Eastern Mennonite Seminary offers 5-8 seminary courses online each year.

“We are most like God because of our ability to communicate,” said Julie Gochenour, instructor of the newly developed online course in communication offered by Eastern Mennonite Seminary.

“Christ in a Communication Culture: Communicating in Today’s Global, Digital, Relational World” will be taught online in the spring semester, which begins January 10.

“There is a cultural gap between those inside the church and those outside the church,” Gochenour said. “This course will give those inside the church a window for communicating with those outside.

“Students will learn communication skills and theory from a faith perspective,” said Gochenour. “Good communication is about risk, love and authenticity. Students will learn how use these skills, professionally, appropriately and faithfully.

“Pastors will learn how to use communication to shape organizational culture and more effectively collaborate with other organizations in the community to communicate the message of the church.”

Gochenour is a 2004 EMS graduate. She is writing an interdisciplinary dissertation in the areas of communication and religion at Union Institute and University, Cincinnati, Ohio. She is an adjunct instructor in communication and religion at 91¶ÌÊÓƵ and James Madison University. She is a partner in Oakleaf Communications, a consulting firm specializing in communication services and new media use for non-profit and faith-based organizations; and have served on the editorial council on the Anabaptist publisher, Cascadia Publishing, for a decade.

To learn more about distance learning through Eastern Mennonite Seminary, or to register for “Christ in a Communication Culture” call the seminary admissions office at 540-432-4257 or email semadmiss@emu.edu

By Tom Mitchell, Daily News-Record

Harrisonburg resident Charlene Davis, who works full time, is taking an online class in Mennonite history at Eastern Mennonite Seminary. Photo by Michael Reilly

Charlene Davis is e-mailing her way to a degree in pastoral care at Eastern Mennonite Seminary.

“I work full time and wasn’t able to take courses in the classroom,” said Davis, 55, who works at 91¶ÌÊÓƵ as an assistant for advancement and takes an online class in Mennonite history. “I love the flexibility of my course.”

Davis is among a growing number of students whose academic needs are being met by a modern approach to teaching at EMS: making education at the seminary available to people besides on-campus students.

Recent figures at EMS show a sizable portion of students who are enrolled in EMS courses away from the seminary.

More than half of the pupils enrolled in courses at EMS for the first time this fall study from afar, according to numbers released by the seminary. Of the 33 new students currently taking classes at EMS, 18 are enrolled in what officials at EMS call “distance learning” courses.

The total enrollment at EMS this fall is 130 students. EMS’ distance-learning program consists of 10 pupils who are taking online courses and eight more who signed up for classes at EMS’ satellite campus in Lancaster, Pa.

Lonnie Yoder, director of online studies and professor of pastoral care at EMS

Distance learning has been part of the EMS program for 11 years, said Lonnie Yoder, director of online studies and professor of pastoral care at EMS. Yoder, who teaches an online course on leadership at EMS, sees distance learning as “a growing trend” in higher education.

Yoder cites the arrival of the Internet, the way it makes off-campus courses more accessible to students and its flexible format for classwork as three reasons that more of today’s college and seminary students find distance learning appealing.

“Years ago assignments would be mailed out, sent back and the professor would grade them,” Yoder said. “Obviously, we’ve come a long way. I think, today, students are saying ‘I want education to be where I am.'”

Able To Stay Put

Staff at EMS point out that distance learning negates a need to relocate, once a problem for prospective students. And online classes tend to be smaller and, therefore, more personal, they say.

Don Yoder, EMS director of admissions

“We don’t have more than 12 students in a class and I think that helps,” said Don Yoder, the seminary’s director of admissions.

EMS’ Lancaster campus now offers a curriculum that serves students away from EMS. Last year, Don Yoder said, the campus at Lancaster earned the accreditation required to offer a full master of divinity program, and four new students enrolled.

This fall, 11 new students have enrolled.

Some classes offered by EMS reach people out of the country. Lonnie Yoder said that the seminary’s online courses have students from as far away as Lithuania and Japan. Laura Lehman Amstutz, seminary communications coordinator, said others take the online program while on missions.

“We have faculty members who spend a lot of time in various places in the world,” Amstutz said. “Some of the contacts they have [abroad] give them an insight and sources they wouldn’t normally have, and enhance what they do there.”

Dr. Lonnie Yoder is one of several professors teaching on-line courses to seminary students throughout the world.

In the past, students came to the classroom. Today, for some students, the classroom comes to the students.

Thanks to technology and Internet access, some 180 students have taken advantage of courses offered on-line by Eastern Mennonite Seminary.

The seminary’s distance learning program now offers 10 classes taught on-line, leading to a certificate of theological studies. This program, started in 1997, provides theological training for those who may be unable to attend on-campus courses.

Five distance learning classes are offered each year with the help of software called Blackboard. Two courses beginning this fall are “Contemporary Theology in Anabaptist Perspective” and “New Testament: Text in Context.” Two more courses will be offered the spring semester and one course will be taught in the summer. Courses are offered on a two-year rotation.

This summer, eight students are taking the course, “Old Testament: Text in Context,” on-line. Four students have already enrolled for fall distance learning classes.

To earn a certificate of theological studies, students must complete eight of the 10 offered courses. All 10 are core courses for the master of divinity and the master of arts in church leadership degrees offered by the seminary.

Tuition for distance learning classes is slightly less than that of on-campus classes, around $298 a credit hour, not including the cost of books.

This year, 41 students took classes from as far away as Spain, Lithuania, Japan and the Philippines.

“The distance learning program offers seminary level education to those who live too far away to attend on-campus classes,” said Sara Wenger Shenk, associate seminary dean. “It also provides training for pastors and allows people to explore biblical and theological education without having to make the commitment of moving closer to the seminary,” she noted.

The average class size is around eight students; classes can have up to 12 students. Classes are focused around discussion. Using the Blackboard software, students interact with each other by posting responses on an internet discussion board.

Joe Costello of Morgantown, W.Va., completed the certificate program in 2003. As a lay reader in the Methodist Church Costello wanted formal training in the Old and New Testament and thus he took those classes first. Costello said, “This program provided good training and covered a number of areas I wasn’t familiar with,” he said.

During his studies Costello traveled to Harrisonburg and has met several of his professors. He is still in contact with Nathan E. Yoder, associate professor of church history, regarding a research project he completed for one of the on-line courses.

Lonnie D. Yoder, professor of pastoral care and counseling, has taught his “Pastoral Care” course twice in the on-line format. He said that the on-line courses change his role as professor.

“In on-campus classes the professor is viewed as the center,” Dr. Yoder said, “but in the distance learning classes, it’s more effective for me to move to the sideline.”

Students do collaborative work, and each one is required to contribute to on-line discussion each week. The course content is divided into weekly units, which keeps both the students and the professor accountable and disciplined. As technology changes, courses will be experimenting with chat rooms and real-time communication.

Yoder said that the community that is built in an on-line course has a different quality than community built in a classroom.

“I have appreciated the depth of conversation and sharing in the on-line classes,” he said, “The anonymity of the Internet adds a level of safety some students don’t feel in the classroom. Introverts who may not speak up in a classroom setting are required to enter the conversation in an online class and they are often more comfortable doing so.”

More information about the distance learning program, including technological requirements and applications, is available at or by contacting Don A. Yoder, director of seminary admissions, at 540-432-4257.

Laura Lehman Amstutz is a student in the master of divinity program at Eastern Mennonite Seminary.