Identity and Vocation
In every generation God's spirit Spirit emboldens God's people to ask anew what we are called to in this time and this place. As Eastern Mennonite Seminary, we deepen our search with the following questions: What divine saving work is God initiating in the world moving through the cosmos that summons our wholehearted participation as a community of learning? How do our lives become an offering of praise and gratitude and our work recognize and offer praise for God's initiative toward us in Jesus Christ? initiatives toward our world? How do we make known the the goodness of the triune God 's salvation in a world burdened by economic, social, environmental and personal degradation? Amidst Living in cultures flooded by fear, what does it mean to call people to devote their primary allegiance to the reign of God that transcends national boundaries, as revealed to us in Jesus Christ?
As a seminary embedded within a small Christian liberal arts university we work out responses to these questions as we build up our more integrated relationship with the undergraduate Bible, religion and theology department, within the School of Theology, the Humanities and the Performing Arts. We claim our particular role at EMU as graduate-level scholars and practitioners in the theological disciplines. We seek to make our study and our practice accessible as we converse with the Anabaptist-related communities of the eastern United States. We also welcome the gifts and challenges brought to the seminary by other Christian denominations and faith communities, as together we live into our vocation as part of God's mission in the region and around the world.
As students and minister ministers within communities of worship and mission beyond as well as within EMU, we cultivate perspectives and practices that are life-giving and thought-provoking as we study and serve. We seek to model a way of being in the world that show forth demonstrates God's shalom. We desire that our life and work will be noteworthy because we are Christians faithful people who covenant together to proclaim that God is love, to live justly, to love our enemies, to tell the truth, and to care for creation.
The prophet Jeremiah speaks of those who trust in the Lord: "They shall be It is written: “[Those] who delight in the law of the LORD…are like a tree planted by water, sending out it roots by the stream. It shall not fear when heat comes, and its leaves shall stay green; in the year of drought it is not anxious, and it does not cease to bear fruit." (17:8)Engagement in God's mission is core to our vocation as a seminary. streams of water, which yields its fruit in season.” Our capacity to engage and be fruitful will grow as we attend to our root systemcontinually stretch our roots toward that living stream. The roots nurture our ability to interpret the BibleScripture, to discern our contextcontexts, and to grow as Christian disciples. They give us confidence to know that Jesus' promise is for us: "As the Father has sent me, even so I send you." (John 21:21)
In our time the Anabaptist stream of convictions and practices has branched out in many directions. branches spreading out from sixteenth-century Anabaptist roots have spread widely. We engage core elements of this history, gladly sharing it with Christian siblings with other historical rootswhose histories have branched out still more broadly. The Anabaptist commitment to following Christ in life provides us with a continual source of renewal. We also give thanks to God that as our roots stories intertwine with those of other believers, our vitality as a seminary now experiences the dynamic generativity visible in the tree's broad branches and green vibrant leaves. We commit to producing fruitful and critically engaged leaders in for the churches and the world.
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