Several EMU faculty and alumni have contributed to a new resource published by MennoMedia. Covering subjects from faith formation to sustaining leaders, have resonated with Mennonite Church USA and Mennonite Church Canada pastors wrestling with deep and difficult issues amid the lingering pandemic.

The content covers six subjects: faith formation, worship, sustaining Leaders, community engagement, navigating polarization, and connection.

With more than 2000 downloads to date, the content has clearly filled a need in the church.

“We were able to determine that more than two-thirds of pastors in Mennonite Church USA and Mennonite Church Canada signed up to receive these resources,” said Joe Hackman MDiv ’11, director of development and partner engagement.

Among the contributors are several EMU faculty:

• David Brubaker, dean of EMU’s School of Social Sciences and Professions; 
• Jayne Seminare Docherty, executive director of the Center for Justice and Peacebuilding; 
• Cheree Hammond, professor in the graduate counseling program; and 
• Sarah Ann Bixler, associate dean of Eastern Mennonite Seminary.

Alumni include Hendy Matahelemual MA ‘19 (Christian leadership); Nelson Okanya ‘02; Jane Hoober Peifer ‘75, MDiv ‘98; and Martin Rhodes ‘02. Former faculty member Lisa Schirch, now with the Kroc Institute at University of Notre Dame, also contributed.

MennoMedia received a Schowalter Foundation grant in May 2021 to help churches thrive after COVID-19. MennoMedia used the funds to develop the “What Now?” podcast series and downloadable resources distributed to an opt-in email list and housed on the MennoMedia website.

“What Now?” resources were released in three installments in August, September, and October . The full set of resources are available for download at MennoMedia.org and the What Now? podcast episodes are hosted on the “-ing” podcast.

Balloons, flowers, cheers, caps and gowns, and big smiles…

Pageantry and “Pomp and Circumstance”…

Saturday’s sun-filled celebrations were a semblance of normalcy in pandemic times, as more than 1,300 guests attended three separate “walking ceremonies” hosted by ��ݮ���� for the graduates of 2020 and 2021.

The opportunity was particularly poignant from the 2020 grads, who lost their in-person celebration to the pandemic last year. Ninety-nine, some with family and friends in attendance, returned for the opportunity to don their caps and gowns and other academic regalia to walk across the stage.

EMU awarded 351 total degrees, including 209 undergraduate degrees, 104 master’s degrees, 37 graduate certificates, and one doctorate.

Graduates will have another opportunity to celebrate this weekend, when the formal Commencement ceremonies for both classes happen in a virtual format — on Saturday, May 8, at 1 p.m., for the class of 2020, and on Sunday, May 9,at 1 p.m., for the class of 2021. EMU’s site in Lancaster, Pa., will host a graduation ceremony Friday, May 14. [See EMU’s Commencement website for more information.]

The ceremonies were organized by academic schools, with the School of Theology, Humanities, and the Performing Arts getting the day started at 9 a.m. (blankets and coffee were favorite spectator accessories). By the 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. ceremonies for the School of Science, Engineering, Art and Nursing and the School of Social Science and Professions, respectively, sunscreen, hats and sunglasses were de rigueur (seating protocols and seat followed social distancing requirements).

Each ceremony included words from President Susan Schultz Huxman and the school dean, as well as a blessing from a faculty member. Huxman congratulated the gathered graduates on their resilience and perseverance and urged them to stay connected to EMU as they chart their paths and impact the world.

The smaller ceremonies allowed deans to share special messages with grads from shared academic discipline. Dean Sue Cockley of the School of Theology, Humanities and the Performing Arts offered this: “This tremendous upheaval… calls up existential questions that we in the West prefer to ignore in quieter times. What is the meaning of all of this? Have we ever learned anything from history? What will happen to us? Is there hope for justice? Is there hope for faith? How can we learn to pray again. ..You may not have all the answers yet, no one expects that of you at this moment, but you are not afraid to struggle with the questions and that is crucial!”

Dean Tara Tishbaugh of the School of Science, Engineering, Art and Nursing noted that all of these graduates shared the common experience of the need for “hands-on” learning: “Labs online, labs on campus, where is lab today? Labs distanced and spread across multiple rooms, student leaders supporting the faculty as tech assistants, as learning assistants, as tutors. We learned alongside each other. Studio and digital arts moved locations, adapted to challenges of mixed modalities-I loved the story of  continuing ceramics using clay found in your backyards and beyond. The natural history (and other) solo field trips. The tremendous work achieved by our nursing faculty, staff, and students to continue clinicals, to create new simulations, to adapt to restrictions on clinical experiences.”

Dean David Brubaker shared the incalculable need for the uniquely educated graduates from the School of Social Sciences and Professions: “These last 15 months have been among the most innovative I’ve experienced in my 17 years at EMU… Within our school, we launched one new master’s degree (in transformational leadership) last August, are preparing to roll out a second (in school counseling) this August, and have approved a third (in human resource leadership) for fall 2022… The  Teacher Education program sailed through its reaccreditation process with high praise from the visiting accreditation team. We consolidated a new major in global studies…and our Business and Leadership program continued to prepare outstanding graduates in fields such as accounting, business administration, recreation and sports management, and international business. I can’t imagine a time when the world needed gifted teachers, collaborative leaders, empathetic counselors and skilled conflict transformers and justice advocates more than now. You truly are the ones we have been waiting for.”

LFCC graduates can complete the 15-month, four-semester program, gaining skills in organizational development, team dynamics, human resources and leadership. 

The unique format, in which students move through the program in a cohort of 12-15 classmates, increases academic success and retention, according to Margo McIntire, program director at EMU. The students and faculty build a learning community which supports them throughout their enrollment.

The first cohort, forming for a January start, will take courses fully online until public health recommendations allow for in-person classes. Normally, the program uses a hybrid model: students would attend class one night per week on the LFCC campus, with other coursework online. 

“This is another opportunity to work with EMU to provide students in our service region with an extremely convenient pathway to a bachelor’s degree that many probably would not otherwise feel is a realistic option,” said , dean of the School of Humanities and Social Studies at LFCC. “The fact that students can attend EMU regularly without going to EMU is such a great benefit and path to get a four-year degree without leaving home.

