Micah Hurst Archives - EMU News

New men’s ministry creates a space to take on the tough questions of masculinity, identity and faith

Walt Wiltschek — Sun, 03 Apr 2016 13:34:29 +0000

During one recent Friday lunch hour, a group of about a dozen male students, faculty and staff gathered around tables in ��ݮ��’s dining hall and broached the question, “What makes men men?” Is it careers, athletic ability, attitude, even facial hair?

A vigorous discussion followed, and the office hopes that many more follow—part of a new effort to create a men’s ministry on campus.

EMU senior Wesley Wilder, a student pastoral assistant in Campus Ministries, says the idea began through conversations in an off-campus apartment. Some upperclassmen were talking about possibilities to become better engaged and connected and began to brainstorm.

Wes Wilder, a pastoral assistant in Campus Ministries and a senior Bible and religion major, has helped a new men’s group get off the ground at ��ݮ��. The initiative arose from conversations among several undergraduate men who thought the campus community lacked places for men to meet and talk about issues of identity and faith. (Photo by Joaquin Sosa)

“We recognized a need to revamp what we had been doing,” Wilder says. “We saw a need or desire for men on campus to talk about man-like things.”

That prompted Wilder to make such a ministry a focus of his work. In addition to regular Friday lunch discussions, the men’s ministry has also offered monthly Saturday morning hikes with faculty leader Ron Stoltzfus and held a Spiritual Life Week retreat at Lake Anna on the theme “Man Makes Myth Makes Man.”

While past efforts at men’s groups have often focused solely on topical concerns, such as sexual assault education, the new effort is broadly oriented toward faith, open sharing and personal connections.

“The hope is that this continues to be a space where however many people show up can get together and have conversation and intentionally build relationships with people they might not have connected with,” Wilder says. “Already several faculty and staff members have come that I had never met before.”

student and Campus Ministries intern Micah Hurst says much of his identity growing up revolved around being a baseball player, until a back injury altered that path. He started questioning who he was, and what it meant to be a man. If Christians don’t take time to reflect on what masculinity means, Hurst says, then “we give up that authority to our culture.”

“Masculinity takes on a whole different meaning depending on our generation and all our different cultural experiences,” Hurst says. “We want to get a more holistic understanding.”

Hurst says he and Wilder noticed that many men on campus didn’t come to the Bible studies or other Campus Ministries activities that were already being offered. The new approach aims to provide “opportunities to have quality conversation at places people already are or want to go,” Hurst says.

“The EMU says we’re a campus that intentionally builds community with one another,” Hurst says. “This is a great opportunity to do that, 10 men at a time. We hope that people come into this space and create this conversation in other spaces, too.”

‘When Will It Stop?’ EMU Vigil Honors Victims Of Hesston, Kan., Shooting

Nolan Stout/ Daily News Record — Fri, 04 Mar 2016 21:16:32 +0000

HARRISONBURG — Micah Hurst has one question — “When will it stop?”

Hurst, a pastoral intern at ��ݮ��, was one of about 30 people who came to the school’s Campus Center on Thursday to hold a prayer and candlelight vigil for victims of a shooting last week in Hesston, Kan.

Three people were killed and 14 wounded during a shooting at an Excel Industries building by a former Excel employee on Feb. 25. The man was later killed by police.

��ݮ�� students, administration and community members light candles during a prayer vigil for the victims of a shooting in Hesston, Kansas.
(Daniel Lin/Daily News-Record)

Hurst, who graduated from Hesston College and whose wife is from the town, said he feels helpless when he hears about mass shootings.

“I’m getting frustrated with this is not an unusual occurrence,” Hurst said. “We should be able to do something.”

Ken L. Nafziger, vice president of student life at EMU, said a lot of the school’s students are from Hesston or transferred from Hesston College, which is near the Excel building in the Kansas town.

“It has a lot of impact on both our communities,” Nafziger said. “[We] felt it would be a good opportunity to … support our students who are here from Hesston or have connections to Hesston.”

Hesston College, a two-year Mennonite school, is a sister school of EMU, with many students transferring to the university to earn a bachelor’s degree. Hesston College was locked down during the shooting. A choir from the school is set to perform in Harrisonburg over the weekend.

At Thursday’s vigil, Students sang hymns and prayed before lighting candles for the victims.

“Violence will not prevail in our communities,” said Brian Martin Burkholder, EMU’s pastor. “And peace will endure.”

��ݮ�� campus pastor Brian Martin Burkholder leads a prayer vigil inside the Campus Center for the victims of a shooting in Hesston, Kansas.
(Daniel Lin/Daily News-Record)

Courtney Unruh, a senior at EMU, is from Hesston and said her sister goes to school across the street from the Excel building.

“Hesston is the place I’ve called home my entire life,” Unruh said. “I found myself in a lot of fear on Thursday.”

Nafziger said what happened in Hesston could happen anywhere, and people should be prepared.

“We can’t deny that it could potentially happen in Park View right next to EMU,” Nafziger said. “We can’t say that it can’t happen here. We like to think it couldn’t. We no longer can act as if it couldn’t.”

