David F. Evans, Ph.D., candidate for EMS faculty position in Mission, Intercultural and Interfaith Studies, preaches from Mark 1:9-15
Professor Evans is a Post-Doctoral Fellow in the History of Christianity at The Drew Theological School. He has academic degrees from Spring Arbor College in Michigan, Wesley Theological Seminary in Washington, D.C., and Drew University in New Jersey. Professor Evans is interested in how white
Protestant American forms of Christianity have been perceived through the eyes/experiences of people who live in the national, religious, and racial margins of the United States. He is currently working on a project exploring Methodist missionaries’ perception of Italian immigrants in early twentieth-century America as racial others.
In addition to his appointment at Drew University Theological School, Dr. Evans serves as a pastor for the Greater New Jersey Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church.
In a personal statement offered to the search committee, Dr. Evans describes growing up in fragmented settings that led to attending Baptist, Roman Catholic, and Lutheran churches. As a teenager lost in various destructive circumstances, he drew strength from biblical teaching he remembered hearing as a boy in a revivalist camp. He then moved into new life as he cried out to Jesus, “Help me.”
At Spring Arbor College he learned the importance of community to the Christian walk. After college he attended Washington (D.C.) Community Fellowship, where he learned of the Anabaptist emphasis on discipleship. Several years of serving with Mennonite Central Committee deepened his understanding that to follow Christ is to promote justice and serve others.
The entire campus community is invited to every chapel worship service on campus. Eastern Mennonite Seminary hosts chapel gatherings in Martin Chapel every Tuesday and Thursday; EMU Campus Ministries hosts chapel gatherings every Wednesday and Friday in Lehman Auditorium. Specifics and occasional changes are noted in individual chapel listings.
