Faculty-staff conference

Faculty and staff returned to campus early this year for a time of worship and renewal during the faculty-staff conference. Three speakers addressed the conference's main theme, "Living Out Our Vocation in an Anabaptist Community of Faith."

Mark Thiessen Nation, associate professor of Theology at Eastern Mennonite Seminary, spoke about the Anabaptist heritage of Mennonites, reminding faculty and staff of the persecution many Anabaptists experienced and of the main tenets of the Anabaptist faith. He also encouraged the faculty and staff to continue to uphold EMU's Anabaptist heritage.

Susan Biesecker-Mast, associate professor of Communication at Bluffton College, addressed the faculty and staff regarding the many changes colleges like EMU face today. She explained that as higher education becomes increasingly competitive these small, private liberal arts colleges feel forced out of the picture by larger, public institutions.

Biesecker-Mast also explained that instead of trying to strive for survival in the market for higher education, which she calls the "'new reality' discourse of higher education," colleges such as EMU should strive to seek God at the level of the individual, the community, and the world.

"Given the pervasiveness and power of the 'new reality' discourse, it can seem impossible to find another discourse through which to do the work of higher education. Yet there is such a discourse available to us. Not surprisingly, I hope, the discourse that I am talking about is a Christian discourse that, if anything, is vigilant about keeping open a space for God," said Biesecker-Mast.

Dale Schrag, director of church relations at Bethel College also spoke at this year's conference about what he believes are the "four cornerstones of Mennonite higher education." As well as being "explicitly Christian," "academically excellent," and "intentionally open," Schrag also believes EMU should be "unapologetically Mennonite."

"There are literally hundreds of excellent colleges and universities out there; there are literally hundreds of colleges and universities that exhibit real and healthy diversity; there are even hundreds of excellent, diverse colleges and universities out there that claim to be explicitly Christian colleges and universities! There are only a handful who have any desire to be unapologetically Mennonite," said Schrag.

Schrag also discussed how EMU faculty and staff could experience an Anabaptist vision for higher education through commitment to community. He explained that members of the EMU community can disagree with one another over certain issues and still maintain a sense of community, as long as they speak the truth with love.

"Following after Christ demands that we be willing to speak truth to power, but following after Christ also demands…that we speak the truth 'in love,'" said Shrag.

Faculty and staff alike praised this year's conference. According to Jay B. Landis, professor of English, the "exuberance of participants" as well as the "high spirit of expectation" impressed him. Marie Morris, undergraduate academic dean, said that the conference was "one of the best that we've had….It was good to have a reminder of who we are and where we came from."