The annual faculty-staff conference, to be held Wednesday and Thursday, Aug. 19-20, focuses on the theme, “Promise and Possibility: Serving and Leading in a Global context.”

Keynote Speaker Robb Davis

Dr. Robb Davis, director of health initiatives at Freedom From Hunger, will address faculty and staff on Wednesday, Aug. 19

Robb Davis of Davis, Calif., will open the conference 9:30 a.m. Wednesday with an address on the program theme. Dr. Davis received a masters of public health as well as a doctorate from the School of Hygiene and Health at Johns Hopkins University and has considerable international experience.

He is director of health initiatives at Freedom From Hunger, an organization that combines microfinance, education and health protection to help poor women in Africa, Asia, and Latin America achieve a sustainable, self-help end to hunger. Davis has taught in EMU’s Summer Peacebuilding Institute a number of years.

An interactive session with Davis will follow at 11 a.m.Main sessions will be held in Martin Chapel of the seminary building.

EMU President Loren Swartzendruber will give a “state of the campus” address 8:30 a.m. Thursday.

Other activities will include a music and storytelling session, faculty workshops on cross-cultural programs and intensive writing, a voluntary cholesterol screening and worship led by Kenneth J. Nafziger, professor of music.

Other back-to-school activities

The annual all-campus picnic will be held on the front lawn Wednesday evening, Aug. 19.

Students who will serve as community advisers or ministry assistants will begin arriving for training sessions Friday, Aug. 21.

First-year students will check into the residence halls Aug. 29. Orientation programs for new students run through Monday, Aug. 31.

Returning students will arrive on campus Sunday, Aug. 30. Final fall semester registration will be held Monday, Aug. 31.

Fall convocation, Sept. 2

President Loren Swartzendruber will speak at an opening convocation 10 a.m. Wednesday, Sept. 2 in Lehman Auditorium on the theme, “Educating to serve and lead in a global context.” Student cross-cultural groups going to South Africa and Lesotho for the fall semester will be commissioned.

EMU’s fall semester runs through Dec. 18.

The annual faculty-staff conference, to be held Wednesday and Thursday, Aug. 15-16, will explore the question, “What does it mean to ‘walk humbly with God,'” lifted from the university’s mission statement based on Micah 6:8. Wednesday’s session will be held in Martin Chapel of the seminary building, and Thursday’s program will be held in EMU’s Suter Science Center Auditorium.

Dr. Lee F. Snyder, president emeritus of Bluffton (Ohio) University and formerly academic dean at EMU, and Dr. David I. Smith, director of the Kuyers Institute for Christian Teaching and Learning at Calvin College, Grand Rapids, Mich., will address the theme in the opening sessions. A faculty panel will respond to both presentations.

EMU President Loren Swartzendruber will give an address Thursday morning.

Other activities will include storytelling by EMU faculty and staff, a voluntary cholesterol screening, a comedy talent show, faculty-staff workshops and worship led by Kenneth J. Nafziger, professor of music.

The annual all-campus picnic will be held on the front lawn Wednesday evening, Aug. 15.

New students will check into the residence halls Aug. 25. Orientation programs for new students run through Tuesday, Aug. 28.

Returning students will arrive on campus Sunday, Aug. 26. Fall semester registration will be held Tuesday, Aug. 28. Fall semester classes will begin 8 a.m. Wednesday, Aug. 29. President Loren Swartzendruber will speak at an opening convocation 10 a.m. that day on the theme, “Sacred Conversations,” in Lehman Auditorium.

EMU’s fall semester runs through Dec. 14.

The annual faculty-staff conference will be held Wednesday and Thursday, Aug. 16-17, on the theme, “Mindfully Serving Together.” Wednesday sessions will be held at Massanetta Springs Conference Center east of Harrisonburg, and Thursday’s program will be held in Martin Chapel of the seminary building.

John LeMond will give three presentations on the program theme during the conference. He will speak 10:45 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. Wednesday and 8:30 a.m. Thursday.

Dr. LeMond is an ordained pastor of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. He has lived in Asia for 22 years, serving first in Taiwan and for the past 15 years in Hong Kong, where he currently is professor of church history and world religions at Lutheran Theological Seminary and director of the Bridge and Dialogue Division of the Tao Fong Shan Christian Centre.

The Bridge and Dialogue Division that LeMond works with arranges programs in religious dialogue, operates a Christian guesthouse called “Ascension House,” serving backpackers and travelors from around the world, and offers ecumenical Sunday worship services and prayer times using the Taize style of meditation.

Both days of the conference will include worship led by Kenneth J. Nafziger, professor of music. There will also be a time for recreation, an ice cream social with storytelling and a cholesterol screening.

A picnic for all employees and their families will be held on the front lawn of campus Thursday evening.

Student leaders – including community advisors and campus ministry assistants – will begin arriving Aug. 18 for orientation, and student athletes will arrive Aug. 19 to begin practice on Monday (Aug. 21) for fall sports.

New students will check into the residence halls Aug. 26. Orientation programs for new students run through Sunday noon, Aug. 27.

Returning students will arrive on campus Sunday, Aug. 27. Fall semester registration will be held Tuesday, Aug. 30. Fall semester classes will begin 8 a.m. Wednesday, Aug. 30. President Loren E. Swartzendruber will speak at an opening convocation 10 a.m. that day in Lehman Auditorium.

EMU’s fall semester runs through Dec. 15.