Reprinted with permission from the Mar. 6, 2016 issue of the Daily News-Record.

Carnival de Resistance brings earth-friendly performances, art, parade to Harrisonburg

Chris Edwards — Fri, 20 Sep 2013 18:23:26 +0000

Bicycles generated the necessary power, with a gently audible rhythm, for the sound system at gatherings of the recent . Volunteers, including EMU students, took turns pedaling for the electricity.

The energetic Carnival troupe began its two-city tour with 10 days in Harrisonburg, camping on ’s lawn while promoting “creation care” through performance, artwork and service both there and at EMU. Carnival de Resistance is a new venture, with artist-members from around the U.S. and Mexico, says member Sarah Thompson, who holds an MDiv from and is outreach coordinator for . Four main shows addressed themes of earth, air, fire and water.

At EMU’s Thomas Plaza in front of the Campus Center Wednesday, more than 100 experienced the air-themed show, titled “Out of the Whirlwind.” Featuring its creators, Jay Beck and Tevyn East as Raven and Dove, it began serendipitously as a full harvest moon emerged from clouds:

Addressing human neglect of earth

Dove (East), a wordless dancer in white robes, cradles an egg. Hatchling Raven (Beck) appears, clad in black rags. Raven’s first word is “death.” His narrative – angry, mournful, sometimes humorous – attacks humanity’s neglect of Earth:

“For the earth to stay alive, your way will have to die.”

Raven and Dove briefly dance on a biblical-type ark, but Dove gets confined to a cage. “We can scarcely fly in this soup of chemicals,” shouts Raven, who warns of angering Gaia, envisioned as the mother of Earth.

“The concepts were thought-provoking,” said ’08, an EMU staffer who brought a church youth group to the show.

At an earlier chapel service, the troupe led a Cherokee chant to “the great spirit,” along with the adaptation of a familiar spiritual’s words “When I die, hallelujah, by and by,” to “When we live, hallelujah, how we live.”

On the Carnival’s , inspiration is attributed to an array of influences, including First Nation and African earth-centered spirituality and activist theologians Ched Myers and William Stringfellow.

Resonating with students of sustainability

EMU biology professor observed that the Carnival “links oppressed people with the oppressed earth.” The radicalism, he said, may reach some who ignore conventional messages.

Troupe members visited Yoder’s classes all week. They have committed to making no purchases while touring, relying on kindnesses when needed. The Carnival is supported both by grants and hospitality.

EMU junior Chris Lehman, an environmental sustainability major, served as one of many sound-powering bikers and directed parking. Everett Brubaker, a classmate in the same major, participated as co-president of the campus . This major has been attracting increasing numbers of students, with 30 now in the program.

Junior Erin Rheinheimer, an environmental sustainability minor and Earthkeepers member, helped make sunflower signs for a parade and enjoyed a Carnival “skill-share show.”

Lehman, who enjoyed the air show most, is considering a career in conservation or wildlife biology. Brubaker, who especially liked the Carnival parade, hopes to work in advocacy.

Gifting a mural to Cedarwood

The second-floor mural in began with images by Carnival troupe member and nomadic painter Dimitri Kadiev. These were selected by art professor from his previous works, and the two worked collaboratively on shaping the overall result.

On part of the mural, between a laundry-room window and custodial closet door, a figure with outstretched arms smiles joyfully. A river seems to flow from the figure’s heart. Nearby, a quetzal (Guatemala’s national bird) displays its tail feathers.

Gusler and Kadiev started with a yellow background, which she notes, “glows through wherever there is open space.” Next, they filled in large shapes with solid colors – blue (river and shades of sky); green (landscape); purple (mountains).

Then, Gusler had all her students participate. At Kadiev’s suggestion, they created stenciled images of living things: an owl, poppy, hibiscus, egret and butterflies. Others subsequently dipped brushes in varying shades of green, instructed to “fill the shapes, and while you do, think about the earth.”

A passing student shows a spot to a companion, noting, “I did that shape.” Cedarwood resident director Micah Hurst points to the blue space his children, 4 and 8, helped paint.

Parading down Main Street

In Thursday’s Carnival parade, imaginatively retooled bicycles rolled alongside marchers from Harrisonburg’s North Main Street to Court Square. Motorists smiled at jugglers, banners, colorful costumes and percussionists with homemade instruments.

The local “Fossil Fuel Zombies,” wearing shredded black trash bags, called for burying fossil fuels with message-bearing signs, including “Oil, oil, watch Earth boil.”

“Are you really Jesus?” someone asked Kadiev, who had lettered the name atop his paint-splattered garb. “Only a stand-in,” Kadiev smiled.

The march ended with an hour-long “Power Down and Lift Up” rally at Court Square. Local groups represented by speakers included the for sustainability, the global-warming awareness movement, , , and .

Pastor Phil Kniss, who helped pedal the sound system, explained why his church installed 125 solar panels. When believers ask “Why worry about this world?” he responds, “Because God loves this world.”

At Trinity this weekend, the Carnival will offer children’s events and a “Water Show” before bicycling to Charlottesville for its final 2013 gig. Each day’s is posted on the Carnival’s website.