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POSITION: University Chaplain

DEPARTMENT: Faith and Spiritual Life

LOCATION: Main Campus, Harrisonburg | UC 224

PHONE: (540) 432-4115

EMAIL: brian.burkholder@emu.edu

Brian Martin Burkholder serves as University Chaplain and Director for the Office of Faith and Spiritual Life. Raised in The United Methodist Church and now ordained for ministry in Mennonite Church USA, he previously worked as a public school teacher, school counselor and program director of Christian retreats, environmental education and outdoor adventures. While studying at Anabaptist Mennonite Biblical Seminary, Brian served as interim campus pastor at Goshen (IN) College. He enjoys mentoring and encouraging young adults, planning and leading music and worship, and participating in retreats of all types. He is energized by chaplaincy, spiritual mentoring conversations, bluegrass, folk, roots and world music, Appalachian style dancing and storytelling, hiking in beautiful natural settings, ecological gardening that favors wildlife and almost everything water-related.

Strengths Finder: adaptability, harmony, maximizer, responsibility, arranger
Spiritual Gifts: administration, support, service

Training
Mental Health First Aid, 2022
Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training (ASIST), 2021
Gestalt Pastoral Care Foundation Training, 2020-2021
Trauma, Resilience and Healing in Times of a Pandemic (Summer Peacebuilding Institute), 2020
Racial Equity Workshop Phase 1 (Racial Equity Institute), 2019
Strategies in Trauma and Resilience (STAR) Level 1, (Center for Justice and Peacebuilding), 2011

Education
Certificate in Spiritual Direction, Eastern Mennonite Seminary, 2017
Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE), Eastern Mennonite Seminary, 2009
M.Div., Anabaptist Mennonite Biblical Seminary (AMBS), 1998
M.A. in School Counseling, The University of Akron, 1986
B.S. in Education, The University of Akron, 1982

Credentials
Ordination for Ministry, Mennonite Church USA
Allegheny Mennonite Conference, 2020-present
Virginia Mennonite Conference, 2004-2019

Professional Memberships
Spiritual Directors International (SDI)
The Association for Chaplaincy and Spiritual Life in Higher Education (ACSLHE)

Education

MDIV, Associated Mennonite Biblical Seminary
MA, The University of Akron (School Counseling)
BS, The University of Akron (Elementary Education)

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