Read the press release.<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\u201cThe demographic, economic and cultural changes taking place, both in society and in our church, call us to reexamine our relationship with the schools, while at the same time providing the flexibility to respond to the changing landscape of higher education,\u201d said Carlos Romero, MEA executive director. \u201cWe are working at the creation of something new that will require all the parts to be willing to change. The underlying foundation is still the same: the church and the schools want to maintain strong ties.\u201d<\/p>\n
The new organization has been affirmed by the boards of the six schools: Anabaptist Mennonite Biblical Seminary, Bethel College, Bluffton University, Eastern Mennonite University, Goshen College and Hesston College. It has also been affirmed by Mennonite Education Agency and the executive board of MC USA.<\/p>\n
The association will initially be chaired by Richard Thomas, current moderator of the Future Church\/School Relations Committee.<\/p>\n
Presidents of the schools and a representative of MEA will comprise the association, which will meet several times per year.<\/p>\n
The association will be fully functioning with elected officers by July 1, 2018. Until then, planners are calling the organization a \u201cbeta edition.\u201d<\/p>\n
By beginning this month, James Harder, president of Bluffton University, will have input before his retirement on June 30, 2018.<\/p>\n
According to a press release, the MEA-appointed committee has made progress on its task of recommending a revised mutual understanding and a common structure that will support long-term connections and linkages between MC USA church-related institutions of higher education and an educationally-supportive denomination. They will also recommend a timeline for implementation of the common structure.<\/p>\n
Last fall, a draft proposal was shared and feedback collected. \u201cThe committee has attempted to work at creating a new vision to define the future relationship between the schools and the church, understanding the past polity and history but not being defined by those, and proposing what the group feels will best serve the schools and the church in the context of the present realities,\u201d says the release.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A new association connecting Mennonite Church USA\u2019s institutions of higher education launched Feb. 1. The Mennonite Higher Education Association (MHEA) will increase collaboration between the six member schools and the ... read more about New Mennonite higher ed association aims to strengthen ties between institutions, church<\/span><\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":30733,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[266,5583,17562,8845],"tags":[],"feature":[17427,17241],"class_list":["post-36883","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-alumni","category-campus-community","category-digest","category-emu-at-lancaster","feature-emu-home-page-feature","feature-news-feature"],"yoast_head":"\nNew Mennonite higher ed association aims to strengthen ties between institutions, church - 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\/2018\/new-mennonite-higher-ed-association-aims-to-strengthen-ties-between-institutions-church\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"New Mennonite higher ed association aims to strengthen ties between institutions, church - EMU News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"A new association connecting Mennonite Church USA\u2019s institutions of higher education launched Feb. 1. The Mennonite Higher Education Association (MHEA) will increase collaboration between the six member schools and the\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2018\/new-mennonite-higher-ed-association-aims-to-strengthen-ties-between-institutions-church\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"EMU News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/EasternMennonite\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2018-02-13T14:18:45+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2018-02-13T14:24:59+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2016\/11\/EMU-Ad-building.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1000\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"667\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@EMU_News\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@EMU_News\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2018\/new-mennonite-higher-ed-association-aims-to-strengthen-ties-between-institutions-church\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2018\/new-mennonite-higher-ed-association-aims-to-strengthen-ties-between-institutions-church\/\",\"name\":\"New Mennonite higher ed association aims to strengthen ties between institutions, church - EMU News\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2018\/new-mennonite-higher-ed-association-aims-to-strengthen-ties-between-institutions-church\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2018\/new-mennonite-higher-ed-association-aims-to-strengthen-ties-between-institutions-church\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2016\/11\/EMU-Ad-building.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2018-02-13T14:18:45+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2018-02-13T14:24:59+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/d6737034219398924e6bd5dedcfa1245\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2018\/new-mennonite-higher-ed-association-aims-to-strengthen-ties-between-institutions-church\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2018\/new-mennonite-higher-ed-association-aims-to-strengthen-ties-between-institutions-church\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2018\/new-mennonite-higher-ed-association-aims-to-strengthen-ties-between-institutions-church\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2016\/11\/EMU-Ad-building.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2016\/11\/EMU-Ad-building.jpg\",\"width\":1000,\"height\":667},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2018\/new-mennonite-higher-ed-association-aims-to-strengthen-ties-between-institutions-church\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"New Mennonite higher ed association aims to strengthen ties between institutions, church\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/\",\"name\":\"EMU News\",\"description\":\"News from the Eastern Mennonite University community.\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/d6737034219398924e6bd5dedcfa1245\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"sameAs\":[\"http:\/\/\"]}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"New Mennonite higher ed association aims to strengthen ties between institutions, church - EMU News","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2018\/new-mennonite-higher-ed-association-aims-to-strengthen-ties-between-institutions-church\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"New Mennonite higher ed association aims to strengthen ties between institutions, church - EMU News","og_description":"A new association connecting Mennonite Church USA\u2019s institutions of higher education launched Feb. 1. The Mennonite Higher Education Association (MHEA) will increase collaboration between the six member schools and the","og_url":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2018\/new-mennonite-higher-ed-association-aims-to-strengthen-ties-between-institutions-church\/","og_site_name":"EMU News","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/EasternMennonite","article_published_time":"2018-02-13T14:18:45+00:00","article_modified_time":"2018-02-13T14:24:59+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1000,"height":667,"url":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2016\/11\/EMU-Ad-building.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@EMU_News","twitter_site":"@EMU_News","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2018\/new-mennonite-higher-ed-association-aims-to-strengthen-ties-between-institutions-church\/","url":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2018\/new-mennonite-higher-ed-association-aims-to-strengthen-ties-between-institutions-church\/","name":"New Mennonite higher ed association aims to strengthen ties between institutions, church - EMU News","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2018\/new-mennonite-higher-ed-association-aims-to-strengthen-ties-between-institutions-church\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2018\/new-mennonite-higher-ed-association-aims-to-strengthen-ties-between-institutions-church\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2016\/11\/EMU-Ad-building.jpg","datePublished":"2018-02-13T14:18:45+00:00","dateModified":"2018-02-13T14:24:59+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/d6737034219398924e6bd5dedcfa1245"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2018\/new-mennonite-higher-ed-association-aims-to-strengthen-ties-between-institutions-church\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2018\/new-mennonite-higher-ed-association-aims-to-strengthen-ties-between-institutions-church\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2018\/new-mennonite-higher-ed-association-aims-to-strengthen-ties-between-institutions-church\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2016\/11\/EMU-Ad-building.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2016\/11\/EMU-Ad-building.jpg","width":1000,"height":667},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2018\/new-mennonite-higher-ed-association-aims-to-strengthen-ties-between-institutions-church\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"New Mennonite higher ed association aims to strengthen ties between institutions, church"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/#website","url":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/","name":"EMU News","description":"News from the Eastern Mennonite University community.","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/d6737034219398924e6bd5dedcfa1245","name":"admin","sameAs":["http:\/\/"]}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36883","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=36883"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36883\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":37105,"href":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36883\/revisions\/37105"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/30733"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=36883"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=36883"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=36883"},{"taxonomy":"feature","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/feature?post=36883"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}