“I think this will be a wonderful way for students in our area to get that degree they need to make a better life for themselves and their families. I thank all the people at EMU for all their help in getting this plan ready to roll out.”

David Brubaker, dean of EMU’s School of Social Sciences and Professions in which the Leadership and Organizational Management degree program is housed, noted the collaboration with LFCC administrators. “What most impressed me about working with LFCC leadership was their shared commitment to make creative options available to their students and alums in order to strengthen their career prospects.”

Students who have completed LFCC’s business administration, management, accounting, computer and information technology, and human services or other related programs and meet admissions criteria will be guaranteed admission to EMU’s program.

Additionally, students having completed other associate of arts and sciences degrees or associate of science degrees, or earning 48 or more transferable semester hours, will also be guaranteed admission provided they meet admission criteria. 

Applicants must meet the following criteria: 

• 48 or more transferable semester hours, 
• cumulative GPA of 2.0 or higher, 23 years of age or older,
• at least one year of full-time work experience, preferably incorporating some leadership experiences, and 
• completion of EMU’s fee-waived application process.

LFCC students who want to take advantage of this opportunity should contact their LFCC advisor to make sure their academic plans meet EMU requirements.

Students can further maximize their savings by learning more about financial aid opportunities through EMU’s Financial Aid office. Transfer students are eligible for several grants and scholarships.

This was neither the end of the semester we anticipated nor the graduation we expected, but it is the semester we have completed and the graduation we celebrate, said Dean David Brubaker this past weekend to a virtual celebration for graduates from the Center for Justice and Peacebuilding.

Those words encapsulate the whirlwind experience of the last nine weeks, as our semester was completely disrupted by the Covid-19 pandemic.

This was not the semester we anticipated, but it was the semester we completed.

And what choice did we have but to persevere, adapt, be flexible and patient, flatten one curve as we were being slung faster on an accompanying learning curve of what exactly to do with ourselves, our bodies and minds in this strange new world.

The following collection of photos and text is a snapshot of the semester, collected in real time and revisited now, for those of you who are more peripheral to EMU. It might help to give a sense of how faculty, staff and students responded in and out of classroom — in true EMU fashion, with resilience, empathy and commitment.

Here we go (online)!

Some of the first on campus to sense an impending switch were employees in Information Systems. They began thinking about remote learning during EMU’s spring break the first week in March, and in anticipation, beefed up their HelpZone articles on a variety of relevant topics.

By March 12, when EMU announced a move to online learning, IS had reviewed and increased capacity of all systems and equipment (including webcams, laptops and Chromebooks) necessary for online teaching and campus operations. Needless to say, they were busy.

Two graphs from Jenni Piper, director of User Services, tell the story:

First Helpdesk Tickets. The green line shows last year’s demand and the blue line this year’s.

And second, the number of daily Zoom meetings hosted through the campus account, beginning in early March.

After hosting a training for faculty March 13 and the shift to online the classes the next week, IS handled 64 tickets on March 16, something of a watermark that shows when faculty and staff began to engage with the reality of a move to remote work.

Pedagogues thinking positively

About 10 days into the online shift, I asked a few professors how things were going. Some of their answers are included below. I was particularly struck by the positive perspective of veteran educator Carolyn Stauffer, professor of applied social sciences:

In reality, what we’re experiencing now is the presence of hybrid education. We’ve had the chance to meet in-person for the first part of the semester and now I get to know each participant’s online presence as well. It’s wonderful to be able to build on the assets of both sides of that equation!

Solo field trips

Professor Doug Graber Neufeld‘s “Natural History of the Shenandoah Valley” course syllabus was packed full of fantastic field trips to local natural wonders and lab experiences (like taxidermy practice below).

With his students scattered in mid-March, the field trips turned into independent explorations, such as Katelyn Dean‘s below. Here she holds morel mushrooms she and her dad found in the George Washington National Forest, just one find shared during class time.

“It’s the highlight of my day to hear students who daily recount the joy they find in now recognizing the animals, plants and rocks around them,” Neufeld said. “In such unusual times, experiencing the beauty and complexity of the natural world together has been a unique source of hope for us.” Read more about this class.

Conversations continue

In Professor Marti Eads’ class “Ways of War and Peace,” students met virtually with Reverend Masayuki Sawa, the pastor of a Reformed (Calvinist) congregation in Japan. He spoke of his perception of contemporary Japanese attitudes toward World War II and Japanese perceptions of the US and our own military actions, then and now, among other topics.

The class was slated to visit the Holocaust Museum in Washington D.C. Instead, guest speaker Gillian Steinberg, an educator at the Salanter Akiba Riverdale Academy in the Bronx, and her students from the Modern Orthodox Jewish tradition met online with EMU students.

This conversation and the de-brief afterwards held richness and nuance, Eads said, with several classmates opening up about their own religious experiences, choices and identities. Recognizing the common humanity, despite labels — “just the idea of all of us sitting together talking and all of us from different groups” was a moving experience, said one of her students. []

Creating community with virtual high fives

Engineering professor Esther Tian (pictured above at top right) continued teaching synchronous classes, preferring the structure and the presence of students. “It is also good for students to see each other and talk to each other before class as they would in a classroom.

We do high fives, thumb-ups (and downs) during class, we find out new features of Zoom and use them right away. It has been fun. I also found that one-on-one and small group Zoom sessions were working really well in answering students’ questions as well as advising..”

Senior Collin Longenecker, visible below Tian in the photo above and also at right, was an embedded tutor with a first-year engineering course. Though initially he wasn’t sure how Zoom sessions would work, he adapted well: “The students pop in and out and they can share their screen with me. It is almost like I am in the engineering lab looking over their shoulder trying to help them troubleshoot the problem. I have been helping a few students that I had not helped before we went to online school which is cool.”

Read more about EMU tutors at work during online classes.

The power of community to enhance learning was the top tip in a blog post titled ” by Dean (and chem prof) Tara Kishbaugh for fellow organic chemistry teachers using the same texbook. “Community Matters,” she began. Use the relationships that have already been built to help students continue asking questions and learning in small peer groups. And she reminded readers, you can still greet each student individually when they enter your Zoom classroom.

