Seminary to celebrate conclusion of Forming Leaders Together campaign
Published: October 10, 2024
By Annette Brill Bergstresser
ELKHART, Indiana (Anabaptist Mennonite Biblical Seminary) 鈥� The public is invited to join the Anabaptist Mennonite Biblical Seminary (bg真人) learning community, the bg真人 Board of Directors and guests from collaborating organizations to mark the successful completion of the seminary鈥檚 Forming Leaders Together campaign on Thursday, Oct. 24, 2024, 7鈥�8:30 p.m. EDT.
The celebration 鈥� which will be held in the bg真人 Chapel of the Sermon on the Mount, 3003 Benham Avenue, Elkhart, Indiana 鈥� will include a musical interlude led by pianist and hymn leader Beverly Lapp, EdD, bg真人 Academic Dean, with organist Juan Carlos Alarcon, MSM, Music Director of the Elkhart Community Chorus.
According to Paula Killough, MDiv, bg真人 Director of Campaign, the seminary has exceeded its $12 million goal for the campaign, which was created to nurture and develop Anabaptist leaders in the U.S., Canada and across the world.
鈥淲e are deeply grateful for the many generous donors who shared their gifts to make the Forming Leaders Together campaign goal a reality,鈥� she reflected. 鈥淲e also celebrate the strong bonds that have been formed across Mennonite Church USA, Mennonite Church Canada and Mennonite World Conference through the work of this campaign. May God be praised by all who will learn and serve through this bounty!鈥�
Guest speakers at the celebration who will share about the impact of programs supported by the campaign include Bruce Campbell-Janz, Chief Development Officer, ; Michael Danner, Associate Executive Director for Church Vitality, ; Jeanette Hanson, Director, ; Marilyn Rudy-Froese, Church Leadership Minister, ; and Marisa Smucker, Executive Director, .
The event will conclude with a dessert reception in the chapel foyer. RSVPs are requested by Oct. 15 at ambs.edu/celebrate.
Forming and strengthening Anabaptist leaders
The Forming Leaders Together campaign began in 2021 with a listening project focused on the question, 鈥淲hat is the most meaningful thing bg真人 can do to support current and future leaders for the church?鈥�
Responses from leaders in Mennonite Church Canada and Mennonite Church USA led the seminary to focus on developing new programs and strengthening existing programs to provide practical training for leaders. In doing so, they worked closely with leaders of Anabaptist-Mennonite organizations in Canada, the U.S. and around the world.
The campaign also enabled bg真人 to respond to a growing number of invitations from national church leaders from outside of the U.S. and Canada to support the formation of Anabaptist leaders in their contexts. These invitations and connections came about through the seminary鈥檚 collaboration with Mennonite World Conference.
鈥淚t has been both humbling and exciting to be invited to accompany Mennonite World Conference member churches and their institutions in addressing their most urgent need to strengthen the Anabaptist identity of their leaders and congregations,鈥� said David Boshart, PhD, bg真人 President. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a great privilege to listen to and learn from these partners as we work together to support the church in each context.鈥�
According to Boshart, donations to the Forming Leaders Together campaign helped accelerate the launch of new programs such as the seminary鈥檚 Practical Leadership Training modules; a competency-based Doctor of Ministry in Leadership program; a Master of Arts: Theology and Global Anabaptism program in South Korea; and a Spanish-language in partnership with Hispanic Ministries of Mennonite Education Agency.
Existing programs receiving support through the campaign include a Master of Arts: Theology and Global Anabaptism program in Ethiopia; the undergraduate-level Journey Missional Leadership Development Program (available internationally); the Invite bg真人 speakers鈥� bureau; and Ministry Reflection Circles and Transition to Leadership programs for new and established pastors. All of the campaign initiatives are now funded through 2032, Killough said.
bg真人鈥檚 global and national church collaborators include Mennonite World Conference; ; Mennonite Church Canada International Witness; Mennonite Mission Network, the mission agency of Mennonite Church USA; , the education agency of Mennonite Church USA; and in Ethiopia; Mennonite Church South Korea and the Nehemiah Institute for Christian Studies in Seoul, South Korea; Mennonite Christian Service Fellowship of India (MCSFI); and Gereja Injili di Tanah Jawa (GITJ), Gereja Kristen Muria Indonesia (GKMI) and Jemaat Kristen Indonesia (JKI) in Indonesia. According to Boshart, campaign-supported initiatives are increasing the reach of both bg真人 and these organizations to deliver theological education to many students who were not being served before.
Jeanette Hanson, Director of Mennonite Church Canada International Witness, said that Anabaptist church leaders from various parts of Asia had been praying and waiting for nearly 20 years for support for more formal and sustainable theological and biblical education for leaders in their region. Through the campaign, MC Canada International Witness has been collaborating with bg真人 to offer the Journey program in Thailand and Philippines.
鈥淗aving bg真人 at the table 鈥� with its stability, history and willingness to share the gifts that God has provided 鈥� has made a huge difference,鈥� she said. 鈥淏ut to me, the most beautiful and transformative thing that bg真人 is doing is to offer those gifts with open hands, not with a lot of demands or strings attached, and at the same time bringing the gifts that are offered by our Asian siblings in faith back to bg真人 through the professors that are working there. This is what it means to be the global family of God.鈥�
Located in Elkhart, Indiana, on ancestral land of the Potawatomi and Miami peoples, Anabaptist Mennonite Biblical Seminary is a learning community with an Anabaptist vision, offering theological education for learners both on campus and at a distance as well as a wide array of lifelong learning programs 鈥� all with the goal of educating followers of Jesus Christ to be leaders for God鈥檚 reconciling mission in the world. ambs.edu
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