Clinical Pastoral Education 20th Anniversary Celebration
Tuesday, January 14, 2020
Pre-registration required for all events.
Join CPE faculty, alumni and friends as we celebrate the past 20 years and envision CPE at EMS in the future. This special event is taking place during Eastern Mennonite Seminary’s School for Leadership Training (SLT) which commences on Monday, January 13 at 1:30 p.m. and ends on Wednesday, January 15 at 12:30 p.m. A special Banquet and celebration will be held Tuesday evening as we celebrate the 20th Anniversary of CPE and honor the Yutzy Family for their endowment. Sara Wenger Shenk, former associate dean of Eastern Mennonite Seminary, will be our guest speaker. There will be opportunities for alumni to connect with peers, share recollections of CPE, and stories of how CPE informs their ministry. We are looking forward to a fun evening.
Registration Options
- Register for the three day School for Leadership Training event ($190) and the CPE celebration dinner and program ($25) for a total of $215.
- Register for one day of SLT on Tuesday, which includes two seminar options by CPE professionals and a Keynote by Kenton Derstine and CPE alumni ($90) and the CPE Celebration Dinner ($25) for a total of $115.
- There is also the option to register for the CPE Celebration Dinner Banquet only ($25).
CPE Celebration Highlights:
Tuesday, January 14, 2020 · 3:45 – 5:15 p.m.
SLT Keynote: Living Human Documents: CPE Alumni On the Streets
Speakers: Kenton Derstine, Associate Professor of Mentored Ministry and CPE Instructor, along with Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE) Alumni -- Anne Kaufman Weaver, Melanie Lewis, Nick Meyer, Lisa Meyer Vineyard, and Chet Yoder
The Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE) program at Eastern Mennonite Seminary was established in 1999 and expressed the longstanding perspective that preparation for ministry must address the holistic formation of a person along with specific skills for ministry. The factor that moved CPE at EMS from the visioning stage to implementation was a pledge by Norman and Lena Yutzy to create a one million dollar endowment to ensure the long-term viability of the program. Norman had taken CPE during an early pastorate and had regarded the experience as transforming his life and ministry. EMS is now celebrating twenty years of CPE graduates. This plenary session will feature just a few of the program alumni, the “living human documents” who have themselves become “Shalom in the streets.”
Kenton T. Derstine
Kenton T. Derstine is Associate Professor of Supervised Ministry and an ACPE Certified Educator. He earned his MDiv from the Anabaptist Mennonite Biblical Seminary, and his DMin from Wesley Theological Seminary. He has served in pastoral education as an ACPE Certified Clinical Supervisor/Educator for over 25 years. Completing his training as a clinical educator at Indiana University Health System, he assumed a position as CPE Supervisor and the CPE Program Manager at St. Vincent Hospitals in Indianapolis, Indiana. He began his duties at EMS as Director of CPE and Field Education in 2000. His long-term interests have included the application of Bowen theory to the process of ministry formation and practice. He is married to Rhoda and the father to three adult children and three grandchildren. He has been a beekeeper since the age of fifteen and a gardener who overplants a variety of vegetables each year.
Anne Kaufman Weaver
Anne Kaufman Weaver serves as a chaplain at Landis Homes Retirement Community in Lititz, Pennsylvania. She earned a MDiv from Eastern Mennonite Seminary and completed 4 units of Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE) in the EMS program. She previously earned a coach training certificate through Coach U and a Masters in Social Work through Marywood College. Family life is vitally important to her as she celebrates 31 years of marriage with her husband Todd and contemplates the lessons learned from launching three young adult children; Keri, Lara, and Seth.
Melanie K. Lewis
Melanie K. Lewis is Lead Chaplain for the six hospitals in Valley Health System, Winchester, Virginia. In this position she provides leadership for the clinical chaplains at the larger hospitals, and oversees the training of clergy volunteers at the smaller, critical access hospitals. Her chaplaincy work consists largely of supporting patients, families, and staff in the four critical care units of Winchester Medical Center, which is the 500-bed regional trauma center. She earned a bachelor’s degree from Sewanee: The University of the South, a master’s degree from Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana, and an MDiv from Eastern Mennonite Seminary where she completed 4 units of Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE). She is board certified with the Association of Professional Chaplains, and endorsed by the Episcopal Church. Melanie lives in Winchester with Richard, her husband of 33 years, and they have two adult children.
Nick Meyer
Nick Meyer serves as the chaplain to Coffeewood Correctional Center in Mitchells, Virginia. He graduated from Eastern Mennonite University and earned his MDiv from Eastern Mennonite Seminary in 2017. While in seminary he completed a unit of Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE) serving an internship at Coffeewood Correctional. He began his chaplain ministry at Coffeewood in 2017 sponsored by GraceInside ministries. Before serving at Coffeewood, he served in a co-pastor role for Early Church, a congregation that met in a community center serving the marginalized. This background exposed him to homelessness, alcoholism and poverty that so often plague the prison population – both before and after release. Nick serves with a heart for growing and shaping things. When not shaping people, he loves to landscape, work in the yard, chop firewood, bicycle and visit coffee shops. He and his wife, Sylvia, have been married since 2006 and enjoy the great outdoors, hiking and walking together.
