On Monday, March 23, Anabaptist and Jewish scholars and religious leaders gathered in the Strite Conference Room of EMU’s Campus Center for a consultation on Judaism, the Bible, and Anabaptism. The invite-only event was planned by Peter Dula, professor of religion and culture at EMU, and Trina Trotter Nussbaum, director of the Center for Interfaith Engagement (CIE), and included all-day discussions centering around the work of Matthew Thiessen and Daniel Weiss.

According to Dula, Thiessen, a Mennonite New Testament professor at McMaster University, is “one of the most influential voices in the ‘Paul within Judaism’ school of New Testament studies.” The discussion of Thiessen’s work at the consultation centered around four articles of his.

Weiss, according to Dula, is a Jewish professor of Jewish studies and the philosophy of religion at the University of Cambridge, “whose work at the intersection of early rabbinic literature and early Christian literature has significant resonances with traditional Anabaptist understandings of violence and the state and critiques of Constantinianism.” Weiss also had four articles discussed.

The morning began with a presentation by Thiessen titled, “What Mennonites Need to Know About Judaism,” which introduced the work of Weiss. Weiss then responded, and there was time for some questions from the audience. Following a break, a panel engaged with some of Weiss’s research, including articles on Christians and Levites, and the possibility that early Christians did not baptize their children, instead letting them be born into salvation.

After a lunch break, Weiss took a turn introducing Thiessen’s work in a section called, “Reading the New Testament within Judaism.” Thiessen then responded. A panel then engaged in Thiessen’s work, including reflections on how to read Paul with an awareness of Judaism, and whether Jesus meant to start a new religion.

Dula was the guiding force in bringing the two scholars together to have the event. “You’ve got a Jewish scholar writing really perceptively about Anabaptist themes, and you have this Mennonite scholar writing really perceptively about Judaism,” Dula said. “So, I thought we should get them together.”

Nussbaum reflected on the efficacy of the dialogue, and how it was in large part also due to the highlighted speakers. “It worked because the two scholars we were highlighting shared the spotlight so well,” she said. “How many times did we hear, ‘and now I want to open it up to you all?’”

Miranda Beidler, an EMU senior who helped coordinate the event in her role as a student chaplain with the CIE, praised the event and guests for creating “inherent dialogue.” She said, “[The speakers] were so willing and open to talk about their beliefs, their theology, in ways that were open and curious about the others’ theology and beliefs, but without imposing their beliefs on somebody else.”

Sara Kennel, another senior student chaplain at EMU, was struck by the openness and intellectualism of the event participants, saying, “It felt like a gathering of a lot of people that care about understanding differences, but also are deeply intellectual. … I don’t think that I’ve encountered that many spaces at EMU that are that level of scholarship.”

Nussbaum was struck by the impact of cross-religious dialogue, saying, “It’s something pretty amazing that we can see ourselves in another faith. … It was a spiritual love-fest.” Beidler, similarly, connected the event to CIE’s—and EMU’s—goals of interfaith work, saying, “It’s us putting into action when we say we care about learning from other people and from other cultures.”

The novel is about a pastor and wife who are dealing with family issues, Davis said. It carries a clear faith message.

Copies of the novel will be on sale at the event for $10. Her other books will also be available to purchase for $2 or $3.

About the author

Davis was a dedicated Weather Vane staffer while at EMU and graduated with an English degree. She worked for Mennonite Broadcasts Inc., now known as MennoMedia, in Harrisonburg for 43 years before retiring in 2018. She has written 12 books, mostly nonfiction. When her daughter challenged her to “write what people like to read: fiction,” she endeavored to write her first novel. A Place in the Fold released in November 2025.

She is the recipient of EMU’s 2005 Distinguished Service Award.

The publication launched on April 18 and features the contributions of 28 students in EMU’s Intensive English Program (IEP) written in their own native languages. Articles in the 12-page issue are written in Belarusian, Dari, Farsi, French, Kurdish, Persian, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish and Ukrainian. They feature stories by students from Afghanistan, Belarus, Brazil, Cameroon, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Cuba, El Salvador, Honduras, Iraqi Kurdistan, Kazakhstan, Puerto Rico, Russia, Ukraine and Venezuela. Near the back of the issue, a series of summaries written in English translates their journeys to the U.S. and their experiences learning English.

Two IEP students and three IEP teachers provided edits for the paper, while six Weather Vane staffers designed the pages for publication. A thousand copies of the paper were printed and distributed.

Senior Hannah Landis and junior Zack Furr, co-founders of Global Voices and co-editors-in-chief of The Weather Vane during the fall 2023 semester, tossed around the idea last summer for translated versions of the student newspaper. They realized they didn’t have the resources for that idea, but discovered a different invaluable resource: the students enrolled in IEP.

“We wanted to recognize them as students at EMU,” Landis said. “We feel like they’re not necessarily the first people you think of when you think of the average EMU student, but they’re just as much a part of our community.”

Furr agreed.

“The primary goal of this is giving a voice to those whose voices have been underrepresented in the 100-plus years that EMU has existed,” he said.

The student writers and editors were compensated for their work — an Inclusive Excellence Grant from the Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion funded their paychecks as well as all printing costs. 

“We couldn’t have done this without the IEP,” Landis said. “Having them here on campus and getting to work with them was such a privilege.”

