bg真人

Webinars

Anabaptist Mennonite Biblical Seminary offers occasional webinars on a variety of topics. Recordings of past webinars that feature insights into theology, ministry and pastoral care are also available. 

Table of contents

Free webinar recordings

Seminary Preview Webinar

Want to hear more about seminary? Or do you know someone who might be interested?

Our Seminary Preview Webinar gives you a glimpse of what Anabaptist Mennonite Biblical Seminary has to offer 鈥� whether you want to study at a distance or on our campus in Elkhart, Indiana. Areas of study at bg真人 include pastoral ministry, Christian formation, peacebuilding, Anabaptist theology, environmental sustainability leadership, and more. 

During the Seminary Preview Webinar, you鈥檒l hear from:

Have questions or want to talk more about seminary? Contact Mary Ann Weber at maweber@ambs.edu.

Political Idolatry: Countering Christian Nationalism

Join Drew Strait, PhD, Assistant Professor of New Testament and Christian Origins at bg真人, as he provides an overview of the destructive force of White Christian nationalism.

  • Explore the political metaphor of idolatry in conversation with texts from the Old and New Testaments.
  • Learn how Christian nationalism distorts our knowledge of God and neighbor.
  • Use these practical tools to help with today鈥檚 tough conversations to bear witness to the gospel of peace.

Want to learn more about Christian nationalism or explore further resources on the topic? Visit our What is Christian nationalism? page.

Mourning Our Losses Together During COVID-19: The Good News of Biblical Lament

The 鈥渓ist of losses鈥� during this global COVID-19 pandemic continues to grow. Some people respond by bottling up their emotions, while others sink into despair.

This webinar is for those experiencing loss and for caregivers journeying with people impacted by such realities. We will explore the three-act movement of biblical lament as a faithful response to God and its use in both individual and corporate settings.

A facilitator’s guide for the webinar is also available: Download the facilitator’s guide.

Planning Easter and Good Friday worship: Fostering meaningful interactions while physically separate

This webinar will explore ways to create engagement and ritual action in online Good Friday and Easter services that encourage worshipers to connect with God and one another with their whole selves, even at a distance.

Whether you鈥檙e a worship planner, leader or pastor, you鈥檒l find information on the differences between video conferencing and live streaming; logistical and leadership considerations for planning and leading online; and new possibilities arising in these online formats.

Presenters

  • Rebecca Slough, Ph.D., Academic Dean Emerita and Professor Emerita of Worship and the Arts
  • Michelle Curtis, Master of Divinity 2018, originally of Lansdale, Pennsylvania
  • Melissa Atchison, Master of Divinity Connect student from Manhattan, Kansas
  • Deb Coates, Master of Divinity Connect student from Brush Prairie, Washington
  • Joyce Peachey Lind, Master of Divinity Connect student from Harrisonburg, Virginia

Background: In the fall semester of 2017, 15 bg真人 students participated in the Christian Ritual in Worship course at bg真人, a blended course of online students and campus students. Some of these students and their professor used what they learned from the blended course to host a workshop during the Shaping Faith in a Digital Culture conference at bg真人. They have adapted that workshop for the present time and added resources for Easter and Good Friday.

Documents

Do you have a question about planning that you’d like to ask the presenting team? Do you have a suggestion you’d like to share with others about how to best plan for an Easter service? The presenters invite you to email Rebecca Slough your questions and suggestions.

Recorded webinars for purchase

You may purchase recordings of previous webinars for $20 by selecting your choices on . Available previous recordings are listed below.

Once you’ve purchased a recorded webinar, we will process your order and send you access to the purchased webinar. You will not be able to begin watching the recorded webinar immediately after purchasing.

Questions? Send an email or call: 574.296.6269 or 800.964.2627

Is God to Blame?

