David W. Boshart ’86, MA ’87 appointed to AMBS faculty

David W. Boshart ’86, MA ’87 (religion) will be an assistant professor of missional leadership and pastoral care, beginning in the 2019–20 academic year, at Anabaptist Mennonite Biblical Seminary in Elkhart, Indiana.

Boshart earned EMU’s Distinguished Service Award in 2012. He taught at EMU from 2010-15.

Since 2010, Boshart has served as executive conference minister for Central Plains Mennonite Conference (CPMC) of Mennonite Church USA. He has held a position as associate professor at the Andrews University School of Education from 2009 to the present.

As part of the conference minister role, he has been responsible for supporting emerging congregations and staffing a partnership with Mennonite Mission Network and Iglesia Cristiana Menonita de Colombia (Colombia Mennonite Church) in support of Anabaptist networks in Ecuador and Venezuela. He also has held pastoral leadership roles at West Union Mennonite Church in Parnell, Iowa (1996–2010); Pleasant View Mennonite Church in Mount Pleasant, Iowa (1989–96); and Community Mennonite Church in Harrisonburg, Virginia (1986–89).

Boshart earned a PhD in Leadership Studies from the School of Education at Andrews University in Berrien Springs, Michigan; his doctoral dissertation was published as Becoming Missional: Denominations and New Congregations in Complex Social Contexts (Wipf and Stock, 2010).

In addition to his education and pastoral work, Boshart will bring to his new role his experiences of serving in numerous volunteer leadership roles across the Mennonite Church. He is currently moderator of Mennonite Church USA (2017–19), having served on the denomination’s Executive Board since 2007 and on the board’s Executive Committee since 2008. He was a member of the AMBS Board (1999–2007) — also serving as chair (2003–05) — and a member of the Operating Board of Iowa Mennonite School in Kalona (1995–98). He has been a member of and has led CPMC leadership groups such as the Pastoral Leadership Committee and the Faith, Life and Procedures Task Group. He also has been part of the Theological Education Committee of Southeast Iowa (2000–08) and the advisory panel for the Journal of Applied Christian Leadership (2009–present).

Boshart said that while the pairing of the disciplines of missional leadership and pastoral care in one faculty position initially struck him as “a rare blend — insofar as seminary faculty roles are traditionally conceived,” he sees this intersection as one that the church needs the seminary to address “for such a time as this.”

“How is it that we seem to have so much to say about anxiety and division in the community of faith and so little to say about the things that make for resilient disciples and thriving kingdom communities?” he noted. “Joining these disciplines seems like a paradigm shift that has transformative potential for Christian ministry and witness.”

Boshart has lived in Iowa for much of his life. He and his wife, Shana Peachey Boshart, denominational minister for faith formation for Mennonite Church USA and an AMBS alumna, have three adult sons.