“They did a ton of the heavy lifting,” Furr added.

Landis will be graduating at Commencement this weekend with degrees in Spanish language & Hispanic studies and writing studies. Furr, whose majors are in digital media and communications and photography, said he plans to take on the task next spring with a second edition. 

“We hope to keep it going and get people passionate about it to continue working on it even after we’re gone,” he said.

Global Voices was funded by the Inclusive Excellence Grants, Office of DEI, EMU. Thanks to the Office of DEI, Melissa May and the IEP faculty and staff, Jerry Holsopple, Adam Hoover, Thomas Erickson, Kirsten Beachy, The Weather Vane, and all the writers and editors from IEP. The Global Voices production staff included Doran Kennedy, Caleb Stoltzfus, Will Blosser and Erika Lopez.

Take, for example, Canadian Mennonite executive editor Virginia Hostetler ’77, who began writing for The Weather Vane as a second-year English major at ��ݮ���� and the following year co-edited the features section.

That “first taste of journalism,” she notes in a recent column “The adventure of leadership,” was part of a unique university experience that “taught us about community, grounded us in faith, honed our skills and gave us the impetus to use our gifts for service.” Her student colleagues, she writes, have since worked in peace and justice, the ministry, publishing and education.

In further testament to Hostetler’s claim, alumni who read the EMU article From ditto to digital, Weather Vane and loyal staffers still ‘let readers know how the winds are blowing on campus’ are likely to recognize names of past staffers from the paper’s nearly eight-decades-long history.

For me, one of at least three staff members – along with Jim Bishop ’67 and Steve Shenk ’73, MA ’18 (interdisciplinary studies) – to later be employed in the EMU marketing department, working for the student newspaper was a foundational experience.

When I recently reread some of The Weather Vane columns I produced during my one-semester editorship in the fall of 1999, I realized that I am the same person today that I was two decades ago – continuing infatuation with dashes included. I’d say that this – the personal consistency, not the excessive use of dashes – is a reflection not of stagnation but of how that time was an integral part of shaping my ongoing existence.

Just weeks before the start of that semester, then-professor Lauren McKinney, who as I remember was about to hand the faculty advisorship over to the late Richard Benner ‘69, called me to ask if I’d like to be editor. They just needed someone to fill in for a semester and were starting to feel, I suspect, quite desperate.

I thought “No,” said “Yes,” and ended up writing wandering editorials like , wisdom I continue to live by. Or, if you want to talk marketing strategy, there’s this still-relevant piece, about how .

Dick Benner taught me a lot about journalism that semester, often with red-ink scrawls over the latest issue but also – always – with a spirit of frank encouragement that has often come to mind during my subsequent and meandering professional life, even though after I graduated we only interacted on a handful of brief occasions.

The good news in all this is that The Weather Vane continues, in print . A highlight two years ago was the paper staff’s year-in-review issue, which flew off the campus distribution racks (but you can read it here).

And here’s more good news: The Weather Vane’s past issues have been . (They’re searchable – find yourself!)

A question for alumni who were involved with The Weather Vane: What are your memories? How did the experience shape you?

Tell us your story in the comments (below), and we’ll add it to From ditto to digital.

Many students may not have noticed the absence of the Unity Bell on the bell structure between Hartzler Library and Lehman Auditorium. Campus Ministries removed the cracked bell and hopes to fill its vacancy with a replacement soon.

Brian Martin Burkholder, EMU campus pastor

“EMU needs a new bell that can be actively used for tolling” said Brian Martin Burkholder, director of campus ministries and campus pastor. “Each year I receive requests for the use of the bell related to various kinds of programming, and I have to tell the group that the bell really shouldn’t be tolled for fear of further damage.”

EMU currently does not have funds designated to replace the bell. “I’ve been hoping that a senior class would pick up the vision of providing a new bell, and perhaps enhancing the current bell structure, as a class gift, but it hasn’t happened,” Burkholder said. “My hunch is that most people did not realize that the unity bell was damaged beyond active use [and] therefore did not know of the need for a new bell. An empty bell structure communicates this need much more clearly.”

The Unity Bell has a long and influential history, playing an instrumental role in a 1969 fundraising effort for the construction of the Hartzler Library. EMU had some difficulty raising funds for the construction, so they decided to have an auction. The physics department auctioned an old dinner bell, ringing it every time they received a significant contribution. At the end of the auction, with only the bell to auction off, EMU determined they only needed to receive $800 more in funds, and quickly received the required $800 to applause.

Because of the bell’s history, Burkholder said that it has not been used recently because of its poor condition. “We have not been using it to toll for memorial services, to call the campus community to chapel, or in recognition of significant events,” he said. “There was concern that the bell might be further damaged if it was in active use.”

However, campus ministries hopes to exhibit the bell in Hartzler Library in time for 2009’s Homecoming, along with a display that will retell the bell’s history.

Burkholder said, “The bell structure will remain patient, waiting for another bell to keep it company.”

“Maybe someone has a large bell with a clear tone at home and could bring it back to campus after Thanksgiving? Perhaps someone will step forward to donate toward the purchase of another bell?” Burkholder said. “I’ll keep hoping for a replacement sooner rather than later.”

Full details about the Unity Bell can be found online at: www.emu.edu/crossroads/90years/library/

Read more of The Weather Vane online here: