Identity and Vocation
In every generation God's Spirit emboldens God's people to ask 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 moving through the cosmos that summons our wholehearted participation as a community of learning? How do our lives and our work recognize and offer praise for God's initiatives toward our world? How do we make known the the goodness of the triune God in a world burdened by economic, social, environmental and personal degradation? 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 strengthen our 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 ministers within communities of worship and mission, 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 demonstrates God's shalom. We desire that our life and work will be noteworthy because we are 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.
It is written: “[Those] who delight in the law of the LORD…are like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season.” Our capacity to engage and be fruitful will grow as we continually stretch our roots toward that living stream. The roots nurture our ability to interpret the Scripture, to discern our contexts, and to grow as disciples. They give us confidence to know that Jesus' promise is for us: "As the Father has sent me, even so I send you."
In our time the branches spreading out from sixteenth-century Anabaptist roots have spread widely. We engage core elements of this history, gladly sharing it with Christian siblings whose 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 stories intertwine with those of other believers, our vitality as a seminary experiences the dynamic generativity visible in the tree's broad branches and green vibrant leaves. We commit to producing fruitful and critically engaged leaders for the churches and the world.Eastern Mennonite Seminary subscribes Confession of Faith in a Mennonite Perspective, adopted by Mennonite Church USA and Mennonite Church Canada in 1995.
See http://mennoniteusa.org/confession-of-faith
Eastern Mennonite Seminary (EMS) is the graduate theological school of Eastern Mennonite University (EMU). Beginning in 1964, EMS emerged when professors in Bible and theology recognized a need to train Anabaptist Mennonite pastors and leaders beyond undergraduate studies. For many decades, EMS specialized in this theological training for pastoral ministry. But unlike the traditional model of freestanding seminaries, EMS’s unique position as a seminary embedded within a broader university has shaped EMS as a theological school enriched by the dynamic intellectual life of other disciplines and a broader learning community.
Since 1964, EMS has developed a seminary program that recognizes the value of holistic theological education. 25 years ago, EMS was ahead of its time in placing spiritual formation at the core of the seminary curriculum. EMS continues to educate students in a way that integrates personal, spiritual, intellectual and academic formation. As a result, EMS graduates are known as leaders with the internal resources to remain compassionately connected to God, self and others, and the skills to navigate complex leadership challenges with integrity and intention.
Biblical, historical, spiritual and theological reflection undergird EMS’s enduring commitment to seeking peace and justice in all spheres of life. EMS students are formed with the awareness and skills to pursue peace and justice on personal, social and systemic levels. Students at EMS engage scripture for critical academic study and personal spiritual formation, history with the interpretive commitment to peace and justice, theology as a communal endeavor that is living and dynamic, and religious practices as embedded in and accountable to particular communal contexts.
EMS has expanded as a robust ecumenical community that offers pastoral training and much more. EMS graduates are also chaplains, spiritual directors, professors and teachers, nonprofit CEOs, ecclesial administrators, peacebuilders, and community organizers. Slightly less than half of the EMS student body identifies as Mennonite, and approximately half of the full-time faculty are Mennonite. As an official seminary of Mennonite Church USA, EMS is accountable to Mennonite Education Agency and guided by the denomination’s Renewed Commitments, the denominational Confession of Faith in a Mennonite Perspective, and the Shared Convictions of Mennonite World Conference. Ultimately, EMS seeks to be faithful to the life, teachings and spiritual presence of Jesus and his call to justice, righteousness and liberation for all to live an abundant life.
Faith traditions represented among EMS students, faculty and staff include Baptist, Brethren, Episcopal, international ecclesial bodies, Jewish, Lutheran, Mennonite, Methodist, nondenominational, Presbyterian, Roman Catholic, and United Church of Christ. EMS has a significant UMC population, and is approved by the General Board of Higher Education and Ministry to train candidates for ordination in the United Methodist Church.
EMS is distinctive in its location within a historic peace church and a world-renowned peace and justice university. Seminarians are alumni of the same university as such notable graduates as Leymah Gbowee, recipient of the 2011 Nobel Peace Prize. In 2022, EMS graduates had the honor of hearing Bryan Stevenson, founder of the Equal Justice Initiative and author of Just Mercy, give the commencement address at their graduation. We welcome you to discover your place as part of this dynamic community of learning at EMS!