Tech fails/wins: ‘chipmunky’-ness and new relationships

Professor Mark Sawin teaches U.S. History 103, from World War I to the present, with a focus on “power and paradox.” Sawin tried to do a synchronous class on Zoom and “it rather hilariously and spectularly failed,” he reported.

“So, since then, I’ve been pre-recording all my lectures on Panopto so students can watch them asynchronously, and with that program, you can adjust my speed. At 1.5 speed, I start to get rather chipmunky… at .5 speed I sound like the television show ‘Drunk History.’ I’m not sure if that amuses students, but it certainly amuses me.”

With the lectures available at any time, he began using normal class time as an open forum where students could drop in and ask questions.

“I’ve had some wonderful 1-on-1 conversations with students that I would never have had in our normal class setting. In this sense, our ‘social distancing’ has actually provided some closeness that wasn’t there before, and for that I’m grateful,” Sawin said. “I’ve also been pleased and touched by the grace that students have extended to us as we struggle to move our classes online. And I believe we, too, are showing that grace, focusing on the learning objectives and the big important ideas, and allowing a lot of latitude when it comes to the many wifi issues, isolation stresses, and general quarantine chaos we’re all learning to live with.”

Grace and connection

That grace is something education professor Paul Yoder has also experienced. Students in his classes are pre-service teachers and as a pedagogical specialist himself, the shift to online classes provided ample room for discussions around topics related to the digital classroom.

He wrote: “The key word in my planning for weekly class sessions via Zoom has been connection. We have taken time for each of the 18 students to rate how they are doing on a scale of 1-10 and then share with the group. Last week I sent individual emails as a follow up to the few students who placed themselves on the low end of the scale. I have also been excited to hear from some of my advisees who have shared their affirmations of how professors are providing flexibility as needed.  Particularly as we recognize that not all of us have the same level of internet access, I know that living into an ethic of care is essential.”

Nancy Heisey, seminary dean, also used check-ins with her classes, which often included adult students who juggled many responsibiliities, including pastors working in ministry settings.

“We take time every period to share ‘how it’s going’ and encourage one another. Some students are struggling with a household where everyone is working on line in a crowded space—spouse tele-working, children trying to do homework, and seminary student worrying about class work and how to get a video service up for their congregation’s Sunday service.

“I’ve been amazed, though, at the depth of engagement—this morning, my New Testament students each did a creative rendering of a parable of Jesus. They were funny, sobering, and encouraging!”

Hearing some of those needs led seminary professor Sarah Bixler to host an April 1 online gathering that drew 32 pastors, including 22 alumni, from four denominations and eight states. This has led to a free online series for pastors. Check it out here.

A wider global market for CJP

Innovation happened quickly during the Center for Justice and Peacebuilding’s facilitation class, co-taught by Professor Catherine Barnes and Amy Knorr. Students usually practice skills they’ve learned in person by helping clients with a planned discussion, strategic visioning or group dialogue. With face-to-face options limited and practice still required, students moved online.

Above, one group produced an online strategic planning for Shenandoah Green, a local environmental group, including a circle process, a historical reflection using a digital timeline that folks could fill in, and a card sort, a way of getting ideas out into the open and then grouping them together. “Board members at Shenandoah Green were delighted,” said Knorr, who helps coordinate practice settings for CJP students.

In the midst of the pandemic, CJP also hosted several online gatherings for alumni to connect and share resources.

And significantly, center staff moved quickly to adapt the Summer Peacebuilding Institute to online classes, expedite a new hybrid graduate degree program in transformational leadership, and prepare upcoming semester classes for online delivery.

The massive disruption and accompanying move towards online learning and programs have created new opportunities, said Executive Director Jayne Docherty, especially in a previously untapped market of prospective participants who could not have afforded to travel or would not have been issued a visa in the current environment.

“In the face of the pandemic, many people are waking up to the fact that our societies have become more unequal and unjust and that we are teetering on the edge of violent confrontations between social subgroups. Some of those people are saying, ‘This can’t continue. This is just wrong. What can I do? I want to be part of the solution.’ By moving our programs online quickly, we have helped channel their energy and impulse to help others in ways that prevent violence and address injustices.”

’12 hours ahead of our students’

As daily reports arrived into faculty in-boxes about the closure of practicum and internship placements to students, the nursing department focused on making sure their seniors could graduate on time and join the fight against covid-19.

For one cohort, that meant three 12-hour shifts at a local hospital. For others, they logged clinical hours (and their supervising professor also took calls) at a special covid-19 public health hotline.

“The faculty were meeting hour to hour, staying 12 hours ahead of the students as we were making decisions,” said Professor Melody Cash.

Eventually, a waiver allowed faculty to substitute simulation hours for live clinicals and all 16 seniors finished out the semester in good standing, ready to join the workforce.

It’s the small things…

Marci Frederick (above), director of Sadie Hartzler Library, and Professor Kevin Seidel dressed in academic regalia in honor of their senior seminar students for their last Zoom class meeting.

Congratulations, EMU family, on the end of the semester we did not anticipate.

We celebrate.

The fifth episode of the Peacebuilder podcast features David Brubaker, dean of the school of social sciences and professions at ��ݮ����, which includes the Center for Justice and Peacebuilding (CJP). In the episode, Brubaker talks about the environmental and generational changes that organizations now face, the tension between focusing on international versus domestic conflict, and global trends of income inequality.

The podcast is just one of the ways the center is celebrating its 25-year anniversary. Hosted by CJP executive assistant and anniversary celebration committee chair Patience Kamau MA ‘17, the 10-episode series features faculty and staff members reflecting on the history of CJP and their own peacebuilding work. A new episode drops every other week on the Peacebuilder website.

Brubaker came to CJP in 2004, when it was known as the Conflict Transformation Program. At the time, he taught organizational studies; he now teaches organizational behavior, development, and leadership. He’s also worked as a consultant with over 100 organizations, from non-profit to for-profit to governmental, in 12 different countries.

“There are just some really classic issues that tend to produce stress and conflict in organizations, no matter what part of the world they’re in or even what sector they’re in,” Brubaker says.

Two major challenges that all organizations are now facing, Brubaker explains, are changes in the environment and the generational shift away from baby boomer values to those of Generation X and millennials.

