s degrees in interdisciplinary studies and news-editorial journalism at University of Missouri, Columbia. She earned a PhD in American studies at University of Maryland, College Park. In addition, she earned a graduate certificate in women’s studies at University of Maryland, College Park and an urban youth ministry graduate certificate from Fuller Theological Seminary.

Anna Westfall, assistant professor of art

Westfall earned a BFA in ceramic/sculpture from James Madison University and an MFA in ceramic/sculpture at University of New Mexico. Westfall brings prior teaching experience at 91����Ƶ, as well as Bridgewater College and Savannah State University. Her interests lie in ceramic and sculpture techniques, three and two-dimensional design, drawing, photography and small scale casting.

Laurie Miller Yoder, PhD, assistant professor of chemistry and chemical hygiene officer

Yoder earned an undergraduate degree in chemistry from 91����Ƶ and a PhD in physical chemistry at the University of Michigan. Most recently, she was lay minister at Lombard Mennonite Church and a communications coordinator at Laurelville Mennonite Church Center. In addition, she was an independent consultant at Brookhaven National Laboratory in New York. Her work and interests are in kinetics (rates) of gas phase (atmospheric) chemistry as well as the rates of biochemical solution phase reactions.

“There was a lot of silence from the church about the things that mattered most to them and they felt as though there were conditions for the church’s acceptance of them,” she says. “If they dressed a certain way or behaved a certain way or if they left part of themselves outside the church, only then was there acceptance.”

To complete her doctoral dissertation, Peck-McClain is examining how the words of the Apostle Paul, written in the mid to late 50s A.D., speak to the lives of modern American adolescent girls such as the 24 she interviewed. And she’s getting significant help from the to do so.

She has received a one-year AAUW stipend for financial support as she finishes the dissertation, the final requirement towards earning a doctorate of theology in Christian education and New Testament from Duke Divinity School.

McClain recently moved to Harrisonburg, Virginia, from New York, where she had pastored three churches as an ordained Methodist minister. Her husband the Rev. Andrew Peck-McClain is a pastor at Mount Clinton United Methodist Church, a few miles west of Harrisonburg.

In August 2015, following the completion of her degree, she will become an assistant professor of Christian formation, preaching and worship, according to , PhD, vice president and dean.

Within a prestigious group

Peck-McClain joins a select group of women scholars to earn a fellowship for the completion of a doctoral dissertation. AAUW projects must promote education and equity for girls and women.

The first American Fellowship was awarded in 1888 to writer and historian Ida Street, a graduate of Vassar College and the University of Michigan.

“These are life-changing awards,” said Gloria Blackwell, AAUW vice president of fellowships, grants, and global programs. “We’re so proud to continue this wonderful legacy and to salute this new class of fellows and grantees. They now join the ranks of Nobel Prize winners, celebrated authors, social entrepreneurs, and prominent scholars who have used AAUW funding to advance equality for women and girls.”

Previous American Fellows include human rights activist Susan Sontag, Challenger astronaut and chemist Judith Resnick, news analyst and political commentator Melissa Harris-Perry, and medical innovator Jane Chen.

Research combines two interests

Peck-McClain’s dissertation is rooted in both an affinity for the writings of Paul and her long experience in youth ministry, specifically in her work with adolescent girls.

“In churches everywhere I went, I saw girls struggling,” she said. “They had problems with their body image or with cutting themselves or they had eating disorders or substance abuse problems. I wanted the church to have a response to that and to help girls lead their lives in a different way that might help them survive and thrive… Once I started feeling called to doctoral work, then I saw a way to that these two could speak together, these girls who had walked with me and this scripture that speaks to my heart … I am reading Paul and reading the lives of adolescent girls next to each other and seeing how they speak to each other.”

Peck-McClain’s research involved 24 interviews with teenaged girls, all active members of the United Methodist Church in New York. She was specifically interested, she said, in “what they liked and didn’t like about their churches, the times when their church provided a meaningful experience, their experiences of the holy.”

