Eastern Mennonite University Podcast

Movements of Faith, Geography of Hope (Genesis 4:12-16, Hebrews. 11:8-10, 13-16) Linford Stutzman, Director of John Coffman Center and BLESS program Eric Trinka, EMS Alum, Catholic University PhD student and collaborator with the BLESS program Human history is a story of movements – migrations, invasions, escapes, captivities and trade.The biblical story is no exception for scripture is shaped by movements that are motivated by desperation and hopelessness, but also faith and hope. As such, the biblical story offers an alternative perspective to the fear that permeates our culture.

How can we best support DACAmented people on campus and in our communities? Might better understanding the DREAM Act and DACA be a start? How about hearing a personal narrative from a DACAmented student and those who resource immigrants from a posture of faithfulness? What about prayer? How do we follow Jesus on this journey?  

Dorothy Jean Weaver, Professor of New Testament, Eastern Mennonite Seminary shares “Hope in the World of Herod and His Clan: Matthew 2:1-23 for the Real World”

Between the Apostle Paul, the Early Church, Ta-Nehisi Coates and Me – Campus Pastor Brian Martin Burkholder One white man’s attempt with confronting “the dream” as expressed by Coates in the EMU Common Read – Between the World and Me and noted in the admonitions of the Apostle Paul in the Christian scriptures informing the Student Life theme – Many Parts, One Body. Romans 12 and 1 Corinthians 12 (and 1 Corinthians 11:17-34)

Meredith L. McNabb, Director and Lindsey M. Baynham, Associate Director for Call, Candidacy and Discernment of the Virginia United Methodist Conference-Center for Clergy Excellence share in Word and Table: “A Terrible Thing to Waste” (Philippians 2 – having the same mind as Christ)

Join the International Student Organization (ISO) in hosting Dr. Carolyn Stauffer presenting #GivingIsReceiving for an international education emphasis on Bringing Wholeness to Sexual Violence Victims in Central Africa.

Nathan Hershberger and Kaitlin Heatwole completed three years of service with MCC in Iraq in July.  They share in this Seminary Chapel Gathering out of their experiences in Iraq. Kaitlin was MCC Iraq program coordinator, and Nathan taught English at three church institutions in Erbil, Iraq, including St. Peter’s Seminary.  Both are graduates of Eastern Mennonite University.

Matthew Hunsberger leads an International-themed hymn sing in University Chapel with David Berry, Katie Derstine,  and students Perry Blosser and Joseph Harder.

“Hope in Ruins: Reflections and Poems from Palestine/Israel ” Psalm 74, Matthew 24:1-14 Adam King, EMS student and Rise Church Pastor, shares out of his experience with the May 2017 seminary cross-culture “Places, People and Prayers, A cross-cultural encounter with the Holy Land”

Moriah Hurst, Nurture and Faith Development Pastor of Park View Mennonite Church., speaks on Me and My Messy Humanness (Isaiah 43:1-5) continuing the emphasis on Faith on a Human Scale introduced on Wednesday by Mandy Smith. Moriah Hurst joined the Park View Mennonite pastoral team in May 2016 after finishing an 8-year term with Mennonite Mission Network in Australia. Moriah worked with several Baptist Churches in Australia in their youth ministries and taught ecumenically in young adult faith formation. She holds a Master of Divinity in Youth Ministry from Anabaptist Mennonite Biblical Seminary in Elkhart, Indiana.

Moriah Hurst, Nurture and Faith Development Pastor at Park View Mennonite Church (Harrisonburg, VA), closes the EMS Spiritual Life Week with her chapel address, “Me and My Messy Humanness”

Promoting New Solutions to Water Crises in a Changing Kenya Doug Graber Neufeld, PhD Kenya faces a range of growing water-related challenges that typify those in many countries around the world. Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) works with local and international partners in Kenya to encourage the adoption of sustainable solutions to these challenges. This seminar will describe three such MCC projects: 1) sand dams for community water harvesting in semi-arid regions, 2) conservation agriculture for increased crop production in rainfed agriculture, and 3) solar disinfection for clean water supply in urban slums of Nairobi. Rigorous monitoring and experimentation is playing a key role in successes of these projects that promote changes in behavior and technology. Lessons coming out of this emphasis center on the importance of participatory approaches, coupled with advances in understanding how social change happens and how individuals make decisions. Doug Graber Neufeld, Professor of Biology at Eastern Mennonite University, received his B.A. from Tabor College, and his Ph.D. from the University of Texas, Austin. He held post-doctoral research positions at medical schools at the University of Arizona, and the University of Otago (New Zealand) before coming to EMU in 1998, where he teaches courses related to environmental sustainability and health. As of this August, he is director of the Center for Sustainable Climate Solutions, a collaborative effort of EMU, Goshen College and Mennonite Central Committee (MCC). Doug has worked for MCC on water-related projects twice, first for two years in Cambodia, and more recently for two years in Kenya. In addition, he works with water projects locally, with a focus on water quality impacts in local streams.

What if it’s not our job, as Christians, to have all the answers? What if our greatest task is to daily rely on God? What if our reliance on God, not our answers, is what will transform the world? Are we willing to let them see us in need? Or only in strength? Originally from Australia, Mandy Smith is lead pastor of University Christian Church, a campus and neighborhood congregation with its own fair-trade cafe in Cincinnati, Ohio.  She is a contributing editor for Leadership Journal and the author of Making a Mess and Meeting God. Her latest book is The Vulnerable Pastor: How Human Limitations Empower Our Ministry (IVP).  Mandy and her husband Jamie,  a New Testament Professor at Cincinnati Chiristian University, live with their two kids in a little house where the teapot is always warm.  She is also a fine artist and the creator of “The Collect,” a citywide trash-to-art project.

EMS Spiritual Life week opens with Mandy Smith, Writer, Artist and Lead pastor of University Christian Church, a campus and neighborhood congregation with its own fair-trade café in Cincinnati, Ohio. Originally from Australia, Mandy Smith is lead pastor of University Christian Church, a campus and neighborhood congregation with its own fair-trade cafe in Cincinnati, Ohio.  She is a contributing editor for Leadership Journal and the author of Making a Mess and Meeting God. Her latest book is The Vulnerable Pastor: How Human Limitations Empower Our Ministry (IVP).  Mandy and her husband Jamie,  a New Testament Professor at Cincinnati Chiristian University, live with their two kids in a little house where the teapot is always warm.  She is also a fine artist and the creator of “The Collect,” a citywide trash-to-art project.

Join Pastor Chris Johnson to dig down into this formational theme. Chris is Lead Pastor of Divine Unity Community Church (DUCC).