“Generational research has found  that millennials, for example, have a much higher priority on work-life balance,” Brubaker says. “People aren’t willing to just sign over their lives to organizations, as happened with my parents’ generation and with mine as well.”

In his consulting practice, Brubaker has relied on all three academic pillars of CJP: conflict transformation, restorative justice, and trauma awareness and resilience, which he says are unique to be housed within one program.

As to what CJP could be doing better, Brubaker says that many practitioners have been attracted by the “siren song” of international work, “often at the cost of paying attention to growing economic and social polarization in our own country.” At the same time, though, the trends we see in the U.S. are happening on a global scale, he says. 

“As the gap between the rich and the poor has grown around the world, we are seeing the rise of populism and nationalism because that’s how people give voice to their grievances,” says Brubaker. This feeds directly into his vision for CJP 25 years from now. He hopes by then the program will better address the intersection of politics and economics, by supporting those on the front lines of those conflicts.

“Those who are closest to the problem or the challenge are the ones best able to figure out how to beat it,” Brubaker says.

A time capsule of ��ݮ����’s Center for Justice and Peacebuilding (CJP) is in the works – not to be buried, but uploaded. The artifact in question is a podcast, which will feature ten CJP faculty and staff members reflecting on the history of CJP and their own peacebuilding work. The 10-episode series is set to launch on Wednesday Jan. 22, 2020, with a new episode dropping every other week on the Peacebuilder website.

The podcast is the creation of Patience Kamau, a 2017 graduate of the program and also chair of CJP’s 25th anniversary committee, who wanted to give students, alumni, friends and supporters of the graduate program an in-depth look at where CJP has been, where it is now, and where it hopes to go.

“For the sake of posterity, this is emerging as a gem,” Kamau said. “These voices are here right now, many of them were here 25 years ago, and given the simple trajectory of life, are unlikely to be here 25 years from now.”

But why a podcast, specifically?

“It’s a way that a lot of people are consuming information these days. I think it’s a necessary long-form method of connecting with the audience,” Kamau explained, in contrast to the “fragmented” nature of social media posts. “When you’re doing it on podcasts, you can go into more depth, and you can connect with an audience in a different, more meaningful way.”

While the exact episode order is yet to be determined, Kamau said the pilot will feature Barry Hart. His interview acts as a primer to CJP, touching on elements like the Little Books of Justice and Peacebuilding series and curriculum design, which other interviewees then dive into more deeply. “It’s like passing on a baton,” Kamau said. 

She asked each interviewee the same questions, based on the 25th anniversary’s theme of “celebrate, reflect, dream,” but of course “each one of them goes down a very unique path based on their own careers and life experiences.”

Kamau is an avid podcast consumer – she subscribes to at least eight, and regularly listens to others beyond those. That gave her an ear for what makes for a good listening experience, as she went into the project having to teach herself about audio production by looking up internet guides and tutorials.

Alumni Michaela Mast ‘18 and ‘19 have also helped breathe life into the podcast. Mast, co-host of the climate justice podcast , which is sponsored by the housed at EMU, has lent technical assistance. Mullet, whose scores have been featured in recent documentaries and video games, is composing original music for the episodes.The podcast’s audio mixing engineer is Steve Angello who works closely with Mullet.  

“There’s something organic about it, just doing the work in anticipation of what will emerge. It’s a work of art, where the overall beauty lies in paying attention to the details” Kamau said.

The episodes will be also available on Apple Podcasts on iTunes, Spotify, Google Podcast, Stitcher, iHeart Radio, and TuneIn.

Featured voices

Each episode presents an interview with the following CJP affiliates, listed alphabetically by last name as the exact episode order is yet to be determined.

• David Brubaker, dean of EMU’s School of Social Sciences and Professions and longtime CJP professor,
• Jayne Docherty, executive director,
• Bill Goldberg, director of the Summer Peacebuilding Institute,
• Barry Hart, professor of trauma, identity and conflict studies,
• Katie Mansfield, Strategies for Trauma Awareness and Resilience (STAR) program lead trainer,
• Janelle Myers-Benner, academic program coordinator,
• Gloria Rhodes, professor of peacebuilding and conflict studies,
• Carl Stauffer, professor of restorative and transitional justice and co-director of the ,
• Johonna Turner, professor of restorative justice and peacebuilding and co-director of the , and
• Howard Zehr, distinguished professor of restorative justice.

The following appointments are announced by Fred Kniss, provost; David Brubaker, dean of the School of Social Sciences and Professions; Sue Cockley, dean of the School of Theology, Humanities, and Performing Arts; and Tara Kishbaugh, dean of the School of Sciences, Engineering, Art, and Nursing. 

Benjamin Bergey, assistant professor of music

Bergey earned his Doctor of Music Arts and Master of Music degrees from James Madison University with a concentration in orchestral conducting, literature and pedagogy. He is a graduate of EMU with a degree in church music and vocal performance. Bergey is currently music director of the Rapidan Community Orchestra and director of music at Harrisonburg Mennonite Church. He was assistant conductor of orchestras at James Madison University from 2013-18 and has performed with several orchestras. He brings experience in arts administration and marketing as well, including roles as founder and director of Harrisonburg Sacred Arts and as the music editor of the forthcoming bi-national hymnal Voices Together, for Mennonite Church USA.

Sarah Bixler, instructor, Eastern Mennonite Seminary 

Bixler is completing her PhD in practical theology with an emphasis on Christian education and formation at Princeton Theological Seminary, with an anticipated graduation date of May 2021. At the seminary, where she also earned a Master of Divinity degree, she has worked in administrative roles with Princeton’s Center for Church Planting and Revitalization and Iron Sharpening Iron: Leadership Education for Women Clergy project. She has more than a decade of ministry and teaching experience at Eastern Mennonite Middle School, Zion Mennonite Church (Broadway, VA) and Virginia Mennonite Conference.

Bixler earned her MDiv at Princeton Theological Seminary and her BA in English (secondary education) at EMU.

Bethany Detamore, instructor of nursing 

Detamore has worked as an RN and case manager in outpatient surgery and in medical-surgical nursing. She has a BSN from West Virginia Wesleyan University and an MSN from Western Governors University.  