At a time when many millennials are leaving organized religion, the church seems to overlook their singular gifts.�� “Adolescent girls have an amazing strength and a perspective the church could really benefit from, but is missing,” she says. “I hope my work can help encourage the church to receive the gifts the girls bring with them, and also help churches reach out to young people, especially girls, in a way that empowers and fulfills them.”

Peck-McClain earned a BA in religion from Washington and Lee University in 2002 and a master of divinity from Union Theological Seminary in New York City in 2005.

One-fifth of the U.S. population and one-third of adults under 30 do not identify with a particular denomination or church. Yet many signal deep spirituality through belief in God, prayer or a connection to nature or the earth.

What does it mean for churches if a growing number of U.S. residents claim “none of the above” when asked about religious affiliation? The����at Eastern Mennonite Seminary (EMS), Harrisonburg, Va., helps to address this question with a Jan. 19-21, 2015 workshop titled “A Church for All Generations in an Age of ‘Nones.’”

, vice president and dean of EMS, calls the training an invitation to explore “how we connect Christian faith, churches and communities with the millions who are actually passionate about faith but often equally passionate in their conclusion that institutional/denominational structures of the day have lost or betrayed integral, authentic connection with the deep journeys of the soul.”

In addition to workshop leaders presenting on a variety of practical topics, speakers include Lauren Winner, assistant professor of Christian spirituality at Duke Divinity School, and Dan Aleshire, executive director of .

Winner, a historian and author, provides reflections on life in a small parish and addresses spiritual practices for the 21st century.

Aleshire will address “The Christian But Not Religious Church for the Spiritual But Not Religious: The Shifting Role of Religion in American Life.”

Participants will also take part in worship experiences “to help us celebrate the healthy tension between deep roots and new branches reaching for new horizons,” said worship planner .

This event will be helpful for church leaders, youth workers and anyone who wonders about the future of the church.

“I’m excited about attending this event because it speaks to what many youth workers are observing in their congregations,” said John Stoltzfus, conference youth minister for and of and campus pastor at . “Youth are engaging in church and expressing their faith and spirituality in different ways. A key part of our task as youth workers is to be attentive to these shifts and to empower youth to be attentive to the new movement of the Spirit in our world. What are the spiritual longings of the next generation and how can we help them create faith communities to respond to these longings?”

Registration and more information can be found at��.

These graduates have big plans for ministry. Some expect to be pastors in the United Methodist Church. Some expect to be chaplains or work in pastoral counseling settings. Some are planning for church planting or ministry combined with work in another field. Others are still waiting to see where God calls. The 11 graduates and 6 certificate students are United Methodist, Mennonite, Episcopalian, and “none of the above.”

The diversity of their calls to ministry can be seen in the capstone presentations of the 10 master of divinity graduates. The topics ranged from “” by Brittany Conley, who is now leading a small church plant in Staunton, Virginia, to “” by Melanie Lewis, a chaplain at the .

The capstone presentations were part of the final coursework for , a required course for all MDiv students. Other topics included: finding hope in the midst of conflict; how to perform Christian funerals; and how the shepherd metaphor is dangerous to church leaders. Each student chooses a topic that he or she thinks will be relevant to ministry in the future.

In these projects students have already begun the work that Elizabeth Soto Albrecht, the seminary commencement speaker, encouraged them to do.

“You are asking how to be church differently,” Soto Albrecht said. “Examine the container that we call church and examine what we put in the container. Sometimes the church becomes a holy bubble that no one can touch. Sometimes we need to burst that bubble.”

Soto Albrecht is the first Hispanic woman to be moderator of . She is also coordinator of field education at Lancaster (Pa.) Theological Seminary.

“Like trees in a forest, the roots of all our denominations are interconnected. We are not individuals doing our own thing.��“The church is in the middle of major changes. Lift up your prophetic voices, but always stay within the church, because once you are outside you can’t change it. Be the change you wish to see.”

Class president Clayton Payne spoke of students’ unexpected changes during their seminary journeys and noted that this would undoubtedly continue: “We need to water our souls with the transformational narrative of Jesus.”