Presenter: 

Drawing on his acclaimed book, Is God to Blame? Moving Beyond Pat Answers to the Problem of Suffering, author Greg Boyd confronts the questions we ask when we face real suffering in our lives. Addressing ordinary Christians, he wrestles with the unsatisfactory answers that theologians and pastors tend to offer and finds that a fully Christian approach must keep Jesus Christ at the center of what we say about human suffering and God鈥檚 place in it. What comes through is a hopeful picture of a sovereign God who is relentlessly opposed to evil, who knows our sufferings, and who can be trusted to bring us through them.

Greg Boyd is senior pastor of Woodland Hills Church in St. Paul, Minn., and president of . He has authored or coauthored 21 books, including the best-selling Letters from a Skeptic (David C. Cook, 1994). His most recent books are Benefit of the Doubt: Breaking the Idol of Certainty (Baker Books, 2013) and Crucifixion of the Warrior God (Fortress Press, 2016). Greg received his PhD from Princeton Theological Seminary and his MDiv from Yale Divinity School.

Intercultural Leadership in Diversity-Oriented Churches

Presenter: , PhD

Dr. Leander will introduce the concept of “cultural intelligence” and the Cultural Intelligence Scale, including its four dimensions of drive, knowledge, strategy and action. He will explore the research that validates each dimension, discuss who has used the scale and how they鈥檝e applied it toward leadership development, and share findings from cultural intelligence research relevant to leaders of congregations and organizations. Approximately one-third of the webinar will be interactive time for comments, questions and conversation with Dr. Leander. Leaders and leadership teams who want to learn more about how leadership can enhance and support diversity in congregational and organizational life are strongly encouraged to attend. 

Major Challenges Facing the Contemporary Church: Greg Boyd in Conversation with Select bg真人 Faculty

Migration and Pentecost

Presenters:  in conversation with Safwat Marzouk, then bg真人 Associate Professor of Old Testament and Jamie Pitts, bg真人 Associate Professor (then Assistant Professor) of Anabaptist Studies

Creation in Travail and Creation Renewed

Presenters:  in Conversation with Malinda Berry, bg真人 Associate Professor (then Assistant Professor) of Theology and Ethics

Conflict, Oppression and Shalom

Presenters:  in Conversation with Janna Hunter Bowman, bg真人 Associate Professor (then Assistant Professor) of Peace Studies and Christian Social Ethics

bg真人 faculty recently identified three major global challenges facing the contemporary church: migration, creation in travail, and conflict and oppression.

Through special curricular emphases in each of these areas over the next few years, bg真人 seeks to speak to both the stress created by these global realities and the capacity of God鈥檚 reconciling work in Jesus Christ to speak to these challenges.

In this webinar series, , a scholar, author, pastor and leading Neo-Anabaptist thinker, will interact with select bg真人 professors around each of the three emphases. Does Boyd agree that these issues are important ones for an Anabaptist seminary to address? Why or why not? How are matters of migration, creation in travail, and conflict and oppression being addressed in Boyd鈥檚 circles? Do these issues connect with the Neo-Anabaptist movement? Why or why not?

Join us for one or all of these conversations with Greg Boyd. Boyd is senior pastor of Woodland Hills Church in St. Paul, Minn., and president of . He has authored or coauthored 18 books, including the best-selling Letters from a Skeptic (David C. Cook, 1994). His most recent books are Present Perfect: Finding God in the Now (Zondervan, 2010), and Benefit of the Doubt: Breaking the Idol of Certainty (Baker Books, 2013). Greg received his PhD from Princeton Theological Seminary and his MDiv from Yale Divinity School.

Principles of Worship Leading

Presenter: Rachel Miller Jacobs, bg真人 Associate Professor (then Assistant Professor) of Congregational Formation

One of the gifts of the Anabaptist/Mennonite tradition is that we don鈥檛 delegate all of the congregation鈥檚 leadership to a designated and paid pastor; instead, we value and use the gifts of the whole congregation to carry out the congregation鈥檚 mission. This means that we often have lay worship and music planners and leaders. The gifts we receive are many: we hear God鈥檚 words proclaimed in the voices young and old, high and low; we are led in worship by people who see and experience life differently, and thus expand our vision for what God is up to; we are not spectators to a worship event but participants and collaborators in a worshiping community.