Penny Driediger, assistant professor of practice, Eastern Mennonite Seminary

Driedeger has taught clinical pastoral education and served as director of mentored ministry. She has a B.A. in Social Work from ��ݮ���� and an M. Div. from Eastern Mennonite Seminary with a concentration in Pastoral Care. She is ordained for ministry with Virginia Mennonite Conference and most recently she has received Supervisor status through the Association for Clinical Pastoral Education. She has also been a staff chaplain at  Sentara RMH and served for 20 years in urban ministry in Hamilton, Ontario.

Beth Good, assistant professor and director of intercultural programs

Good will teach in and also provide leadership to EMU’s intercultural programs, including the undergraduate crosscultural program and off-campus cross-cultural curricular components.  She’ll also teach undergraduate cross-cultural courses. She most recently served as Kenya Country Representative for Mennonite Central Committee, with her husband. Previous professional experiences include living and working in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Kenya, serving as MCC’s global health coordinator, working as director of clinical services of Hope within Community Health Center, serving as the HIV program coordinator for Eastern Mennonite Missions, and teaching classes for EMU’s RN-BS in program. She holds master’s and doctoral degrees in nursing from Widener University. Her BSN is from EMU.

Wendell Shank, instructor, language and literature

Shank holds a MEd from James Madison University and a master’s degree in teaching Spanish as a foreign language from the University of Salamanca. He earned his BA in English literature and Spanish at EMU. He has taught at JMU and Eastern Mennonite High School and worked in support services and as a home school liaison for Harrisonburg City Schools. Shank also has experience with interpretation in the medical and social services fields, as well as in mediation.

Angela Spotts, instructor, health and physical education

Spotts earned an MS in cardiac rehabilitation and exercise science from East Stroudsburg University and a BS in health science from Bridgewater College. In addition to teaching experience, she was worked as an exercise physiologist in cardiac rehabilitation and clinical settings. 

Matt Tibbles, instructor, applied social sciences

Tibbles brings a broad background in juvenile justice, youth and family services to his teaching role. He earned a BA in youth and family ministry from Harding University and an MA in conflict transformation from EMU. He has worked as a minister, auditor, juvenile justice transition officer and as a nonviolence trainer in Washington state, Texas and Alaska. Tibbles co-taught several courses as a graduate assistant while studying in EMU’s MA program.

Lela Faye Yoder, instructor, nursing

Yoder has more than 20 years experience in the nursing profession. She has an MSN degree from the University of Toledo and a BNS from EMU. Yoder has worked in a variety of hospital settings, including as a staff and charge nurse in cardiac care, orthopedic-surgical and peri-operative departments. She has also worked in family practice.

Open to anyone interested in faith-based conflict transformation, the event includes plenary talks, practical workshops and opportunities for networking, and aims to:

• Respond to the hunger for reconciliation and peace in churches and communities.
• Develop and sustain the art of conflict transformation, reconciliation and peacebuilding.
• Share and develop knowledge and skills to support reconciliation work.
• Strengthen the unique contribution made to conflict transformation by churches and faith communities.
• Uncover the peace-making skills you already have.

David Brubaker, dean of ��ݮ����’s School of Social Sciences and Professions and associate professor of organisational studies at the university’s , will deliver the keynote address the topic of “waiting.”

“I’ve been privileged to accompany the development of Place for Hope since the founding conference in Aviemore in 2009,” he said in a press release. “The growth in programs offered, people served, and communities impacted has been extraordinary. I’m eager to glimpse what the next decade holds.”

Victoria Mason, part of the Archbishop of Canterbury’s Reconciliation Team, will be leading one of the workshops. “Knowing how to transform conflict is crucial for following Jesus in a world that is ever more complex and divided. Ilook forward to being inspired to embrace that challenge with energy, wisdom and love”, she said.

Other key note speakers will include:

• Sarah Hills, Vicar of Holy Island, Honorary Canon for Reconciliation at Inverness Cathedral, and Canon Emeritus of Coventry Cathedral.
• Brendan McAllister, Corrymeela Member, Senior Mediation Advisor with the UN and a Senior Associate of ‘mediatEUr’.
• Ruth Harvey, Director of Place for Hope, a leading Mediation and Conflict Transformation provider amongst church communities in Scotland and beyond.

This year marks the 10th anniversary of Place for Hope, a Scottish charity launched in 2009 in response to the need for mediators within faith groups and congregations in Scotland.

Now, a decade on, Place for Hope supports the work of 35 trained and accredited mediators. They work throughout Scotland and the north of England offering coaching, facilitating difficult conversations and training. The aim is to nurture peace and build reconciliation in all church denominations.

The gathering is being hosted in partnership with the , , , , ,  , , ,  and the .

David Brubaker, Sue Cockley and Tara Kishbaugh now each lead one of three schools as part of EMU’s new academic structure.  The design, developed after a year of study and discussion, will enhance opportunities for interdisciplinary collaboration and will streamline undergraduate-graduate tracks, among other objectives. It is being phased in and will be fully implemented by the start of the fall 2020 semester.

“I am so pleased that leaders of this caliber were willing to step up to serve as inaugural deans in our new academic structure. They will help to ensure its success, and I am looking forward to working with them as an academic leadership team,” said Provost Fred Kniss.

Administration of Eastern Mennonite Seminary will be housed within the School of Theology, Humanities and the Performing Arts, and will retain its independent identity and brand, Kniss noted.

The appointment of the three new academic deans coincides with the addition of a new dean of students position, responsible for the co-curricular aspects of learning and living on campus. In July, Shannon W. Dycus, was appointed to this role. Among her responsibilities is supervision of student life operations and various directors.

Long records of EMU service

Brubaker, dean of the School of Social Sciences and Professions, has directed and taught in EMU’s MBA and MA in Organizational Leadership programs. In addition to various other roles since beginning at EMU in 2004, he has been a practicum director, academic director and member of the leadership team for the Center for Justice and Peacebuilding, as well as Faculty Senate co-president and vice president and faculty sustainability task force co-chair.

In prior years he served with various community development and conflict transformation organizations, including as associate director of Mennonite Conciliation Service and assistant director of Mennonite Central Committee’s Brazil program. He has authored numerous books and articles, and has independently trained or consulted with over 100 organizations on six continents. 

