Rose Byler, a senior major from Goshen, Ind., won first place with her speech, “Living into the Tension: Social Services and Systemic Change.” Byler discussed how her profession can both empower individuals and tackle systemic issues.

“I challenge us to use our gifts to empower individuals, communities and policy making bodies in ways that confront systemic injustice and shift toward sustainable change. We must not forget the end goal,” Byler said.

As first-place winner, Byler receives a cash prize and entry in the bi-national competition with winners from other Mennonite-rooted colleges and universities in the United States and Canada. The bi-national winner will be announced in the fall.

Julia Schmidt, a junior from Pandora, Ohio, who is majoring in in addition to , was first runner-up with her speech, 鈥淗olding Dignity in the Community of Faith.鈥� Her speech focused on responses to difference and conflict in the church, articulating “how the concept of dignity can transform the way we live in relationship as a community of faith.”

“Looking back on my two experiences [in Ohio and Texas], I believe that dignity was the difference,” said Schmidt. “Now, I don’t think people in (my first church example) were bad people, or they meant to harm each other in the way they did. However, the church did not understand dignity, and how dignity is essential to all humans, and especially when attempting to be a community of Christ.”

Taylor Weidman, a junior from Chambersburg, Pa., who is triple-majoring in , and , was second runner-up with his speech, 鈥淒issimilarity is Hope.鈥� Weidman spoke about his story of dyslexia and the recognition of dissimilarities in the world.

“As a community dedicated to peace, we must not use or internalize the methods of measurement or conformity,” Weidman said. “As a community of learners and teachers, we cannot let ourselves become reduced to merely cogs in a system of compulsion鈥︹��

The annual oratorical event, open to students in Mennonite and Brethren in Christ universities and colleges in Canada and the United States, is administered by Peace and Justice Ministries of U.S.

Each speaker applied the Christian peace position to a contemporary concern in an 8-10 minute address.

The contest was established in 1974 in honor of the late C. Henry Smith, a Mennonite historian and professor at Goshen College and Bluffton University.

Other 2012 contestants

• Thomas Millary, 鈥淎 Pluralistic Realm: Towards a Theology of Peace鈥�
• Joel Nofziger, 鈥淐onfession as a Restorative Practice in the Church鈥�
• Sarah Schoenhals, 鈥淛ustice from Generation to Generation鈥�
• Jamila Witmer, 鈥淗is Dream is our Command: Breaking Stereotypes through Integration鈥�

EMU grad Nick Detweiler-Stoddard, a biblical studies major who is now entering the M.Div. program at Eastern Mennonite Seminary.

As a recipient of a 2009 FTE Congregational Fellowship, Detweiler-Stoddard will receive a $2,000 to $5,000 award from FTE, which matches support from his nominating congregation for seminary tuition and living expenses. He will also attend the 2009 FTE Conference on Excellence in Ministry, “Becoming Rich toward God: Pastoral Leadership and Economic Justice,” June 17-21 at Virginia Theological Seminary in Alexandria, Va.

FTE Congregational Fellows are selected competitively from a pool of applicants from across the U.S. and Canada. They must be nominated by a congregation, be preparing for congregational or parish ministry, have a minimum grade point average of 3.0 and have intellectual and interpersonal gifts for pastoral leadership. Detweiler-Stoddard was nominated for the fellowship by Community Mennonite Church of Harrisonburg, where he is a member.

The Wellman, Iowa, native is a 2008 biblical studies graduate of EMU. He is a behavior support specialist at Crossroads Counseling Center in Harrisonburg, working with clients to help them function better in school.

In 2007, Detweiler-Stoddard won the grand prize at the bi-national level in the C. Henry Smith Peace Oratorical Contest with his speech, “Connect the Dots.” Read the speech (PDF)

He and his wife, Erika Detweiler-Stoddard, are youth sponsors at Community Mennonite Church.

More about FTE fellowships

FTE awards the fellowships, which are funded by Lilly Endowment Inc., to increase the number of highly capable young people exploring or preparing for ordained ministry as a profession. Fewer than seven percent of clergy in most denominations today are under age 35, and interest among seminary students in congregational ministry has declined over the past five years.

“In today’s economy, the need to support young people who aspire to serve the church and the common good is an essential investment,” said the Rev. Ellen Echols Purdum, director of FTE Ministry Fellowships. “Congregations and entire communities need the intellect, leadership gifts and compassion that these candidates will bring to local challenges, spiritual, social and economic.”

The Fund for Theological Education is a leading ecumenical advocate for excellence and diversity in pastoral ministry and theological scholarship. It supports the next generation of leaders among pastors and scholars, annually providing $1.5 million in fellowships and support to gifted young people from all denominations and racial/ethnic backgrounds.

For more information about FTE fellowships, visit .

