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When I came to Eastern Mennonite College as a new faculty member in 1992, the application process required me “to respond to” a “Statement of Commitment.” In contrast to the nearly thirty-year old 1963 Mennonite Confession of Faith (which included an affirmation of women and the covering), it seemed positively modern.

Despite being a normative document, the Community Lifestyle Commitment often falls by the wayside. It has been six years since the last formal discussion, and so it is much past time to discus this living document again as a community.

In my opinion, the Community Lifestyle Commitment provides a fairly straightforward list of parameters and expectations, and adequately regulates the type of environment that EMU works to provide. Although it is clearly unrealistic to expect that all students who sign the commitment will abide by the rules, it at least serves as a base and form of accountability for students during their time at EMU.

Before beginning a discussion on EMU’s Community Lifestyle Commitment (CLC), I think it is important to point out how unique community life is here at EMU. The atmosphere we inhabit is rare and worth preserving.

When I was first considering my thoughts on the CLC, I recalled the part of the CLC mentioning that at Eastern Mennonite University, “We are committed to the Lordship of Jesus Christ.” I found this to be problematic, as not everyone who attends EMU is a Christian. My initial thoughts were that by making the signing of the CLC mandatory, the school puts students
in a position where they might be lying.

Without healthy morals as a part of one’s upbringing and a developed mental maturity, the Community Lifestyle Committment is useless. Some people don’t even know that there is a Community Lifestyle Commitment.

Jesus once declared “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life.” Faith in the Jewish and Jesus traditions has always been fundamentally about following, or “walking in the Way.” The sixteenth-century Anabaptist renewal movement stressed following after Jesus in daily life (they called it Gelassenheit: yielding our will, in community, to God’s will…who also lives in a mutually submitting and supporting community of Three Persons).

As a 20-year-old, single female living in America, I know what it feels like to want to run free and explore things. I have explored my share of relationships, witnessed drug use and heard the demeaning language. But I have decided not to participate in any of these activities. I do not smoke, drink, curse or have sexual relationships. And I’m happy with my choices.

As its name suggests, the EMU Community Lifestyle Commitment (CLC) is about three things: community, lifestyle, and commitment. The CLC is unique in numerous ways that help to make EMU a Christian university like no other.

In 1957, when my husband Paul was getting ready to leave his home on the farm in Pennsylvania to come to EMC for his first year of college, he and his dad got into a sharp argument. It was a hot August day, and Paul was wearing a short-sleeved shirt. But his dad had read EMC’s rules, and included in them was one that required male students to wear long-sleeved shirts on campus.

God the Father, God the Mother, God the Mysterious and All-Knowing, God the All-Powerful. What comes to mind for you when you think of God? What brought you to those conclusions? These questions are explored in “Renaming Infinity, in Search of a God Who Looks Like Me,” an art exhibit by CJP student Frances Miller.

Dick Randel is calling on individuals to directly improve the lives of the homeless. At one point in his life Randel experienced homelessness, and later began running a homeless shelter. He does not depend on the government or churches to help the impoverished.