Cockley, dean of the School of Theology, Humanities and Performing Arts, has served at EMU since 1996. She has directed the adult degree completion and MA in Organizational Leadership programs, and has been dean of Eastern Mennonite Seminary and of graduate and professional studies. She will continue as seminary dean.

Previously she was an adult education specialist and director of the adult educator’s research network for the Virginia Department of Education, designed community education projects in Haiti and Kentucky for Mennonite Central Committee, served as a national trainer for Literacy Volunteers of America, and volunteered in basic adult education in West Virginia with VISTA. 

At EMU since January 2004, Kishbaugh, dean of the School of Sciences, Engineering, Art and Nursing, has chaired EMU’s biology and chemistry departments since 2013. An organic chemist, she has taught  chemistry courses and seminars on ethics, land use and food chemistry. In addition to various committee and council roles at EMU, she has served on undergraduate council executive and chaired the pre-professional health services and intellectual life committees. 

She has received multiple honors, awards and grants, and has organized and offered a variety of chemistry symposiums and workshops.

Dr. Jayne Docherty, formerly CJP’s academic programs director, will become executive director, effective May 8. 

“While we celebrate this wonderful new professional opportunity for Daryl, we also are sad to lose his gifted leadership at CJP and in the broader university,” said Provost Fred Kniss. “He has helped to lay a strong foundation for the future by working with our development office and generous donors to double CJP’s endowment and scholarship capability. He also provided guidance to the development of broadened academic programs relevant to addressing today’s challenges. He leaves the center with strong enrollment and a talented group of faculty and staff. These are all true gifts for EMU, CJP and the wider peacebuilding community.”

During Byler’s time at CJP, the center added a master’s degree in restorative justice; strengthened the Zehr Institute for Restorative Justice; managed several successful grant-funded programs, including a two-year UNDP project in Iraq to provide peacebuilding trainings for Iraqi academics and youth; and started an annual Peacebuilder of the Year Award to celebrate and honor alumni achievement.

“The past six years have been fruitful, largely because of Byler’s efforts to expand CJP’s external network and building internal capacity,” said Dr. David Brubaker, incoming dean of the School of Social Sciences and Professions at EMU and a long-time professor at CJP. “As is usually the case with exceptional leaders, Daryl is leaving CJP with a strengthened financial and management capacity and poised for continued growth as a globally renowned peacebuilding and restorative justice academic and practice center.”

Byler was the center’s sixth director — and one of its longest-serving, since its beginnings in 1995.

“It has been an honor to work with such brilliant and creative colleagues for the past six years and I have full confidence in the faculty and staff at CJP to carry on this important work,” Byler said “The peacebuilding world changes rapidly and I believe CJP needs newly innovative leadership and vision on a regular cycle. I look forward to continuing to support and elevate the center’s global reputation and network from an organization that shares similar important goals.”

In his new role, Byler will “continue to advance causes that are near to CJP’s heart,” Kniss said. The foundation is the region’s leading funder of civil legal aid, providing more than $55 million in grants since its inception in 1978 to promote equal access to justice for the area’s most vulnerable communities.

One appeal of the position, Byler said, is that it “circles back to where I started my career as a staff attorney with East Mississippi Legal Services.” A 1988 graduate of University of Virginia Law School, Byler arrived that same year in Mississippi, working there as an attorney and pastor of Jubilee Mennonite Church until 1994. From 1994 until 2013, he worked with Mennonite Central Committee, first as director of their Washington Office and then as a regional representative, with his wife Cindy, for Iran, Iraq, Jordan and Israel-Palestine.

Docherty, who earned her PhD at the Institute for Conflict Analysis and Resolution at George Mason University and brings both practice and academic experience to her new role, praised Byler as a “wonderful leader and champion for CJP who will be missed.”

���� I have learned one thing in almost 20 years at CJP, it is that this place never stands still and it always thrives,” she said. “Our excellent faculty, staff, and students are keeping us on the leading edge of practice, research, and teaching. Our graduates are changing their communities. I look forward to making sure the many CJP stories are broadcast near and far and ensuring that we have the resources to keep leading the way in peace and justice education.”

This article has been updated. Jayne Docherty was initially named as acting executive director and subsequently moved into the executive director role.

Titled “Cultivating a Justice-Oriented Community,” the Feb. 15 event will include a morning plenary speaker, workshops, opportunities for networking, and a catered lunch presentation.

“This year’s emphasis on local efforts and locally adaptable tools will enhance the facilitation, leadership and organizational skills for working in any community,” said SPI director Bill Goldberg. “And the lunch from local sandwich shop Gray Jay Provisions will be delicious!”

The annual event is modeled after the Summer Peacebuilding Institute, which is held on campus every May and June. Since 1994, more than 3,200 people from 120 countries have attended SPI, gaining concrete strategies and practical skills for cultivating a world organized around principles of justice, equity and dignity, and rooted in right relationship with our planet and with one another. This summer’s four sessions will focus on topics such as the nature and dynamics of conflict and violence, truthtelling and racial healing, trustbuilding, circle processes, peacebuilding approaches to violent extremism, and more.

Included in the $50 Community Day registration cost ($25 for EMU faculty, staff and students) are a waiver code for the SPI application fee, a copy of a Little Book of Justice and Peacebuilding, lunch, morning coffee and pastries, and two 90-minute workshop sessions.

The morning plenary speaker will be associate professor of teacher education Kathy Evans, on the work of restorative justice in educational contexts.

“Children who learn about justice grow up to become adults who promote justice,” she said. “Children who learn to resolve conflict in their classrooms become adults who know how to resolve conflict and promote peace in our world.”

The lunchtime presentation, titled “Rewilding Justice: On Sourdough and Transcending Incarceration,” will feature Soula Pefkaros of Gray Jay Provisions, a Harrisonburg sandwich shop and market. Pefkaros earned a master’s degree in conflict transformation with a restorative justice concentration at EMU’s Center for Justice and Peacebuilding, and is completing her doctoral degree in depth psychology at Pacifica Graduate Institute.