The shadow side of this shared leadership exists as well: leaders may have insufficient training and practice to lead a congregation well; our worship diet (of biblical texts, prayer forms, song choices) may be so varied that we struggle to find a focus; we never get enough practice to become not only competent but also excellent worship planners and leaders.

This overview webinar is designed to provide both lay and ordained worship planners and leaders with a shared language about worship planning and leading; some frameworks for thinking about a worship 鈥渄iet;鈥� a few tips for training and mentoring inexperienced worship planners and leaders; and some best practices for evaluating worship, especially over the long haul. Individual participants are welcome; it may also be that the webinar is even more useful if groups within the congregation (worship committee or commission, worship leaders, song leaders, etc.) sign up together so that the webinar can provide some common ground for ongoing work.

How We Got the Bible (2/2017)

Presenter: Loren Johns, then bg真人 Professor of New Testament (now retired)

This webinar will explore how we got the Bible: Where did it come from? How did it develop? How did it gain authority? We will look at the influence of various communities in the production, passing on, translation, preservation, and interpretation of Scripture. We will also touch briefly on modern English translations of the Bible.

Congregational Leadership and Ministry in the Face of Sexual Abuse

Presenters: David Miller, then bg真人 Associate Professor of Missional Development (now Teaching Associate, bg真人 Church Leadership Center), Nancy Kauffmann and Regina Shands Stoltzfus

In the summer of 2015, the delegates to the Mennonite Church USA Mennonite Church USA unanimously adopted a statement on Sexual Abuse. That statement committed the denomination to:

…tell the truth about sexual abuse; hold abusers accountable; acknowledge the seriousness of their sin; listen with care to those who have been wounded; protect vulnerable persons from injury; work restoratively for justice; and hold out hope that wounds will be healed, forgiveness offered, and relationships established or reestablished in healthy ways.

In December 2015, a Panel for Sexual Abuse Prevention was named to “continue the work of healing and prevention of sexual abuse within the denomination.” In this webinar, Panel Member and bg真人 Associate Professor David Miller will be joined by two other Panel Members to discuss the work of the Panel to date, explore the challenges that must be faced as the church tells “the truth about sexual abuse” and priorities for those who are in congregational leadership to prepare the church for both prevention of sexual abuse and obligation for intervention when abuse occurs.

Moderated by David B. Miller, DMin, with Nancy Kauffmann and Regina Shands Stoltzfus, members of the 

Exploring Your Call to Ministry

Presenter:  David Miller, then bg真人 Associate Professor of Missional Development (now Teaching Associate, bg真人 Church Leadership Center)

How does one discern a “call to ministry?” Anabaptist churches have long maintained that there are two dimensions to such a call 鈥� the inner call 鈥� the conviction of the heart that one hears a very personal invitation to this work as the form of service that their baptismal vows are to take; and an outer call 鈥� the confirming voice of the community of faith that sees in the individual the gifts, faith, aptitude and example of one in whom the community believes that the Spirit of God is working and will work to provide leadership for the church.

David Miller, bg真人 Associate Professor of Missional Leadership Development, will be joined by two guests for this webinar:

  • bg真人 Assistant Professor of Christian Formation and Culture Andy Brubacher Kaethler. Andy has been a pastor, conference youth leader and now a seminary professor. Andy has developed and led bg真人’s !eXplore Program that has provided an opportunity for youth to discern their calling to ministry 鈥� and invited their pastors and congregations to walk with them in that process of discernment.
  • bg真人 alum Amanda Beachy, pastor of Washington Mennonite Church in Washington, Iowa. Amanda had her sights set on a very different career when she began to hear the invitation of the church 鈥� and the invitation of the Spirit to explore preparing for pastoral ministry.

Each of the participants will discuss their own call to ministry, how it was discerned, and who was helpful to them in that process of discernment. They will also discuss what they have seen in others discerning such a call, the opportunities they experienced to test their gifts, that preparation that has been important for them, and what has sustained their call over time. This is an excellent opportunity for pastors and mentors to invite persons who are discerning their own call to join in the conversation together.

