Lana Miller shares reflections as a sending gesture in her final weeks as the undergraduate campus pastor.

Matthew Hunsberger takes us on a musical journey through the weeks of advent and Christmas in a single University Chapel.  Other participants include Brian Martin Burkholder (candle lighter); Elizabeth Resto and Anali Martin (readers); David Berry (piano); Sara Halteman (violin); and Katie Derstine, Ranene Schrock, Selah Shenk, and Jessica Hostetler (women’s vocal quartet).

Love from the center of who you are; don’t fake it. Run for dear life from evil; hold on for dear life to good. (Romans 12:9 MSG)

Most of us spend most our lives hiding behind masks of fear and shame. But that’s not who we are, and definitely not who we were created to be. We can love from the center of who we are because love is at the center of who we are.

—–

Anton Flores-Maisonet is co-founder of Casa Alterna, a hospitality house in Georgia devoted to faithful acts of mercy and justice alongside its Latinx neighbors. Casa Alterna serves as a hub for connecting and empowering neighbors via tutoring, community organizing, and popular education.

Because of Anton’s prophetic advocacy and tireless solidarity, he has been honored by two Spanish-language Atlanta-based newspapers as their respective “Person of the Year”. Additionally, Alterna was named “Organization of the Year” by Mundo Hispánico, the largest Spanish-language newspaper in Atlanta.

Anton Flores-Maisonet holds degrees in social work from Georgia State University and the University of Georgia.

Rejoice in hope, be patient in suffering, persevere in prayer. Contribute to the needs of the saints; extend hospitality to strangers. (Romans 12:11-13 NRSV)

When fear seeks to erect walls in our hearts, laws, and borders, the call of the Church is to an even fiercer love. For over 15 years, Casa Alterna co-founder, Anton Flores-Maisonet, has extended hopeful, patient, and persevering hospitality to Latinx immigrants. Via stories that inspire, Anton will remind us all that love crosses borders.

Anton Flores-Maisonet is co-founder of Casa Alterna, a hospitality house in Georgia devoted to faithful acts of mercy and justice alongside its Latinx neighbors. Casa Alterna serves as a hub for connecting and empowering neighbors via tutoring, community organizing, and popular education.

Because of Anton’s prophetic advocacy and tireless solidarity, he has been honored by two Spanish-language Atlanta-based newspapers as their respective “Person of the Year”. Additionally, Alterna was named “Organization of the Year” by Mundo Hispánico, the largest Spanish-language newspaper in Atlanta.

Anton Flores-Maisonet holds degrees in social work from Georgia State University and the University of Georgia.

Continuing the conversation:

, Assistant Professor of History, Mission, Intercultural and Interfaith Studies, leads the Seminary Chapel Gathering in conversation about “neighboring” others, using the .

“What’s Stopping You.” …identify systems and institutions that make it difficult to draw near to people from different social groups

, Assistant Professor of History, Mission, Intercultural and Interfaith Studies, leads the Seminary Chapel Gathering in conversation about “neighboring” others, using the .

Hear sharing by , Amanda Williams, and

Spiritual Renewal Week Chapel: A service including Biblical monologues, song, painting creation & the Alpha Omega Dancers.

Rev. Steven D. Martin is a filmmaker, photographer, interfaith engagement practitioner, ordained Methodist pastor, and Director of Communications and Development for the National Council of Churches of Christ in the USA (NCC.) He has served United Methodist Churches as pastor for twenty years.

His 2005 film for PBS,   was critically acclaimed and has had a resurgence of interest in the last year. The film earned Rev. Martin an honor from the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in 2007.

His office is directly across from the U.S. Supreme Court and the Capital Building in Washington, D.C., and therefore has allowed Steven to speak into pressing interfaith issues and concerns about Islamophobia and intra-faith engagement to those who legislate policies, etc.

Dr. Scot McKnight speaks on Love as Commitment () as part of a Kingdom Vision as a Way of Life emphasis for the 2016 and the Missional Church Partnership with Virginia Mennonite Missions, Virginia Mennonite Conference, Park View Mennonite Church, ˛ÝÝ®ÉçÇř and Eastern Mennonite Seminary.

—â¶Ä”-
Rev. Canon Dr. is an American New Testament scholar, historian of early Christianity, theologian, speaker, author and blogger who has written widely on the historical Jesus, early Christianity, the emerging church and missional church movements, spiritual formation and Christian living. He currently serves as the Julius R. Mantey Professor of New Testament at Northern Seminary, Lombard, IL. McKnight is an ordained Anglican with Anabaptist leanings, and has also written frequently on issues in modern Anabaptism.

Dr. Fred Kniss, Provost, delivers the address, “Dare to Risk Love” at the annual Matriculation Ceremony.

*Note: Because of equipment malfunction, the beginning of Dr. Kniss’s speech is cut out of the recording, so there is a jump from the scripture reading to the middle of Dr. Kniss’s address.

is on a mission to . As a multifaceted minister of the gospel, she aims to express the passionate love of Jesus Christ through missions, ministry and music.

Originally from Bridgewater, VA she now resides in Nashville, TN where she recently recorded a new five song EP. Join her in chapel to hear more about her journey into missional living and some original songs.

The EMU history department and Black Student Union host Dr. Vincent Harding to share from his life and faith journey as part of the Keim Lecture Series and Black History Month. Dr. Harding was a friend and close associate of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and a Mennonite pastor who visited EMU during the Civil Rights era. We are honored to again host him on campus.

Dr. Harding, a friend and confidant of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., presents a guided discussion based on his years of experience with the Civil Rights movement, and on his recent thinking about compassion and the many forms of non-violent expression for social change.

Dr. Vincent Harding is a celebrated Civil Rights leader and scholar who was a close associate of Martin Luther King Jr. and the first director of the King Center in Atlanta. Harding also worked closely with Mennonites during the early 1960s, directing the “Mennonite House” in Atlanta from 1961-1964. In 1967, Harding drafted King’s important and controversial “Why I am Opposed to the War in Vietnam” speech. He is the author of several books on the Civil Rights Movement, was the senior academic advisor for the PBS documentary “Eyes on the Prize” series, and in 1997 he founded the Veterans of Hope Project which collects the stories of people who dedicated their lives to compassionate social change. In 2011 he engaged in a panel with His Holiness the Dalai Lama and Sister Helen Prejean and this inspired his 2013 book, America Will Be!: Conversations on Hope, Freedom, and Democracy, co-authored with Buddhist leader Daisaku Ikeda.

Dr. John Fairfield, Research Fellow for EMU’s addresses Chapel Gathering in the seminary with the topic, “Discern love for enemies”

leads a Hymn Sing of requests submitted by members of the EMU community by e-mail earlier this week.  The selections center around the theme “Love One Another.”