Ten students received master of divinity degrees this year. One student received a master of arts in church leadership degree, and six students received certificates in ministry studies. This was a small class by recent standards, but vice-president and seminary dean noted that class sizes typically vary year to year and the graduating class of 2015 is expected to be larger than usual.

More from commencement weekend:

��(video)

Cords of Distinction ceremony��(podcast)

Seminary commencement ceremony��(podcast)

“” – WHSV/TV3 (video)

Nurses’ pinning ceremony��(podcast)

Seminary Baccalaureate��(podcast)

After a thorough search process, Peck-McClain has been hired as assistant professor of Christian formation, preaching and worship, said , PhD, vice president and seminary dean.

“Formational resources, training, and activities have long been an EMS specialty,” he said. “We see Emily as particularly well-suited to be steward of this EMS treasure. Emily embodies and owns formational questions and considerations at great depth in her life, thought, and experience.”

Peck-McClain said she is excited by the position “because it combines what I see as essential in the practical theology and practice of ministry fields. I can tell that formation is something the seminary community as a whole truly values.”

Each degree at EMS has at least one full-year required course in Christian formation. The master of divinity degree has three full-year required courses. Peck-McClain will be giving direction and oversight to these full-year formation courses, in addition to teaching in preaching, worship and Christian education. , adjunct instructor and campus pastor, will continue to work with spiritual formation electives.

Peck-McClain’s work reflects her experience growing up in an interfaith home with one Jewish parent and one United Methodist parent and her education in liberation theology. As an ordained minister in The United Methodist Church, she has pastored two congregations in New York City.

“A community is enriched when different experiences of God and Christian living interact,” she told 91����Ƶ News Service. “The diversity of how God reveals ‘Godself’ is a gift to God’s diverse global community.”

Peck-McClain said she was attracted to EMS’s commitment to “faithful Christian leadership in a global, challenging, and changing context.” She deeply appreciates the Anabaptist values at the core of EMS’s mission.

“One of the things that impresses me most about EMS is how formation is valued not only as a separate discipline, but as integral to how teaching and learning take place in the seminary. I seek to balance individual journeys and spiritual disciplines with communal practices, actions, and discernment in how I teach formation, preaching, and worship.”

Emily received a BA in religion from Washington and Lee University in 2002 and a master of divinity from Union Theological Seminary in New York City in 2005. She is finishing her ThD through Duke Divinity School. Her dissertation “Revealing the Power: New Creation Epistemology for Adolescent Girls” is on reading Romans 1-8 as a liberative source for ministry with adolescent girls. She has also been a teaching assistant, co-instructor, and adjunct instructor at Duke Divinity School in areas of Christian education, New Testament, and worship.

will focus on the theory and practice of discernment at all levels, from personal to denominational. The three-day workshop takes place Jan., 20-22.

, associate professor of organizational studies at the , will guide participants through three case studies on discernment at various levels of church. Workshops, worship and large group sessions will help participants get a broad view of discernment in various contexts. In addition, keynote speakers Ervin Stutzman and Ruth Haley Barton will offer conclusions from their recent books.

“The church is in the midst of massive cultural and social shifts which often create conflict in congregations,” said , Seminary dean. “School for Leadership Training this year is part of our on-going desire to train leaders and congregations to discern God’s call in the midst of these shifts.”

Ruth Haley Barton is an award-winning author, sought-after teacher and conference speaker and the founder of the based in Wheaton, Ill. Her books include Pursuing God’s Will Together: A Discernment Practice for Leadership Groups and Strengthening the Soul of your Leadership: Seeking God in the Crucible of Ministry.

Ervin Stutzman is executive director of . His most recent book Discerning God’s Will Together: Biblical Interpretation in the Free Church Tradition will be the basis of his plenary address.

More information and registration is available at: .

“My favorite moment in teaching is when students realize that even though the Old Testament is thousands of years old, the texts talk about subjects that are still very important to us today,” said Saner. “In these moments students learn that reading these old texts is still a crucial formative and informative practice for the community of faith today.”

A joint venture

Saner is the first faculty to be an official joint hire between the undergraduate and EMS.

“During my campus visit, I was impressed and stimulated by the engagement of faculty, students and staff with my research and teaching, which suggests the learning environments of EMS and the 91����Ƶ Bible and religion department are energetic and exciting,” said Saner. “I’m very excited to get to teach both seminary students and undergraduates, because seminary and college students ask different sorts of questions.”

, Bible and religion chair, praised Saner as an Old Testament scholar, “capable of technical exegesis as well as theological interpretation of scripture. She is also a gifted theologian who has written on both sixteenth century Anabaptism and on Augustine. That kind of range is rare anywhere in the academy, not just at EMS.”

Saner will enhance EMS’s leading-edge vision, said , vice president and seminary dean. “Hiring Andrea makes even clearer that EMS is entering an exciting era of developing a core faculty team that integrates the wisdom, experience and mentoring gifts of our longer-career faculty and the energies and visions of early-career faculty,” he said. “I see this contributing to leading-edge perspectives at a time of major transitions in culture, church and higher education.”

Modeling peacemaking

Saner is enthusiastic about the Old Testament’s lessons pertaining to justice: “The Torah gives provision for the vulnerable in society, and there is a consistent witness in the Old Testament for the need to trust God rather than human, military strength. But at the same time the Old Testament may not conform entirely to what a twenty-first-century Christian might expect a pacifist text to look like.

“Education in peacemaking is not only about what one teaches, but how one teaches; a good classroom is one in which students respect one another’s viewpoints and experiences, especially when they disagree,” she said, adding that she will be “glad to be at an institution that is committed to following Jesus Christ in faithful witness, compassionate service and nonviolent living.”

Saner graduated from Messiah College in 2005 and earned her master of arts in theological studies, Biblical theology and ethics from Anabaptist Mennonite Biblical Seminary in 2008. She is finishing a PhD in Old Testament at Durham University in the United Kingdom. Her dissertation is titled “YHWH, the Trinity, and the Literal Sense: Theological Interpretation of Exodus 3:13-15” She will begin at 91����Ƶ and EMS in August, 2013.

This was the recurrent theme of the at , Jan. 21-23, which was titled “Imagine Church as Healing Space.” The event attracted over 270 participants and resource persons who sought to “hear, hold, and hope” amid mental health challenges. are online.

Hosted and planned by EMS, the event felt historic: multiple participants said this was the first time in a public church context they had felt part of the group, not in spite of but because of their depression, anxiety, bipolar diagnosis, schizophrenia, and more. This was the first time they had felt normalized, not stigmatized, with their journey held in love, not primarily met with silence or marginalization. We see that experience, so easy to report but so rarely experienced, as a key gift the 2013 SLT offered.

Hearing from those with mental and those who love them

A second gift was space to tell and hear the pain mental illness causes both its sufferers and those who love them. Earl and Pat Martin offered searingly moving glimpses of their journey through their son Hans Martin’s development of symptoms of schizo-affective disorder.

Earl shared journal entries he had written during the sleepless nights after Hans was first hospitalized. In these contemporary psalms of lament, Earl raged at a pitiless God who treats his creatures like vermin, snapping off their limbs, leaving them soaked in their own blood. Earl railed at this God as the sick one who should get treatment for insanity. He reported that after he stopped writing of his own volition, spent, his pen kept going and offered words from God, who said that God’s own son was in fact in treatment and was the roommate in a neighboring bed whom Earl had feared would hurt Hans.

Not a cheap hope

A third gift was hope. This was not a cheap hope. Many at SLT, from participants through resource persons, told of confronting the anguish caused by suicide. To name just one example, in a laughter-yet-tear-stirring blending of drama and storytelling, told of his journey through his comedy partner Lee Eshleman’s battle with depression and of how the suicide to which it drove Lee so shattered Ted’s own life and career that years have gone into rebuilding. Yet precisely in this heartrendingly open naming of the torment, Ted offered hope—hope for himself and hope for those still grieving the loss of their own loved ones.

