EMS Purpose Statement

EMU

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Mission, Vision, and Values

EMS Vision Statement:

Eastern Mennonite Seminary seeks to be a learning community rooted in the life and teachings of Jesus Christ and built on the Christian tradition that discerns and participates in God’s mission, forming and equipping people for diverse ministries in and for the world.

EMS Mission Statement:

Eastern Mennonite Seminary prepares men and women to serve and lead in a global contextservants of Christ to minister together locally and globally. In response to God’s saving gracegracious call, we educate invite students to embody and bear witness to the gospel of Jesus Christ in the power of God’s Spirit as wise interpreters, mature practitioners, discerning communicators, and transformational leaders.

As the graduate theological division of a seminary situated within Eastern Mennonite University and as a pastoral ministry training center hub of Mennonite Church   USA, we welcome all students from all Christian traditions who are open to study from an Anabaptist perspective. As a community of Christian disciples we seek to embody what we teach and learn, living out our convictions in the following core practices:

We seek to grow as wise interpreters by

• locating our personal stories in God’s salvation story
• responding to God’s grace as we own our human responsibility to be faithful
• reading the texts of scripture in light of their original contexts and languages
• imaginatively preaching and teaching the scriptures as “world creating”
• winsomely telling the Anabaptist story—its historical and global dimensions
• listening to diverse voices for more fully understanding the Word of God
• honoring and inviting questions as well as answers in theological discourse

We seek to grow as mature practitioners by

• testifying to a humble awareness of God’s call
• living in joyful, courageous obedience to Jesus
• re-vitalizing ancient Christian practices that are personal and communal
• showing an honest awareness of our own strengths and vulnerabilities
• embodying the gifts and fruit of the Spirit in healthy relationships
• participating regularly in worship that is communal and missional
• living by guiding principles that we can openly name

We seek to grow as discerning communicators by

• interpreting the meaning of the Gospel for diverse contexts
• embodying the Gospel’s evangelical spirit, social conscience and public witness
• evaluating the theological import of current events and popular culture
• pursuing peace and justice in local, national and global communities
• expressing the Gospel in a variety of creative forms
• engaging empathically with persons of other faith traditions and world religions
• listening actively to local communities in order to promote their well-being

We seek to grow as transformational leaders by

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who desire to study the scriptures, practices, and theology of the Christian tradition, informed by our Anabaptist heritage.