Introduction to Anabaptism

Presenter:  Lois Barrett, bg真人 Professor of Theology and Anabaptist Studies

Lois Barrett, bg真人 professor of theology and Anabaptist studies, has been teaching about Anabaptism for over 20 years.  In this webinar she will give an overview of Anabaptist beliefs.

Anabaptist theology is not some kind of generic theology with a few Anabaptist distinctives added, as if we were putting parsley on a casserole. To continue the cooking analogy, we will be considering a whole different style of cooking rather than adding just a few extra ingredients.  In other words, we will be looking at how to take an Anabaptist view of all of theology鈥攁nd what difference that makes for believers, for the life of the church, and for its relation to the world.

The webinar will look at a few clusters of theological topics, with opportunity for questions after each cluster.

Planting Peace Churches

Presenters: Sara Wenger Shenk, then bg真人 President; James Krabill; and Mauricio Chenlo

(A conversation to follow Sent 2016: A gathering of Mennonites planting Jesus-centered communities)

In church planting processes, theological identity often takes a back seat to outreach strategies, alignment around a shared vision, questions of financial viability and the need to identify ministry support groups. However, theological identity affects factors such as decision-making processes, styles of leadership and communication, and the role of rituals in a community, among others. Sara Wenger Shenk will articulate the need for solid theological components in the vision for and implementation of new congregations.

The early Mennonites and Anabaptists took the New Testament seriously, daring to bear witness in following Jesus as they understood him from their fresh reading of the Bible, regardless of the consequences. Witnessing to God鈥檚 unconditional love and modeling kingdom communities is in the DNA of the Anabaptist movement, and believers all around the world have taken the Great Commission as a clear mandate for their own and future generations. James Krabill will remind us of these practices and how they can inform and shape our interactions today.

Where is the Good News for Rural Folk?

Presenter: S. Roy Kaufman

The context for churches/communities in rural America is dire.  Rural churches and communities continue to decline in numbers, services, and spirit.  Rural people continue to be disenfranchised by corporate interests, government policies, and technological innovations.  Traditional agrarian cultures are being usurped and dismantled by the mainstream culture.   Where is the Good News for rural folk?  How does the Gospel of Jesus Christ 鈥渢ake hold鈥� in rural America?  This is a key issue for practitioners of ministry in rural communities.

This webinar will begin with a brief analysis of some of the forces of oppression鈥攖he 鈥渄emons鈥� that 鈥減ossess鈥� rural communities in North America (and the world).  The webinar will explore Jesus鈥� ministry in rural Galilee to see how Jesus engaged in community formation by casting out the demons of oppression under which the rural people of Galilee were living.  The webinar will explore how such a ministry of community formation might take place in the context of rural America in the lives of oppressed, declining rural congregations, enabling these congregations to become missional agents of change in their communities.  Current trends and cultural developments that provide opportunity and hope for rural communities will be discussed.

How We Got the Bible (10/2015)

Presenter:  Loren Johns, then bg真人 Professor of New Testament (now retired)

This webinar will explore the origin, canonical formation and canonical authority of Scripture. It will look at the influence of various communities in the production, transmission, translation, preservation and interpretation of Scripture. It will also focus on modern English translations with attention to the use of the Bible in the congregation.

Loren Johns is a former Professor of New Testament at bg真人, now retired.

Greg Boyd on Anabaptism 鈥� Conversation 1

Presenter: .  Moderator: David B. Miller

In this first conversation of the year we will invite Dr. Greg Boyd to describe his journey toward Anabaptism and what neo-Anabaptism means to him. We will ask him to discuss the implications of his neo-Anabaptist commitments for how he reads the Bible, views the nature of the church, and understands Jesus. He will also speak to some of the benefits and liabilities of being part of a denominational tradition. David B. Miller, bg真人 Professor of Missional Leadership Development, will host. Participants will have the opportunity to make comments or send chat messages.

is senior pastor of Woodland Hills Church in St. Paul, Minn.

