This page is part of the seminary catalog
Purpose Statement
Statement of Philosophy | Educational Objectives | EMU Mission and Vision
As the graduate theological division of the University and a pastoral training center of Mennonite Church USA, EMS seeks to embody this central purpose within the following core practices:
Humbled by God's Call
- Discerning and humbly claiming a call to ministry
- Cooperating with what God is doing among us and throughout the world
- Becoming aware of personal and communal strengths and limitations
- Cultivating understanding of and appreciation for our Anabaptist heritage
- Extending hospitality to persons from diverse cultures and confessional traditions
Formed in Christ
- Acknowledging the lordship of Jesus Christ in life and study
- Devoting time to daily communal and personal spiritual disciplines
- Claiming the Christian Scriptures as authoritative for life and practice
- Expressing mutual care and respect for each other
- Promoting justice and compassion in all relationships
- Committing ourselves to holy living and peacemaking
- Witnessing to the good news of Jesus Christ in word and deed
Transformed by the Holy Spirit
- Practicing a prayerful disposition in all of life
- Celebrating the presence of God in ordinary things
- Worshipping together as communal discipline
- Singing our faith as a corporate body
- Modeling personal transparency in teaching and learning
- Ministering healing and hope with priestly courage
Empowered to Serve with Knowledge, Wisdom and Grace
- Interpreting the Scriptures for life through thoughtful and imaginative exposition
- Dialoguing across disciplines of study throughout the university
- Enhancing global and non-western perspectives in the community of learning
- Engaging contemporary realities through critical reflection and scholarly research
- Linking academic rigor with Christian commitment
- Confessing sin, offering forgiveness and living with joyful
freedom
Statement of Philosophy
The educational philosophy of Eastern Mennonite Seminary is rooted in the Christian tradition as understood from the Anabaptist-Mennonite believers church perspective.
This tradition of the church believes God is reconciling the world to himself through the Word revealed in Jesus Christ. God is calling together a community of disciples to continue Christ's saving ministry in the world.
The seminary is a community of Jesus' disciples being formed by Christ's Spirit into his character and image.
The church lives under the authority and power of Christ. This life is marked by reflection, discussion and shared judgment which is grounded in the biblical witness of Christ, informed by faith experience and guided by the Spirit of God.
The seminary community participates in Christ's authority through study, worship and shared life on subjects related to personal Christian formation, the Christian tradition and skills for leadership work. Seminary experience engages the full range of human disciplines: relational-psychological, academic-rational, communal-sociological and spiritual-intuitive. In these ways the seminary is led by Christ in the full range of human reality.
The church's mark of authentic Christian existence in the world is discipleship, the obedience of faith in Jesus Christ expressed in love for God and others.
The seminary aims to teach and practice this obedience of faith, to love as Christ loved. Such love involves peacemaking (including refusal to participate in military activities), service to others, evangelism and stewardship of the material world.
The church's members are gifts of Christ for ministry in the church and in the world. Persons called to offices of leadership in the church both minister directly and lead other members into effective ministry.
The seminary welcomes both women and men into its educational program. Both faculty and students share opportunities and responsibilities for the educational process. Faculty take responsibility for directing the learning process. They bring specialized knowledge of the Christian tradition and ministry along with a determination to make connections across the disciplines of seminary studies. Students participate in the educational process by helping set goals, critique procedures and evaluate results. The goal of seminary experience is to nurture realistic confidence in the students' ability to work as church leaders.
The church is sent by Christ as his witnesses in the world.
The seminary trains students for ministry with Christ through his church for the world. As witnesses to the gospel, students seek to reconcile all things to God according to God's purposes.
The church continually evaluates the Christian character of its life within society. The structures of life in both church and society will sometimes be affirmed, sometimes confronted and sometimes condemned for their respective character and practices.
The seminary's education does not exist in isolation. It enters dialogue with other religions and secular perspectives. In on-campus, off-campus and cross-cultural settings the seminary reflects on the character of the church's witness in those contexts.
The educational program helps students deepen their Christian convictions and piety, critique believers church vision, theology and practice, and commit themselves to the ministry of Christ's church in the world.
Educational Objectives
Eastern Mennonite Seminary assists persons in:
- Deepening their relationship with God as revealed in Jesus Christ through the ministry of the Holy Spirit and growing in their expression of Christian discipleship.
- Committing themselves to participation in a community of faith and to serve within its disciplines.
- Deepening self-understanding, identifying gifts and responding to the call to Christian service.
- Preparing for ministry in the church and world, through classroom studies and field experiences in a variety of ministry settings.
- Pursuing biblical, historical and theological knowledge with the aid of scholarly disciplines and the resources of the community of faith.
- Embracing Scripture as the inspired and authoritative Word of God to be interpreted in the community of faith from historical and spiritual perspectives for Christian obedience in contemporary settings.
- Engaging ethical issues in contemporary culture from the perspective of biblical peace, justice, love and holiness and in discerning and making a faithful response as a people of God.
- Developing an approach to ministry that exemplifies the spirit and style of servant leadership.
- Cultivating conviction and ability to communicate the Good News through evangelism and nurture.
- Acquiring the ability to lead a congregation effectively on the basis of a theological vision of the people of God and an understanding of the dynamics of group process.
