Continuing Education for Pastors and Christian Educators

Join us for continuing education options through Eastern Mennonite Seminary.

For Such a Time as This: Worship & Music for Today

Date/Time: April 23, 2022, 9 a.m. - 3:30 p.m. (includes lunch & materials)
Format: In-person Workshop
Location: Harrisonburg Mennonite Church, Harrisonburg VA
Cost: $25 (includes lunch & materials)
If you need financial assistance or have questions please contact seminary@emu.edu by April 15.

Schedule:

9:00 Arrival and Registration
9:30 Opening Worship
10:00 Plenary Session: Bringing Your Best Self to Worship
10:30 Break
10:40 Workshop 1 (choose one of two offerings)
12:00 Lunch
12:50 Workshop 2 (choose one of two offerings)
2:10 Break
2:20 Visioning Session
3:00 Closing Worship

Presenters:

Dr. Benjamin Bergey, Assistant Professor of Music

Making the Most of Voices Together

This session will be a deep dive into the new Mennonite hymnal, Voices Together. Music editor Benjamin Bergey will help pastors, leaders, and musicians use the suite of resources from indexes to worship resources, including the Accompaniment Edition, Worship Leader Edition, and digital options as well. Feel free to come with your questions for an interactive session.

Music and Worship in the Digital Age

With many churches streaming worship and being thrown into a digital age, questions about copyright, livestream technology, and audio/visual considerations have arisen. Come to discuss and learn about options as Benjamin talks about options to leverage technology for live streaming, properly handle copyrights, and discussion on theological considerations.

Courtney Joyner, MDiv, Instructor of Worship, Preaching, and Formation

Fostering Healthy Clergy-Musician Relationships

The relationship between clergy and musicians is one of the most important aspects for a positive worship experience. Often, however, we approach worship planning through different lenses. Courtney Joyner, who has served on both sides of this relationship dynamic, will offer best practices for improving and maintaining a healthy partnership.

Spiritual Self-Care

While trying to maintain a balance between life and ministry during turbulent times, faith leaders are prone to spiritual fatigue and burnout. This experiential workshop explores the intersection of theology and trauma studies and offers various spiritual practices that we can keep in our self-care toolkit.

Nancy Elizabeth Bedford, PHD- Augsburger Lecture Series - March 29-30, 2022

Theology and its Materializations: Malleability, Materiality, Mission

All lectures held in Martin Chapel, livestreamed via Facebook, and recorded

Tuesday, March 29

11 a.m.: "Why Does Theology Matter? Malleability"
7 p.m.: "What's the Matter with Theology? Materiality"

Wednesday, March 30

10:10 a.m.: How Might Theology Become Materialized? Mission"

About Dr. Bedford

Nancy Elizabeth Bedford, Dr. theol. (Universität Tübingen, 1994), was born in Comodoro Rivadavia, Argentina. She has been Georgia Harkness Professor of Theology at Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary (Evanston) since 2003. Previously (1995-2002) she taught theology at Instituto Universitario ISEDET and Seminario Internacional Teológico Bautista (both in Buenos Aires). She has written or edited ten books and written over 90 book chapters and journal articles, which have appeared in five languages. Among her publications are Galatians, A Theological Commentary (WJK, 2016) and Teología feminista a tres voces (with Virginia Azcuy and Mercedes García Bachmann; Ediciones Universidad Alberto Hurtado, 2016). Her latest book is Who Was Jesus and What Does It Mean to Follow Him? (Herald Press, 2021).

Her research interests focus on global feminist and decolonial theories and theologies; Latin American theologies; Latinx theologies in North America; theological hermeneutics; whiteness, violence, and racism; theology and food; liberating readings of Scripture and of the theological tradition; and the rearticulation of classical doctrinal loci from the perspective of critical, artistic and poetic reason.

She is a member of Reba Place Church (Mennonite) in Evanston, where she is on the preaching team and the racial justice group. She is married to Daniel Stutz, with whom she has three adult daughters, Valeria, Sofía and Carolina.

A Guided Imaginative Scripture Contemplation Series during the season of Lent

Dates: March 1st - April 5th, 2022
Times: Tuesdays 9:00 - 10:00 am (EST) OR Tuesdays 7:00 - 8:00 pm (EST)
Format: Via zoom

Lent is a season of prayerful reflection lasting 40 days echoing Jesus' time of prayer and fasting in the wilderness. During this season, we are invited to reflect on our walk with Jesus and prepare our hearts and minds to celebrate his resurrection from the dead on Easter. These guided imaginative scripture contemplation sessions will give you the opportunity to slow down and rest in God's presence for an hour a week during the Lenten season.

Each Tuesday, we will pray and play with the Revised Common Lectionary Gospel passage for the upcoming Sunday. You will be invited to enter the scene of the text, using your senses of sight, sound, touch, smell, taste, emotions, and occasionally reason as you imaginatively interact with Jesus and his companions. After the guided reading you will be given time to sit in silence to ponder the experience and converse with God. Following the silence, there will be an opportunity to share your reflections with a small group.

MaryBeth Heatwole Moore is a recent graduate of Eastern Mennonite Seminary (2021). She discovered the prayerful, playful practice of Ignatian Contemplation during seminary and chose to focus on this method of praying with scripture as her Master of Divinity capstone project. Imaginative scripture contemplation has been life-giving to MaryBeth throughout the pandemic, and she is passionate about sharing this practice with others. MaryBeth is ordained by Virginia Mennonite Conference and in January stepped down from leading Signs of Life Fellowship (Staunton, VA) after 12 years of service. She continues to serve in VMC as a member of the Faith & Life Commission and the Leadership Enrichment Committee.

Past Continuing Ed options

2020 Pastors Forum Series

Navigating ministry during COVID-19