Nicholas Wolterstorff, professor emeritus of philosophy at Yale University and currently a visiting professor at the University of Virginia, will give two lectures on "justice" Thursday, Nov. 13, at Martin Chapel of the seminary building.

The first presentation, at 3:30 p.m., will be, "Why Are Christians Suspicious of Justice?" Dr. William Hawk, professor of philosophy at James Madison University, will respond, followed by open discussion.

The second, at 7 p.m., will be, "Re-Thinking Love in the New Testament." Dr. Ted Grimsrud, professor of theology and peace studies at EMU, will give a response, followed by open discussion.

Wolterstorff, a well-known Christian philosopher, has written numerous books on philosophy of religion, political philosophy, aesthetics, education and grief. His most recent book is "Justice: Rights and Wrongs" (Princeton University Press, 2008).

One of his most poignant works is "Lament for a Son," written as a response to the loss of his 25-year-old son in a mountain climbing accident. His reflections in the wake of that tragedy are deeply personal, expressed with a prayerful anguish with which most bereaved parents will identify. In the book, Wolterstorff refuses to turn from the "demonic awfulness" of death and, as he moves faithfully through grief, discovers new meaning in the Beatitudes, together with a new understanding of a suffering God.

Wolterstorff received his BA from Calvin College in 1953 and his PhD in philosophy from Harvard University in 1956. Prior to retirement, he wasNoah Porter Professor of Philosophical Theology. Before that, he taught for 30 years at his alma mater, Calvin College.

The lectures, sponsored by EMU’s Bible and religion department and the EM Provost’s office, are free and open to the public.

For more information, contact Ted Grimsrud, 432-4464; email: grimsrud@emu.edu.

They spoke Aug. 8-9 to about 45 faculty, plus several graduate students, from schools including Kansas’ Bethel and Hesston Colleges, Ohio’s Bluffton University, Indiana’s Goshen College; Canadian Mennonite University, Winnipeg; Conrad Grebel University in Waterloo, Ont., and Mennonite Education Agency (MEA).

Willard Swartley introduces the faculty conference theme with a keynote address on “The World via the Word.” (Photo by Jim Bishop)

“How the logos creates the world is really unanswerable,” said keynoter Willard Swartley, speaking on “The World via the Word.” Dr. Swartley, professor emeritus of New Testament and former dean at the Associated Mennonite Biblical Seminary in Elkhart, Ind., was EMU’s 2004 alumnus of the year.

Referencing John 1:1-18, he characterized the creation-vs.-evolution debate as irrelevant, declaring God “the enabler” who makes change possible.

‘God’s Created World’

Speaking, in turn, on “The Word via the World,” Doug Graber Neufeld promised, “My forays into theology will be brief and filled with trepidation.”

Yet, Dr. Neufeld, who chairs EMU’s biology and chemistry departments, sees spiritual challenges in “what we’re doing to God’s created world.”

Having co-taught EMU’s “Green Design” course and served with Mennonite Central Committee in Cambodia, Neufeld recently received a National Science Foundation award for research on drinking water quality. While few minority students are entering scientific fields, he cited positive trends including “citizen science” and “creation care.”

In a roundtable session Mennonite professors reflect on ideas presented in the keynote address for their discipline. (Foreground) Lisa Thimm, Sally Weaver Sommer, Angie Montel, Greta Ann Herin, Jerrel Ross Richer; Background: Bill Eash, Bradley Kauffman, Merrill Krabill, Gerald Mast, Greg Luginbuhl. Photos by Jim Bishop

It was the first annual conference, and first visit to EMU, for Bethel’s Lisa Janzen Scott and Kulsum Kapacee.

“The title got my attention,” said Kapacee, a nursing faculty member originally from Kenya. She hoped to “to learn from what is working” at other schools.

Scott, a teacher-educator, enjoyed linking faces to names of colleagues whose publications she’d read.

Ted Grimsrud, EMU professor of theology and peace studies, often talks with non-EMU colleagues in his disciplines, but appreciated meeting conferees from other fields.

Ecology and Sustainability

Ryan Sensenig, who teaches biology at Goshen, hoped to find ways that “interdisciplinary faculty can work together in ecology and sustainability.”

Delivering one of the conference’s several short presentations, Sensenig, a 1992 EMU graduate, said he wants his teaching to reflect kenosis (receptiveness to God’s will). While he worked in Kenya with grassland ecosystems, Sensenig’s two five-year-olds enjoyed the diversity of plant life.

Back in Kansas, he said they demonstrated kenosis by asking, “Hey, Dad, when can we let our grass grow nice and tall like that?” Sensenig has begun a similar project on the prairie.

Bluffton art professor Gregg Luginbuhl expresses Creation themes through images of mushrooms; masks; the dorsal fin of a fish becoming a headdress. Comparing God’s work to human-made art, he said, “God’s creation is dynamic. My art is static, although it sometimes gains life.”