Hope was also movingly offered through stories of persons seeking to live recovery-focused lives even amid the diagnosed illnesses once thought to be themselves virtual death or at least imprisonment-in-miserable-conditions sentences. John Otenasek, himself a “consumer,” as he put it, in recovery, led a panel of men (including Hans Martin) and women who told of enduring addictions, joblessness, homelessness, and more. Yet they also spoke of finding hope—often from peers confronting their own illnesses—enabling them to live meaningful and even joy-tinged lives while navigating ongoing bi-polar episodes or hearing voices.

And hope was offered when Tilda Norberg modeled what can happen when we attend to the “God icons” in our lives and dreams. She risked a live Gestalt pastoral counseling session with a courageous Sherill Hostetter. Drawing on insights from one of Sherill’s recent dreams, Norberg led Sherill in working through how her mother’s undiagnosed and untreated mental illness had affected her as a child and even now as a leader. ��She more fully claimed her own empowered voice as a recently ordained minister and congregational consultant.

Recovery, love and acceptance

Fittingly enough, just days after the 2013 SLT concluded, the New York Times published on Jan. 27, 2013 by Elyn R. Saks, diagnosed with schizophrenia yet a successful law professor at the University of Southern California. As did many at SLT influenced by the recovery movement in mental health, Saks stressed, “An approach that looks for individual strengths, in addition to considering symptoms, could help dispel the pessimism surrounding mental illness. Finding ‘the wellness within the illness,’ as one person with schizophrenia said, should be a therapeutic goal.”

In a conclusion that movingly echoes the convictions SLT participants took with them, Saks reported: “’Every person has a unique gift or unique self to bring to the world,’ said one of our study’s participants. She expressed the reality that those of us who have schizophrenia and other mental illnesses want what everyone wants: in the words of Sigmund Freud, to work and to love.”

Claiming our stories

When we checked with the Martins to make sure our references to their stories were acceptable, Pat said, “One of the SLT statements that stuck with me, spoken by either Joan or Ijeoma Achara that first night, pulled us all into the common task of being human: ‘Recovery is about claiming one’s story. The tools are the same for all of us whether struggling with mental illness or an overwhelming job.’” At EMS we’ll continue to ponder how, whatever the details of our stories may be, we help each other claim them.

��—Joan K. King is senior integration consultant, The National Council for Community Behavioral Healthcare, and owner of Joan K. King Consulting and Counseling LLC. is dean of Eastern Mennonite Seminary and a vice president of 91����Ƶ.

All of us in the 91����Ƶ community mourn with the families and community of Newtown, Connecticut. We are shocked beyond words and we struggle to know how to pray and act, but we must pray (even if in silence) and we must act.

Something is horribly wrong in a society where little children and others regularly fear for their lives. While we are understandably drawn into the story of a mass shooting like this one, let us never forget that many in our nation and around the world are grieving for lost loved ones every single day. May God give us all wisdom and courage to be agents of shalom!

I commend three statements for your reflection: the first by our Vice President and Seminary Dean, Dr. Michael King; , Nobel Peace laureate and a master’s degree alumna of 91����Ƶ; and , announcing an initiative titled “Fear not: Seek peace in our communities.”

Dear Seminary Community,

With the rest of you, I’ve been feeling my way through Friday’s terrible news. It has been hard to know what if anything to say amid such a horrifying mix of deaths of children combined with what seems our country’s omnipresent temptation to turn anything these days into political warfare.

But one biblical text has kept coming to me, that of Rachel in Ramah weeping for her children. After seeing it referenced this morning for the third time or so, I thought maybe worth passing on the latest encounter with it, .

As Galli puts it, “we live in a world where Rachel weeps for her children. Where mothers wail and fathers curse because their children are no more. Where friends go mute, and bloodied children stand shocked, and a nation mourns, and a President weeps – for 20 innocent children in Connecticut.”

My fallible take on the rest of Galli’s column is that it eloquently offers us pertinent theological and social commentary but risks not quite getting us from the “Enough is enough” of the “Innocent One,” as he puts it, to the changes required for the enough is enough of Christ the prince of peace to ripple out into the social fabric of a nation in which Rachel is weeping far too often.