Workshop options and presenters include:

• “Strategies for Trauma Awareness and Resilience,” presented by Joy Kreider, a curriculum writer for InnerCHANGE: An order of Christians among the poor;
• “Circle Processes in Schools: An Interactive Introduction to the Why and How,” presented by Kathy Evans;
• “Transformational Leadership for Organizational Change,” presented by Dave Brubaker, director of the MBA and masters of organizational leadership programs and an associate professor of organizational studies at EMU;
• “Local Responses to Violent Extremism,” presented by Lisa Schirch, North American research director for the Toda Institute and an advisor with the Alliance for Peacebuilding; and
• “Trustbuilding in Organizations and Communities,” presented by Barry Hart, professor of trauma, identity and conflict studies at EMU.

For more information or to register, visit the Community Day website.

“I’m both grateful for the time and resources these professionals, many of them alumni, are offering our students,” said program director David Brubaker. “And since this is the first time I have joined them, I’m also learning from them myself.”

The MAOL program, designed for working mid-career professions, provides skills and training in conflict transformation, decision-making and strategic planning, individual and team leadership, financial management and mentoring.

In the mentorship course, mentors and mentees use readings, DiSC and Enneagram activities to explore personality traits, and discuss concepts of leadership through personal stories and reflection on topics such as self-management, authenticity, experience, emotional response, and life balance. Additionally, the student participates in a 360-degree review to assess personal leadership strengths and areas for improvement through a confidential survey of supervisors, co-workers and those s/he supervises. Over both semesters, the course involves combined classroom sessions and several one-on-one meetings.

This fall, Lee Snyder, president emeritus of Bluffton University, is the lead instructor. A recent guest speaker was attorney and alternate dispute resolution expert Marshall Yoder MA ’10 (conflict transformation). This year’s mentors, each paired with an MAOL student for a one-credit course each semester, include Brubaker and the following (all are Harrisonburg-based unless otherwise noted):

• ������������Devon Anders ’88, president of InterChange, Inc., offering warehousing, logistics and supply chain management;
• ������������Hans Harman ’02, president of Momentum Earthworks;
• ������������Jim Krause, retired corporate vice-president, president and CEO of Sentara RMH, a hospital serving seven counties in the Shenandoah Valley;
• ������������Kara Martin, probation officer in the Greensboro-based Middle District of North Carolina;
• ������������Edgar Miller, retired general manager of Truck Enterprises, a multi-state commercial truck dealership;
• ������������Tammy Torres, assistant director at the nonprofit social services agency Empowerhouse, in Fredericksburg, Va.
• ������������Wayne Witmer ’88, president of Harman Construction.

Anders and Miller served on the MAOL curriculum advisory council with Sue Cockley, a specialist in adult education who was the program’s first director. Now dean of EMU’s graduate school and Eastern Mennonite Seminary, Cockley notes that leadership development has strong similarities to spiritual formation, widely recognized as one of the seminary’s unique curricular foci.

“Becoming a leader is a maturation process that resembles spiritual maturation,’” she said. “This process is the gradual development of emotional intelligence, a deepening understanding of oneself and one’s strengths and weaknesses. Just as a spiritual director can help guide the student to a deeper faith, so can a mentor guide students in this self-knowing journey in order to form them into mature leaders.”

The pairings come about organically. Marilda Bardhi, former CFO of a large construction company in her native Albania, is currently interning with Anders at Interchange. Anders and Bardhi have spent time thinking and talking about cultural differences related to leadership. Albanian business professionals manage rather than lead, Bardhi said, so her big takeaway is related to working with employees and building “a good relationship as a leader with your colleagues, subordinates and frontline staff or stakeholders.”

Steve Ericksen, director of customer service at Campwise Software, has benefited from Edgar Miller’s mentorship prior to the class. That long-term relationship, “which I can’t imagine being without,” has helped Ericksen see his own leadership development as a perpetual process of authentic transformation. “It’s important to determine who you genuinely are and never stop learning about yourself and others,” he said, adding that Miller has served “as a sounding board for ideas, a motivator for continued growth, and a source of encouragement when difficult situations arise.”

Such intellectual and personal reflections are beneficial to him, Anders says. “I learn more about myself as I reflect and share my thoughts. We have had good conversations that have helped me to further understand different leadership styles and personalities, as well as cultural differences.”

Continued learning is key to Miller’s involvement. He’s mentored four students through the program, “and learned from all of them.” After more than 40 years in leadership, he enjoys passing on lessons learned and working with his mentees through current issues in their lives by offering “possible solutions or alternatives based on my experiences.” And the discussions sometimes revive forgotten principles of leadership or lead to the exploration of new ones.

“Good leaders never stop learning,” he said – echoing one underlying goal of the mentoring course: that the cycle of sharing and reflecting continue to enrich a lifetime of growth in all who participate.

This she did, gently and to knowing laughter, during her keynote address last week at Eastern Mennonite Seminary’s annual . The gathered included some 160 clergy and faith leaders representing 10 denominations and coming from 13 states.

Yet it was clear to all that McNabb had considerable experience helping to prepare both prospective clergy for the path of ordination and supporting those currently serving. In her hour-long address, McNabb suggested that there is a temptation to ignore “unhealed wounds in unhealed places.”

“We don’t stay in Good Friday, we keep moving and we are Easter people,” she said.

Taking as her theme the Japanese art form kintsugi, McNabb shared that the goal of excellence in ministry cannot be truly attempted unless one considers — deeply — one’s own “broken places.”

“In kintsugi, broken ceramic pieces are mended together with gold and silver, filling in the cracks with craftsmanship, value, care and beauty,” she said. “This is what God does, pouring in the gold and working it in finely … it is critical that we be models of how the broken places can be mended.”

Iris de León-Hartshorn, director of transformative peacemaking for Mennonite Church USA, offered the first keynote address on Monday evening. She shared the story of her journey in leadership, “from Catholic to Presbyterian to Southern Baptist to Mennonite,” and invited listeners to “face into brokenness as an integral aspect of finding one’s place as a leader.”

Networking a highlight

One goal of the event was for those attending “to come to grips with the reality that ‘brokenness’ and ‘thriving’ are not mutually exclusive realities,” said EMS Director of Admissions Les Horning. “Several participants noted that the speakers and workshops challenged them to rethink the categories of wholeness and brokenness.”

“How is wholeness defined? How is brokenness defined? And who gets to write the definitions?” asked one participant.

Time to connect and network was woven into the schedule, which Horning said was the highlight for many participants. “I think the more we encounter brokenness in us and around us, the more we need each other.”

