L. to r.: George R. Brunk III, Loren Swartzendruber, Earl Zimmerman and Owen Burkholder lead prayers of commissioning for Byron Peachey (at podium) as part of a licensing service for campus ministry at EMU.Photo by Jim Bishop
Byron J. Peachey’s call to pastoral ministry, forged over several decades, was publicly recognized in a chapel service Wednesday, Jan. 26, at Eastern Mennonite University.
Peachey was licensed to the ministry for his continuing role as associate campus pastor. He is a member of the campus ministries team, formed in August, 2003, that includes Brian Martin Burkholder and Julie A. Haushalter.
Prior to the installation ceremony, persons close to Peachey told stories, laced with humor, that were pivotal in shaping his call to ministry – Laban Peachey, Peachey’s father; Johann Zimmerman, who worked closely with Peachey in urban ministry in Washington, D.C.; and Deanna Durham, Peachey’s spouse. They met in Washington in 1983.
"God has a special twinkle in His eye today as we celebrate Byron’s readiness to do God’s work," said Haushalter in opening the service.
Items that symbolize Peachey’s life and special interests appeared on the platform – books by Catholic writer Thomas Merton (meditation as spiritual discipline), a cross from El Salvador (peace and justice concerns) and an old wooden pitchfork (his farming background and adherence to a theology of the land).
Peachey, of Harrisonburg, was interim campus pastor at EMU during the 2002-03 school year. Earlier, he served four years as co-director of the Mennonite Central Committee