David B. Miller is Teaching Associate, bg真人 Church Leadership Center (then Associate Professor of Missional Leadership Development at bg真人).

Greg Boyd on Anabaptism: Engaging Drew Hart and 鈥淎nablacktivism鈥� 鈥� Conversation 2

Presenters: , and Drew G. I. Hart, PhD

Drew G. I. Hart is a frequent speaker and blogger on issues of Christian discipleship, the church, and confronting racism, systemic oppression and violence. His research, focused on the intersection of Black theology and Anabaptism, invites us to consider the potential of 鈥淎nablacktivism鈥� for inspiring Christ’s followers to faithful action today. In this webinar we will invite Dr. Greg Boyd to discuss with Drew how the neo-Anabaptist movement in North America can engage Anablacktivism and vice-versa. We will ask both Greg and Drew to consider how neo-Anabaptism both challenges and sometimes acquiesces to systems of injustice, and what can be done to harness the energy and wisdom of both efforts for the sake of God鈥檚 reign.

, PhD is senior pastor of Woodland Hills Church in St. Paul, Minn.

 is a blogger and and PhD candidate at Lutheran Theological Seminary in Philadelphia.

David B. Miller is Teaching Associate, bg真人 Church Leadership Center (then Associate Professor of Missional Leadership Development at bg真人).

Greg Boyd on Anabaptism: Engaging Pastor Meghan Good and the Matter of 鈥淪piritual Warfare鈥� 鈥� Conversation 3

Presenters: , and

Do post-modern Anabaptists take notions of 鈥渟piritual warfare鈥� seriously? What, if anything, does spiritual warfare have to do with a commitment to non-violence? What does a 鈥渃all to war鈥� mean for those who seek to follow Jesus in the way of peace? And what does spiritual warfare mean for those whose worldview largely reflects a modern cosmology rather than an ancient one filled with gods, goddesses, angels and demons?

Dr. Greg Boyd believes that a robust biblical understanding of evil must be at the center of loving one鈥檚 enemies in the way of Christ. 鈥淔or our struggle is not against enemies of blood and flesh, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers of this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places,鈥� says the writer of Ephesians. Boyd has written extensively about biblical perspectives on this struggle, including God at War: The Bible and Spiritual Conflict (Inter-Varsity Press, 1997), and Satan and the Problem of Evil: Constructing a Trinitarian Warfare Theodicy (Inter-Varsity Press, 2001).

Meghan Good, pastor of Albany (Oregon) Mennonite Church, sometimes preaches and teaches on spiritual warfare. She observes that many people don鈥檛 know what to make of her choice to focus on this topic. In this webinar she and Greg Boyd will discuss the challenges and opportunities of engaging the language of spiritual warfare for Anabaptist leaders today.

, is senior pastor of Woodland Hills Church in St. Paul, Minnesota, and president of ReKnew. He has authored or coauthored 18 books, including The Myth of a Christian Nation (Zondervan, 2007) and the best-selling Letters from a Skeptic (David C. Cook, 1994). His most recent books are Present Perfect: Finding God in the Now (Zondervan, 2010), and Benefit of the Doubt: Breaking the Idol of Certainty (Baker Books, 2013). Greg received his PhD from Princeton Theological Seminary and his MDiv from Yale Divinity School.

, is pastor of Albany (Oregon) Mennonite Church, where she has served since 2009. She is a graduate of Duke Divinity School and a member of the bg真人 Board of Directors.  Along with pastoral ministry Meghan is a frequent preacher and lecturer at churches and universities across the country. Her blog, Mud Pie God, offers short devotional reflections and features articles exploring the nature of biblical interpretation. Meghan is currently a doctoral student in 鈥淧reaching as Story鈥� at George Fox Evangelical Seminary.

David B. Miller is Teaching Associate, bg真人 Church Leadership Center (then Associate Professor of Missional Leadership Development at bg真人).