“Just being with other pastors is wonderful,” wrote one participant in an evaluation. “Guest speakers are icing on the cake. I like how all the emotions and brain waves get validated and voiced.”

Practical skills

In breakout sessions throughout the three-day conference, seminars focused on practical skills related to the complexities of congregational leadership.

Professor , an expert in congregational change, brought a sociologist’s perspective to current polarization on political and cultural issues in the United States, then presented with EMU President Emeritus Loren Swartzendruber a case study of how the university moved through a long listening process on the way to making the decision to change their same-sex policy for employees.

Brittany Caine-Conley, an EMS alumna and ordained minister in the United Church of Christ, shared about her leadership and involvement in the clergy response to recent white supremacist rallies in Charlottesville, Virginia.

While many in the audience knew the popular narrative provided by the media, Caine-Conley shared a more nuanced and detailed narrative: of how she became involved in area activism at the behest of an anarchist group for people of color; how as a layperson, she persuaded area clergy to become involved; and how her leadership among various groups sometimes forced her to make decisions she later regretted. She spoke openly about the challenges of making decisions in fear-filled situations and mediating between citizens’ groups with disparate and conflicting views.

“Allowing our bodies to be bruised and our spirits broken for the gospel is not new but it is necessary in today’s world,” she said. “We follow an agitator who was executed by the state.  If you enter into this ministry, you’re called to do this thing that doesn’t make any sense, to put your body on the line to spread the good news that is countercultural to everything our society values. Jesus put his body on the line to absorb violence at the hands of the emperor so that others didn’t have to. If I am to follow this Jesus, I need to do that as well.”

Barbara Robbins MA ’11 and The Reverend James Isaacs MA ’10 are members of , a consortium of peacebuilding practitioners working mainly in the field of congregational change. Of its 10 members, seven have ties to ��ݮ����, including professors David Brubaker and Roxy Allen Kioko MA ’07. [Read more about Cooperative By Design in this EMU news coverage.]

The church’s discernment process began after the June 2015 mass shooting in an African Methodist Episcopal (AME) church in Charleston, S.C., by a neo-Confederate. Shortly afterward, other Virginia churches with historical links to the Confederacy and Confederate generals began to reconsider internal and external symbolisms.

The process with the Lexington church began in January 2016 and concluded in September 2017 with a vote in favor of the name change to Grace Episcopal Church.

In a Jan. 15 essay titled “,” vestry member Doug Cumming, a professor of journalism at Washington and Lee University, shares the story of the six-member committee, their hard work of discernment, and the role played by Cooperative By Design facilitators.

In the face of a fractured church that one vestry member compared to our national political discourse, the rector sought outside help that turned out to be based on radical peace-building techniques from the pacifist Mennonite branch of Christianity…

… Father [Tom] Crittenden researched the group and, with the vestry’s approval, invited two of its consultants (one an Episcopal priest) to the vestry retreat in January 2016. Two things were memorable about their visit to that retreat: A technique of giving an individual the power to speak while others listened and secondly, the idea that conflict was not something to be ‘resolved’ but was a kind of energy that could be used for ‘transformation.’

Finding the middle way of compromise led to restoration of the church’s historic name, but also to the founding of a subcommittee with the goal of seeking ways “to honor Lee and the history of this parish in meaningful and significant ways.”

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Webinar on reconciliation efforts at Richmond church

The hosted a about historic reconciliation and faith-based practice, using as a case study St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Richmond, Virginia and their four-year effort to reconcile the congregation’s historic ties as home parish church to leaders of the Confederate Army (the church has been called the Cathedral of the Confederacy). The webinar was among a series sponsored by the Virginia Foundation for the Humanities.

Click here to view the .

Background reading

The Washington Post covered the debate among congregants in an .

The Richmond-Times Dispatch covered the Sept. 19, 2017, .

EMU hosted The Rev. Sharon Washington Risher, who lost several family members in the Charleston shooting, during the university’s Martin Luther King Week. Read more.

Titled “Practical Tools for Hard Problems in Our Communities,” the day’s workshops will offer practical tools and build skills for peacebuilding, conflict transformation in the workplace, and facilitation and community organizing. The day will also include a morning plenary speaker, opportunities for networking, and a lunch presentation by regional community leaders.

The event is also designed to give participants a preview of the community atmosphere and courses offered at , a program of the (CJP). SPI’s five sessions in May and June focus on a variety of topics including trauma awareness, restorative justice, leadership, program management and responding to violent extremism.

More than 200 people from approximately 40 countries attend SPI each year. While the early years of SPI were geared more towards international participants, in recent years the program has also attracted local participants and responded to local situations.

“We want to support the efforts of local individuals in a variety of positions and occupations who are already engaged in addressing the hard topics in our communities,” said Christi Hoover Seidel, director of admissions for CJP. “We see SPI Community Day as an opportunity for support, expansion, and connection for those who are committed to peacebuilding, even if they don’t self-identify as ‘peacebuilders.’ Our goal is to offer practical tools to help sustain their work.”

The 72 participants in last year’s Community Day represented a wide range of professional interests: offender reentry, youth empowerment, adult career education, mediation, climate activism and filmmaking. More than half were from Harrisonburg, with the remainder from Virginia, Maryland, Washington D.C., West Virginia and Pennsylvania.

Workshops and presenters this year include:

• Transformative Leadership for Organizational Development, with Elizabeth Girvan, executive director of Skyline Literacy and , professor of organizational leadership, EMU;
• How to be a Conflict Competent Leader, with , professor of applied social sciences, EMU;
• Peace Education Prelude, with Ed Brantmeier, professor of education, JMU;
• Organizing Your Community for Change, with , professor of applied social sciences, EMU;
• Building Resilience in Body, Mind and Spirit, with , director of the Strategies for Trauma Awareness & Resilience program, EMU;
• Mapping the Justice Needs of Your Community, with , professor and co-director of the Zehr Institute of Restorative Justice; and
• The Relational Importance of One-on-One Meetings, with , professor of Restorative Justice and Peacebuilding, EMU.

Registration cost is $50 ($25 for students), and includes two workshops, a catered lunch, plus a $50 application fee waiver for SPI 2018.

Learn more about SPI Community Day .