Lisa Meyer Vineyard
Lisa Meyer Vineyard serves as a Board Certified Chaplain at Carilion Roanoke Memorial Hospital, Roanoke, Virginia. She has been with Carilion Clinic serving an Instensive Care unit for over 23 years. She received her MDiv from Eden Theological Seminary in St. Louis, Missouri. Before coming to Roanoke, Lisa served as Minister of Christian Education at a United Church of Christ congregation in Omaha Nebraska. Wanting to become a Board Certified Chaplain, she took her final two CPE units at EMS. She regards the program’s focus on Bowen Family Systems as having made “all the difference” for Lisa in her daily work as a chaplain and in her family relationships. She continued her study of Bowen Theory through the Advancing My Leadership Seminar sponsored by EMS. Lisa is also a Reiki Master Teacher. She shares and teaches Reiki on a regular basis with the hospital patients and staff. Lisa lives in Roanoke with her husband Frank and their three retrievers.
Chet Yoder
Chet Yoder has served as Director of Pastoral Services at Garden Spot Village Retirement Community in New Holland, Pennsylvania since August 2008. Chet attended Rosedale Bible College in Irwin, Ohio, received his BS degree from Lancaster Bible College, Lancaster, Pennsylvania in 1991, and a Master of Arts in Religion degree from Evangelical Theological Seminary, Myerstown, Pennsylvania in 2000. He completed 1 extended unit of Clinical Pastoral Education through Philhaven Hospital, Mt Gretna, Pennsylvania and 3 units in the Eastern Mennonite Seminary program. Chet has also done post-graduate work in Bowen Family Systems Theory through the Center for Family Process in Potomac, Maryland. Ordained in Mennonite Church USA (Lancaster Mennonite Conference), Chet served as pastor at the Bowmansville Mennonite Church for eighteen years prior to serving at Garden Spot Village. Chet is married to Sandy and together they have three young adult sons. In his spare time he enjoys reading, gardening, and walking and shares various sports activities with his sons.
Seminars and Events During SLT
Tuesday 10:45 a.m. – 12:25 p.m. or Wednesday 8:45 – 10:15 a.m.
Transforming Leadership: Setting your own course in the turbulent waters of living systems
Presenter: Penny Driediger, Director of CPE, EMS
This seminar will draw upon concepts from Bowen Family System’s Theory (BFST) as a resource for navigating the many personal and professional relationships that one encounters every day in ministry and in one’s family. BFST theory provides a means for observing and reflecting upon one’s functioning in relation to God, neighbor and self. Some of the basic tenets that will be addressed are the two life forces that inform human behavior, the role of anxiety and four predicable emotional reactive relationship processes that are driven by this anxiety.
Tuesday 1:45 – 3:45 p.m. or Wednesday 8:45 – 10:15 a.m.
Open the Door to Sacredness: Changing the Face of Dying in our Society
Presenter: Rene Hostetter, palliative care chaplain, Sentara RMH Medical Center, Harrisonburg, VA
Death is not a medical event. It is a spiritual journey. As pastors, we have the opportunity to transform the end of life experience so it brings greater sacred meaning to the dying person and their loved ones. In this seminar, we will explore ways to allow the dying person and those close to them to speak openly about dying and to explore the meaning of their life and their impact on others (including legacy projects and ethical wills). We will discuss preparing for the last days by creating a plan for how the dying space looks and feels (known as a “vigil plan”). In addition, we will attend to guiding family members in their early grief and in processing their emotions and experiences after their loved one dies.
Tuesday 5:30 – 6:00 p.m.
Registration and Gathering for CPE Celebration – Campus Center Greeting Hall
Gather in the EMU Campus Center Greeting Hall to collect your name tag and to meet friends.
Tuesday 6:00 – 8:30 p.m.
Clinical Pastoral Education 20th Anniversary Dinner & Program – Campus Center Greeting Hall
Join CPE faculty, students, alumni, and friends Tuesday evening as we celebrate the past 20 years, honor the Yutzy Family for their generous endowment, and envision CPE at EMS in the future. Sara Wenger Shenk, former associate dean of Eastern Mennonite Seminary, will be our guest speaker. There will be opportunities for alumni to connect with peers, share recollections of CPE, and stories of how CPE informs their ministry.
Guest Speaker Bio:
Sara Wenger Shenk
After nine years as president of Anabaptist Mennonite Biblical Seminary (AMBS) in Elkhart, Indiana, Sara Wenger Shenk retired June 2019. From 1995-2010 she had served at Eastern Mennonite Seminary as Associate Professor of Christian Practices and Associate Dean. Sara writes extensively for both academic and church publications, and speaks widely in church circles in the US and Canada on topics related to how we come to know God and give voice to our experience of the sacred in daily life. She authored six books, including Anabaptist Ways of Knowing: A Conversation about Tradition-based Critical Education (Cascadia, 2003) and Thank you for Asking: Conversing with Young Adults about the Future Church (Herald, 2005). While at AMBS, Sara launched Practicing Reconciliation, a blog that gained a wide audience from 2013-2019. She now lives near Waynesboro, Virginia, with her husband Gerald, enjoying their four grandchildren, gardening and working on a new book.
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