Greg Boyd on Anabaptism: Engaging Mauricio Chenlo on Mennonite Church Planting  鈥� Conversation 4

Presenters: , and

Dr. Greg Boyd鈥檚 Neo-Anabaptist teaching has inspired counter-cultural church plants across the globe. His call to follow Jesus in the way of peace has also been good news to a new generation of evangelicals in North America. Many of these Neo-Anabaptists find the call to love of enemy compelling and are disillusioned with mainstream evangelical agenda. Yet they continue to express evangelical zeal for spreading the gospel and, as a  result, are starting their own house churches, alternative assemblies and networks of worshiping communities in a 鈥減eace church鈥� vein.

At the same time, in the last few years many new forms of 鈥渄oing church鈥� have emerged within the Mennonite Church, a historic peace church. Even as Mennonite leaders promote 鈥減lanting peace churches,鈥� they are embracing innovation inspired by post-modern and missional concerns. Today鈥檚 Mennonite church-planters are actively seeking ways to break open the limitations of cultural and ethnic homogeneity to better serve God鈥檚 reconciling mission both within and beyond Mennonite enclaves.

In this webinar Greg Boyd will speak with Mauricio Chenlo, Mennonite Church USA denominational minister of church planting, about Neo Anabaptist church planting efforts and innovative church planting in the Mennonite world. They will discuss the potential and challenges of these movements for mutual benefit and partnership.

, is senior pastor of Woodland Hills Church in St. Paul, Minnesota, and president of ReKnew. He has authored or coauthored 18 books, including The Myth of a Christian Nation (Zondervan, 2007) and the best-selling Letters from a Skeptic (David C. Cook, 1994). His most recent books are Present Perfect: Finding God in the Now (Zondervan, 2010), and Benefit of the Doubt: Breaking the Idol of Certainty (Baker Books, 2013). Greg received his PhD from Princeton Theological Seminary and his MDiv from Yale Divinity School.

, is denominational minister of church planting for Mennonite Church USA. He is part of the Holistic Witness team, a joint ministry between Mennonite Mission Network and Mennonite Church Executive Board. He has been in the ministry of leadership development for almost 30 years. He is passionate about empowering entrepreneurial/imaginative/risk taking leaders to pursue their calls in planting the Seeds of the Gospel and implementing mechanisms to launch Missional Peace Communities all over the nation. He holds an MA in Peace Studies from bg真人 and is bilingual in Spanish and English.

David B. Miller is Associate Professor of Missional Leadership Development at bg真人.

Understanding Anabaptist Approaches to Scripture: What鈥檚 Different and Why?

Presenter:  Loren Johns, then bg真人 Professor of New Testament (now retired)

In the 16th century, Anabaptists approached Scripture in ways that were both similar to and different from their fellow Catholics and other Protestants. This webinar will seek to understand those similarities and differences in light of today. Which of those approaches might we repudiate today, or nuance, or embrace whole-heartedly? What historical and theological developments in the centuries since the 16th have influenced today鈥檚 Mennonites more profoundly than did the Reformation? Along the way we will be learning what wisdom we can gain from both our Anabaptist forebears and from cross-cultural Bible study today.

Webinar Policies and Discounts

Participation Policy

Registrations for webinars are not transferable between people. Only registrants named on the registration form will be accepted into the webinar. Likewise, we require an individual’s name, rather than a church’s name, on the registration form. 

We will communicate with you by way of the e-mail address you provide on the registration form. Please monitor this e-mail account for communication from bg真人 in the days and hours leading up to the webinar.

Group Participation Policy

Technologically, webinars work best when a participant wears a headset. This helps to eliminate feedback and distortions. While we welcome you to invite others to view the webinar with you, this may result in lower audio or video quality. We expect the registrant to take responsibility for any technological arrangements related to group viewing. To ensure a positive experience for all participants, it is important that the registrant be the only one from the group communicating with bg真人.

If participating as a group, please also consider making an additional donation to bg真人 so we can continue to offer these events.