{"id":12106,"date":"2012-03-30T15:43:38","date_gmt":"2012-03-30T19:43:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/?p=12106"},"modified":"2014-09-17T11:52:36","modified_gmt":"2014-09-17T15:52:36","slug":"bible-students-explore-emerging-church-set-future-foundation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2012\/bible-students-explore-emerging-church-set-future-foundation\/","title":{"rendered":"Bible Students Explore Emerging Church, Set Future Foundation"},"content":{"rendered":"

Bible students are different now than they were in the 1990s when Peter Dula<\/a> was a student at Eastern Mennonite University (EMU). Students now, says Dula, Bible and religion department<\/a> chair, want to \u201cexperiment\u201d with what it means to be church and \u201cdig deep into the meaning of Anabaptism, even if they don\u2019t know it by that name.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are more options out there for today\u2019s students,\u201d says Dula. \u201cRather than joining a traditional church structure, they sometimes choose to search for something even more Anabaptist.\u201d<\/p>\n

The emerging church movement and New Monasticism have created alternatives to traditional church that draw from and can inform an Anabaptist perspective, says Dula, a 1992 graduate.<\/p>\n

\u201cNew Monasticism focuses on prayer, communal life and reaching out to the poor… Ideas that are rooted in the Christian tradition, but in a way Anabaptists can recognize as their own. It is an interesting time to teach and think about Anabaptism.\u201d<\/p>\n

Embracing the change<\/strong><\/p>\n

Instead of resisting alternatives to traditional worship, Dula and Carmen Schrock-Hurst<\/a>, a 1981 EMU graduate and Bible and religion instructor, see an opportunity to embrace alternatives and use them to engage and inform students.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur goal is to equip students to engage in shaping the future of the church,\u201d said Schrock-Hurst, who also serves as co-pastor at Immanuel Mennonite Church in Harrisonburg, Va. \u201cAll these ideas are available to this generation and we can create space for them to explore and figure out what works in their faith journeys.\u201d<\/p>\n

EMU\u2019s Bible and religion department tries to continually learn from students, says Dula. \u201cMany of them are way out ahead of us as teachers.\u201d We want to be a \u201cmeeting place,\u201d he notes, where Mennonite and students from diverse backgrounds can share ideas on faith and God\u2019s calling in their lives.<\/p>\n

\u201cSome of our best students enter EMU without a background in Anabaptism or the Mennonite church,\u201d said Dula. \u201cThey find here, however, a space to own, appropriate and transform what they learn in our classrooms in ways that manage to be thoroughly Anabaptist.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ted Grimsrud<\/a>, professor of Bible and religion added, \u201cI find that sometimes the students who are not from Mennonite backgrounds add a kind of new-discovery freshness when they embrace the peace position. Other times, we get challenges to pacifist assumptions born out of different ways of thinking about the Bible and Christianity.\u201d<\/p>\n

More than a classroom<\/strong><\/p>\n

EMU\u2019s Middle East cross-cultural semester<\/a> provides an alternative classroom for many Bible and religion students with profound results. The experience, led by Linford Stutzman<\/a>, professor of culture and mission and his wife, Janet Stutzman<\/a>, showcases the history of the Bible while exploring current conflicts. Students are immersed in language and cultural studies while living in Palestine and Jerusalem.<\/p>\n

After spending a semester in the Middle East, senior Jamie Hiner, from Culpeper, Va., observed, \u201cI can connect to the stories [of the Bible] on a completely different level. I understand who Jesus was on a human level, and I have a connection to the land, people and cultures.\u201d<\/p>\n

In addition to the Middle East cross-cultural program, EMU is the only Mennonite Church USA<\/a> higher-education institution offering a major in philosophy<\/a>. Christian Early<\/a>, associate professor of philosophy and theology<\/a>, says that while Catholics and Protestants have a long academic tradition in philosophy, Anabaptists are important contributors \u201cbecause our own history of having been marginalized, our understanding of concrete embodied community, and our commitment to peace and reconciliation.\u201d<\/p>\n

Senior Ben Bailey, from Simsbury, Conn., found his knowledge of the Bible to be \u201climited compared to my peers at EMU.\u201d A double-major in biblical studies<\/a> and peacebuilding and development<\/a>, Bailey says his studies have provided him with a \u201ccomprehensive base knowledge to build upon.<\/p>\n

\u201cI continually feel the need to understand and question the Bible and theology on a deeper level.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hiner, a biblical studies<\/a> major with a minor in theater<\/a>, added, \u201cI\u2019ve learned so much from personal relationships with my professors. I love having real conversations with them outside the classroom.\u201d<\/p>\n

Looking ahead<\/strong><\/p>\n

Bible and religion department faculty envision their department\u2019s influence expanding across campus and in the community through dialogue with campus ministries and local churches. Interest in the department\u2019s Ministry Inquiry Program<\/a> is growing as opportunities to explore internships outside of \u201ctraditional\u201d pastoring arise. The very definition of \u201cpastor\u201d and \u201cchurch\u201d is changing; students are interested in how they intersect with these concepts.<\/p>\n

“Students have an advantage with Eastern Mennonite Seminary<\/a> on campus, in addition to Virginia Mennonite Conference<\/a> and numerous Mennonite churches nearby to integrate and connect with pastors, leaders and teachers,” Schrock-Hurst says.<\/p>\n

Dula agrees, adding, \u201cThe goal is to make the discussion and debates that occur in our classrooms become the heart and soul of campus. This will encourage growth not only in the department and across campus, but in the broader church.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Bible students are different now than they were in the 1990s when Peter Dula was a student at Eastern Mennonite University (EMU). Students now, says Dula, Bible and religion department ... read more about Bible Students Explore Emerging Church, Set Future Foundation<\/span><\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":112,"featured_media":12108,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4515,5589,14145,5730],"tags":[14215,7958,8971,5838,14214,13723,14052,7062,7210,7280,9379,9439,7463,8739,12501,7792],"feature":[],"class_list":["post-12106","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-academics","category-bible-and-religion","category-peacebuilding-and-development","category-undergraduate-programs","tag-ben-bailey","tag-bible","tag-carmen-schrock-hurst","tag-christian-early","tag-cross-cultural-program","tag-eastern-mennonite-seminary","tag-jamie-hiner","tag-janet-stutzman","tag-linford-stutzman","tag-mennonite-church-usa","tag-ministry-inquiry-program","tag-peter-dula","tag-philosophy","tag-ted-grimsrud","tag-theater","tag-virginia-mennonite-conference"],"yoast_head":"\nBible Students Explore Emerging Church, Set Future Foundation - EMU News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2012\/bible-students-explore-emerging-church-set-future-foundation\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Bible Students Explore Emerging Church, Set Future Foundation - EMU News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Bible students are different now than they were in the 1990s when Peter Dula was a student at Eastern Mennonite University (EMU). 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