To say more now risks adding to the political toxins. But I do hope and pray that at Eastern Mennonite Seminary, at 91����Ƶ, and in our congregations and other sites of ministry and scholarship, we can seek ways to mourn, to experience a God who with Rachel and all bereft parents weeps in Ramah and in Newtown, and to discern what “Enough is enough” calls us to as individuals, Christians involved in serving and leading or training for it, and participants in or critics of our culture.

Blessings amid the sorrow,
Michael A. King, PhD.

-President Loren Swartzendruber, DMin.

“Our goal is to help church leaders and congregations become healthy sources of support for both the individuals and their family and friends.”

The January 21-23 event, titled “Imagining the Church as Healing Space: To Hear, To Hold, To Hope,” will help leaders explore the role of congregations in providing space for those with mental illness, as well as families and friends who play a supportive role with these individuals.

Speakers will share from their personal journeys and offer ways to hold brokenness and faith in tension in the midst of the challenges of mental illness.

Michael and Joan King and Ijeoma Achara will speak Monday evening on “An invitation to hear, to hold, to hope” in a plenary session open to the public. Michael is dean of Eastern Mennonite Seminary. Joan is a counselor and senior integration consultant for the . Achara is a consultant for state and local governments and health care providers on developing recovery-oriented systems of care for those with mental health issues.

Tuesday morning, Tilda Norberg, author and founder of Gestalt Pastoral Care, will lead an experiential session on “Gestalt Pastoral Care: A New Approach to the Ministry of Healing.”

Tuesday morning, , professor of pastoral care at EMS, and , director of , will lead the group in a session titled “It takes a healthy village: 5 things to know about mental illness,” giving participants basic information about mental health and mental illness issues.

Tuesday evening, John Otenasek, executive director of a non-profit center for healing and recovery, will lead a panel of individuals who will share personal stories of the journey through the extreme emotional states of what our society labels “mental illness.”

Wednesday morning, Ted Swartz, founder of , will perform “Laughter Is Sacred Space,” a show based on his experiences with his acting partner Lee Eshleman, who committed suicide in 2007.

Workshops will explore various aspects of the ways congregations can support individuals with mental illness and their families in healthy and sustainable ways.

Pre-registration is necessary for all events except Monday evening. For more information or to register, visit .

“Eastern Mennonite Seminary seeks to be fully accountable to the United Methodist University Senate, which has asked that non-Methodist seminaries approved to teach Methodist students either enter in partnership with a Methodist seminary or hire a full-time Methodist faculty member,” said Michael A. King, EMS dean.

This year EMS has done both. In two separate processes, EMS has entered into a partnership with Wesley Theological Seminary and hired , PhD, a United Methodist and Wesley graduate as assistant professor of history, mission, interfaith and intercultural studies.

“We’re pleased that the formal signing of a partnership agreement with Wesley Theological Seminary was quickly followed by confirmation that Dr. David Evans, a Methodist, would join our faculty,” said King. “We believe this combination holds unusual potential to enable EMS simultaneously to meet Senate expectations and provide a rich and flexible range of resources to our students.“

Partnership allows United Methodist students to work toward ordination

United Methodist students at EMS will have the opportunity to take some of the required courses for ordination through WTS, either online, on the EMS campus, or on the WTS campus in Washington, D.C.

WTS is providing a United Methodist advisor who will help students navigate between the two schools and manage the requirements for ordination.

Julie Nitzsche has taken an online class from WTS already.

She said, “As a mother of 2 small children I appreciate the opportunity to take online classes from Wesley to supplement my classes at EMS. This partnership allows me to continue to take classes at EMS, which is closer to home, while helping me get the credits I need for ordination in the United Methodist church.”

WTS students will have the opportunity to work with EMS and the world-renowned at 91����Ƶ, taking peace studies courses, such as, “Managing Congregational Conflict” and “Theology and Peacebuilding.”

“Both schools agree that Dr. Evans and the partnership activities hold potential to create exciting bridges across EMS and Wesley resources for Methodist students, and the rich range of denominations both seminaries serve.”

Currently 33 of the 131 students at Eastern Mennonite Seminary are United Methodist.