Vi Dutcher, professor and chair of EMU’s language and literature department, described grappling for words to convey empathy. “I have never shared with my students the excruciating nature of writing,” she admitted during audience questioning.

Dr. Dutcher recently submitted a children’s book for publication, titled “The Red Pop Beads” and based on her childhood reactions to the loss of a sister.

The conference included “table group” discussions as well as musical entertainment: “Anabaptist Bestiary Project,” by Bluffton’s Trevor Bechtel. In the project, modeled on the Medieval bestiary tradition, Bechtel saims to celebrate God’s creation by exploring the ways in which God’s creatures reveal God’s will.

EMU President Loren Swartzendruber cited today’s campus challenges as increased parental involvement, declining biblical literacy, and society’s de-valuing the life of the mind. He told attendees that in the 1970s, while he was an admissions counselor at then-EMC, someone suggested that all faculty be ordained. Impractical as that may be, Swartzendruber said, teachers do as important work as pastors.

Chris Edwards is a free-lance writer from Harrisonburg.

The intersection of spirituality and health is the focus of the next Suter Science Seminar to be held at EMU.

Dr. Keith G. Meador, professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences and co-director of the Center for Spirituality, Theology and Health at Duke University Medical Center, will address the topic 4 p.m. Friday, Oct. 26, in the Suter Science Center auditorium (S-106).

Meador, who is also a senior fellow in theology and health at Duke Divinity School, will examine the theological implications of current conversations on “spirituality and health in a therapeutic culture” and possibilities for further development of the dialog.

Dr. Beryl H. Brubaker, EMU provost, and Dr. Ted Grimsrud, associate professor of religion, will give responses to the presentation.

Admission to the seminar, which is co-sponsored by the Shenandoah Anabaptist Science Society, is free. Refreshments will be served 15 minutes prior to the start of the program.

For more information, contact Dr. Roman Miller, 540-432-4412; email millerrj@emu.edu.

Matt Frei, chief Washington, D.C., correspondent for the BBC, interviewed President Loren Swartzendruber on creation care from an Anabaptist perspective for a BBC production about Christian response to global warming; the program will be aired internationally later this month.

It’s a hot topic generating heated debate.

EMU President Loren Swartzendruber added to the conversation with a message on global warming and the care of God’s creation, Friday morning, Apr. 13.

, which followed the regular chapel service in Lehman Auditorium, were recorded by Matt Frei, chief Washington, D.C., correspondent for the London-based British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC).

The event opened with the singing of an a cappella hymn, “God of the Fertile Fields” (Brethren-Mennonite Hymnal #360).

Swartzendruber believes the BBC contacted him because he was among 86 Christian leaders who signed a statement concerning this issue.

“Some Christian leaders have made public statements suggesting global warming is not a reality or is a hoax/conspiracy and the BBC wants to compare responses of various Christian leaders/groups,” the president said.

‘a Theological Issue’

“I believe this is a scientific and theological/moral issue,” the president said. “We are called to be good stewards of God’s creation, and we are invited to make every effort to reduce the impact of our lifestyle choices on this phenomenon for the sake of the entire world and our future children/grandchildren.

“The projections from many leading scientists are currently quite dire, particularly for the poorest populations in the world,” Swartzendruber said.

“A report from the (IPCC) says, with at least 90 percent certainty, that global warning is man-made and will ‘continue for centuries’ – unless we take actions to slow or reverse the trend.”

“What have we lost if we make changes now for a cleaner environment, even if we should ultimately learn that the projections have been made in error?” the president stated. “If we ignore some very obvious signs, however, or avoid the tough issues, and we are wrong in that direction, millions of us and our descendants will suffer awful consequences.

Excerpts from Swartzendruber’s address and an interview will be broadcast as part of a BBC news report on global warming later this month on the BBC television and radio network to an audience estimated in the millions.

The complete text of the president’s message is available at .

You may also read more about .

President Swartzendruber is available for further interviews on this topic. Contact EMU marketing and communications:

Andrea Wenger, director
Phone: 540-432-4348
Cell: 540-560-2237

Jim Bishop, public information officer
Phone: 540-432-4211

A new book by an 草莓社区 professor offers an alternative approach to Christian faith through the beliefs and practices of the Anabaptists, dubbed “the radical wing of the 16th century Protestant Reformation.”

Ted Grimrud’s 262-page work, “Embodying the Way of Jesus: Anabaptist Convictions for the Twenty-First Century” (Wipf and Stock Publishers, Eugene, Ore.) traces the origins and historical expressions of Anabaptist faith and then suggests ways these convictions speak to the contemporary world. He is associate professor of at EMU and an ordained minister in the Mennonite Church USA.

proposes a fourfold approach to interpreting Anabaptist theology, considering themes from the Bible, from the tradition’s history, from present experience and from envisioning a hopeful future. What emerges is an engaging portrait of a living tradition that speaks with urgency and relevance to a world sorely in need of a message of peace, simple living and community.

