Summer Courses

The Harrisonburg, Va. campus offers summer courses in May and June. The EMS Lancaster campus is offering a “Summer Institute for Missional Questions” May 21-June 14.

To take summer courses contact either the 540-432-4257 or the 540-432-4274

Online courses

EMS is offering Money, Ministry and Me online this summer. For more information visit www.emu.edu/seminary/distance-learning

On Campus Courses

Ezekiel

Instructor: Jim Engle
Schedule: May 8- 26, Tuesdays and Thursdays 8 a.m.-2:30p.m., Wednesdays and Fridays 8-12 a.m.
Credits: 3 SH

The book named for this prophet is studied for its themes, content and theology (English text). The study of the literary features of the book and its historical context(s) serve to sharpen the message and contribution of the prophet. Inductive study supplements and evaluates the mass of scholarship that has grown up around the study of this prophet.

Healing Ministry of the Missional Church

Instructor: Lawrence Yoder
Schedule: May 8- 30, Tuesdays and Wednesdays- 9 a.m.-3:30 p.m.
Credits: 3 SH

Jesus taught his disciples to confront the kingdom of darkness by announcing the arrival of God’s kingly reign, inviting repentance, loving enemies, embracing the excluded, forgiving sinners, and healing the sick and demonized. This course focuses on the biblical mandate for healing ministry, the current recovery of healing ministry, and the crucial place of healing ministry in the church’s life and mission. Special emphasis is placed on learning through experience some of the dynamics of spiritual ministries for healing and deliverance in collaboration with social action, psychotherapy and medical care. Special attention is given to facing squarely some of the hard questions related to healing ministry and its abuse.

United Methodist Polity

Instructor: Dan Garrett
Schedule: May 10 – June 14, but no class on June 7.(May: 10, 17, 24, 31 & June 14.) 9 a.m. – 3:30 p.m.
Credits: 2 SH

Through selected official resources of the United Methodist Church, from contemporary scholarship in Wesleyan theology and United Methodist polity, from readings in ecclesiology, and from discussion of the ongoing practical life of the church, students will examine the ways in which United Methodists have organized themselves for mission in the world.

Sermon on the Mount: Peace, Justice and the Reign of God

Instructor: Mark Thiessen Nation
Schedule: May 29- June 8, Monday-Friday 9 a.m.- 3 p.m.
Credits: 3 SH

The teachings of Jesus have reached across many centuries with a strong witness against violence: “Love your enemies.” People in many cultures have found the Sermon on the Mount foundational for understanding the core of Jesus’ ethical teaching and practice. The earliest Christians placed this instruction at the forefront of their witness on what it means to be Christian. Are we willing to be instructed in this way of Christ today, as the movement takes form in the third millennium? This course builds on the Old Testament Jewish backgrounds for Jesus’ teaching. Two further horizons are surveyed: the resonance with this core (Matthew 5-7) in other ethical instruction of the New Testament, and the strong echoes down through Christian history where this teaching has been translated into lived practices.

Instructor: Nancy Kauffmann
Schedule: May 31- June 7, Monday-Friday 9 a.m – 3 p.m.
Credits: 2 SH

This course examines two aspects of contemporary Mennonite reality. First, what the Mennonite Church has said and, especially, what it is currently saying about what it believes concerning the Christian faith; and second, how it structures itself in the light of those beliefs to carry out its ministry in the world. Focus will be on the expression of faith, its features and trends, in the last half century in the General Conference Mennonite church and the Mennonite Church, now integrated as Mennonite Church USA. Polity at the denominational, area conference and congregational levels will be studied with special interest in the emerging structures of the integration process. Particular attention will be given to polity and ethical guidelines for ministerial leadership.

June

Summer Institute for Spiritual Formation- 1-4 SH

The Institute is a two-week summer program which offers classes, worship and experiential learning in the area of spiritual formation. It teaches spiritual directors and ministry leaders how to deepen their own faith and lead others in doing the same. Students can receive up to four seminary credits each summer and a certificate from the Institute after completing three summers. See this year’s courses.