Training Facilitators
Michelle E. Armster
Michelle E. Armster is the Executive Director for the Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) Central States. She previously served as Director of Conciliation Services in the US Peace and Justice program in Urban Peacemaking for MCC as well as Co-Director for the Office on Justice and Peacebuilding. An ordained Mennonite minister, Michelle received a Master of Divinity degree from Lancaster Theological Seminary and is now a Doctor of Ministry student at Berkeley School of Theology. She is a trainer, teacher, and practitioner in Conflict Transformation, Mediation, Anti-Racism/Anti-Oppression, Restorative and Transformative Justice/Practices, and several related fields.
Jacob Alan Cook
Jacob Alan Cook is assistant professor of Christian ethics, co-director of the Shalom Collaboratory, and program director for the new Doctor of Ministry in Peacemaking and Social Change at Eastern Mennonite Seminary. Through the Shalom Collaboratory, he is developing new models to form church leaders for peacebuilding and conflict transformation. Jake is the author of Worldview Theory, Whiteness and the Future of Evangelical Faith. He has also published, presented, and taught around topics like a theology of identity, theories of (non)violence, formation for peacemaking, and adaptive leadership.
Courtney Joyner
Courtney Joyner is Assistant Professor of Formation, co-director of the Shalom Collaboratory, and Director of Mentored Ministry at Eastern Mennonite University. She holds a Doctor of Ministry from Wesley Theological Seminary where her research focused on clergy traumatic stress. An alumnus of the STAR (Strategies for Trauma Awareness and Resilience) program at EMU, she is now a STAR practitioner, leading workshops and seminars in building ministry resilience. Dr. Joyner previously served in ministry for 19 years in the United Methodist Church and is now a part of the Reform Jewish Movement.
Beverly Prestwood-Taylor
Rev. Dr. Beverly Prestwood-Taylor (DMin, Hartford International University for Religion and Peace) is the co-founder of the Brookfield Institute and an ordained UCC pastor. She has served congregations for over 40 years, including consultant work for congregations in conflict and transition since 2001. In collaboration with Elena Huegel of Global Ministries of the UCC/DCC, Beverly has designed a five-course curriculum for faith communities in the aftermath of collective trauma, working with congregations in the US, Latin America, and Rwanda.
Lorraine Stutzman Amstutz
Lorraine Stutzman Amstutz is the Denominational Minister for Peace and Justice for Mennonite Church USA. She previously served for over 25 years as the Co-Director of Mennonite Central Committee’s (MCC) Office on Justice & Peacebuilding with a focus on restorative justice. Lorraine has provided training and technical assistance to restorative justice programs across the globe and co-taught restorative justice at SPI for almost 20 years. She is the author of The Little Book of Victim Offender Conferencing and co-author of The Little Book of Restorative Discipline for Schools and What Will Happen to Me? She received a Master of Social Work degree from Marywood University, Scranton, PA, and has also worked as the Foster Care Supervisor.