Grimsrud has taught at EMU since 1996. Before that, he served 10 years as a pastor in Mennonite churches in Arizona, Oregon and South Dakota.” His most recent book – the fifth – is “Transforming the Powers: Peace, Justice, and the Domination System” (2006).

Cascadia Publishing House, Telford, Pa., has released a new book growing out of a major held Nov. 13-15, 2003, at 草莓社区.

The 310-page paperback, “Viewing New Creations With Anabaptist Eyes,” investigates the promise and perils of current genetic biotechnology. The authors describe the factual bases of biotechnology in a popular format, bring up the ethical problems that emerge and provide ethical reasoning to meet those challenges.

The book was edited by , Daniel B. Suter professor of at EMU; , EMU ; and James C. Peterson, the R. A. Hope professor of theology and ethics at McMaster University Divinity College and a member of the University’s Research Ethics Board.

Authors include (in order of appearance): John D. Gearhart, James C. Peterson, Leslie G. Biesecker, Carole L. Cramer, Roman J. Miller, Conrad G. Brunk, LeRoy Walters, Beryl H. Brubaker, Ruth Swartz Cowan, Kabiru Kinyanjui, Carl D. Bowman, , Laura E. Powers, , Mike E. Baker, Lawrence E. Ressler, Randall L. Longenecker, Emerson D. Nafziger, Timothy S. Jost, Graydon F. Snyder, Joseph J. Kotva Jr. and Stanley M. Hauerwas.

“This work on bioethics comes with a passion for integrity,” notes Myron S. Augsburger, EMU president emeritus. “It does not claim to have all of the answers but does call us to a faith that seeks to think with God through ‘the truth as it is in Jesus.'”

The book is co-published with Herald Press, Scottdale, Pa., in association with EMU.

More information on the book is available at .

John Paul Lederach

The seminary is offering four evening classes during second (spring) semester.

• Kevin A. Clark, part-time instructor in spiritual formation, will teach “Formation in Personhood I,” 6:30-9:10 p.m. Mondays beginning Jan. 10-April 25.
• A “Spiritual Direction Seminar and Practicum II,” led by Wendy J. Miller, seminary campus pastor, will meet 6:30-9:10 p.m. on Tuesdays beginning Jan. 11-April 26.
• Nathan E. Yoder, associate professor of church history, will teach “Mennonite History” Tuesdays 6:30-9:10 p.m..
• Mark Thiessen Nation, associate professor of theology, will teach a class on the life and teachings of German theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer 6:30-9:10 p.m. Wednesdays beginning Jan. 12-April 27.

In addition, the seminary has scheduled several weekend and special short courses during the semester. They are:

• “Ministry in the Workplace,” Feb. 11-12, Lonnie D. Yoder, professor of pastoral care and counseling, coordinator;
• “Psychology of Religious Experience,” 8 a.m.-4 p.m., Jan. 21-22, Feb. 18-19, and Mar. 18-19, Lonnie D. Yoder, professor of pastoral care and counselinbg, instructor;
• “Introduction to Conflict Transformation,” 8 a.m.-4 p.m. Jan. 14-15, Feb. 11-12 and Apr. 8-9, Ronald S. Kraybill, professor of conflict studies, instructor; and
• “” (Seminar on Trauma Awareness and Recovery) 8 a.m.-4 p.m., Feb. 4-5 and Feb. 25-26, Jayne S. Docherty and Carolyn E. Yoder, instructors.

These courses can be taken for academic credit or on an audit basis.

For more information on seminary evening and special courses coming up spring semester, call Don A. Yoder, (540) 432-4257, or e-mail: .

Eighteen faculty members from undergrad Bible and religion programs in colleges related to Mennonite Church USA met on campus Sept. 25 and 26.

At this first meeting of faculty representing the five institutions now relating to MCUSA, conversation focused on mission, academic work and church relations. The group also spent time in worship and fellowship.

Speaking from personal experiences, five faculty addressed the topic, “Standing with one foot in the Church and one foot in the Academy: My experiences as a Bible/Theology/Religion/Philosophy professor in an MCUSA school.” Duane Friesen, Bethel College; J. Denny Weaver, Bluffton University; Nancy R. Heisey, EMU; Marion Bontrager, Hesston College and Keith Graber Miller, Goshen College, made presentations.

In a Sunday morning worship led by Hesston professor Michelle Hershberger, participants meditated on the story of Jesus teaching in the temple from John 7 and created symbols of their questions for God. A brainstorming session raised possibilities for facilitated student exchanges among schools, further gatherings to focus concretely on pedagogical questions and the idea of a published collection of participants